School Daze with Anna Geary: 'It’s ok to have big dreams'

Anna Geary; one of the leaders of Repak’s Team Green initiative. Picture: Naoise Culhane

I went to school in Scoil Mhuire Milford N.S and St Mary’s Secondary School, Charleville.

I loved going on trips away with school, whether that was matches, day trips or school tours. I did transition year in secondary school for that reason. One of my favourite TY memories was when we got the chance to take part in a futuristic fashion competition where we had to use recyclable goods to create a design. I loved the creativity and teamwork involved in it. We spent weeks designing the outfit in the art room! Oh, the craic we had in there, working on the outfit, most of the time! We then had to model it and choreograph a routine to perform on a runway in front of a large crowd. The experience was amazing. It also opened my eyes to the importance of recycling and the impact I could have on the environment by recycling correctly, long before I became a leader of Repak Team Green! I’ve been conscious of my recycling behaviour ever since.

I was definitely a chatty child. I didn’t get in trouble really, but I was told to “zip it” from time to time. I was ambitious and loved meeting new people and going to new places. I was full of energy, so I didn’t like bedtime much! !

I was good at memorising. My nana used always be fascinated that from a very young age I could remember where all the cards were in a game of matching pairs! Apparently, I was very strict and didn’t like when my Nana tried to sneak a look at the cards when she thought I wouldn’t notice! “None of that carry-on Nana” was my 6-year-old reply.

I loved sport but when I was younger, I was a late developer, and used to get frustrated when I couldn’t execute a skill correctly. Thankfully I had a strong work ethic, so I persevered and improved as a Camogie player. Even though I didn’t make the ‘A’ team in my early days in secondary school, I was resilient and ended up captaining the Cork Senior Camogie Team to All Ireland Success in Croke Park years later. 

My mantra became ‘hard work will beat talent, if talent doesn’t work hard.’

In school, I learned that what I do can have an impact on others and I have control over whether that’s a positive or negative impact. I went to a convent school and one of the nuns would always harp on about leaving things in a better place than when you found them. She would chase us around the canteen if we weren’t using the bins correctly. We joked about it and did it to get a rise out of her at times, but now I’ve turned into her at home!

If I met my school-age self today I would say: “Believe in yourself and trust your gut always, it won’t steer you wrong. It’s ok to have big dreams, just work hard and be unapologetic about pursuing your goals and being who you are! I know you have an incessant need to please people, but it’s ok if everyone doesn’t like you. You could be the juiciest peach in the world, and someone still won’t like peaches! ”

Vincent Harrington and Ann Marie O Keeffe (now Cagney) were two hugely influential teachers for me. Ironically neither of them taught me subjects, but they were my school camogie coaches. Mr Harrington had a wonderful way of empowering players. From him, I learned that making a mistake is not a weakness. Instead, he praised students for having to courage to try and then if it didn’t go right, to keep a positive attitude and keep trying. Ms O’Keeffe (now Cagney, but always O’Keeffe to me) had an incredible mindset. She was so determined and pushed us beyond the limits we placed on ourselves. She saw our potential and wanted us to see it too. I loved her spirit and drive. I didn’t Iove those figure of eight runs, though!

It wasn’t a coincidence that I won 10 All Ireland ‘A’ school titles during my time in St Mary’s. As a management team, they had a great balance. They believed in me and nurtured my confidence.

• Anna Geary is an ambassador for Repak’s Team Green, an initiative to educate the public on how to recycle correctly in order to help Ireland reach its packaging recycling targets. By joining Repak’s Team Green, not only are people pledging to become a better recycler, a perfect first step in helping to protect the environment, but they can also learn tips on how to recycle correctly. You can join Repak’s Team Green initiative by visiting www.repak.ie/teamgreen.