Stand up and be counted : The Young Offender's Demi Isaac Oviawe on college and school life

I did my Leaving Cert in June and have just started college this week, so my school experience is extremely fresh in my memory. I went to Davis College in Mallow and it was a fantastic experience. I was the loud obnoxious child at the back of the classroom from day one. I had to (and still do, by the way) have an opinion on everything.

I think from primary school to the first few years of secondary school I was constantly in trouble, but then come fourth, fifth and sixth year I think I mellowed a bit and wasn’t as obnoxious. When I was in primary school I was picked on a little bit and I realised then that if I didn’t vocalise my thoughts and my opinions then I would not be left alone by these children. I thought to myself ‘do what you want to do, and don’t care about what people say’ — it was a kind of stubbornness, I think. And a coping mechanism.