Colin hoping he’s in ship shape to sail through exams
Having joined the Naval Service a decade ago with only the Junior Certificate on the education column of his CV, the 29-year-old Wicklow native has spent the last year preparing for the coming two weeks of exams.
“I left school with a plan to get an apprenticeship but it didn’t work out, and I’ve been regretting most of the time since that I didn’t do the Leaving Certificate.”
He has been allowed time off since last autumn to attend the full-time adult Leaving Certificate classes at Cork College of Commerce, making himself available for duties at the Naval Service base in Haulbowline at weekends and during school holidays.
“It was very tough at the beginning — coming home exhausted after six or eight hours sitting in a classroom was one of the strangest feelings. Doing the two-year Project Maths course in one year has been a job in itself, I don’t know how some people manage the higher-level course,” he said, as he brushed up ahead of today’s two exams in English and home economics.
As well as these two subjects and maths, he chose biology, business, home economics, design, and communications graphics.
“If I had my time back, I might have changed my mind, but the courses are very interesting when you have more life experience. It’s been a really challenging year but well worth it, and hopefully the results will be a bonus,” he said.
With another fortnight before his last exam, Colin has another two years ahead of him at sea from September to add to previous stints that have seen him sail on the LÉ Ciara, LÉ Róisín, and LÉ Eimear to Britain, Croatia, Greece, and Malta.
He would like to work in the navy’s computer centre, but seeing the rising education profile of new entrants, he hopes to take on further studies when his next sea rotation ends.
Seven other naval personnel will sit Leaving Certificate maths papers on Friday and again next Monday. They are aged from their late 20s to their 40s and hold ranks as high as senior non-commissioned officer.
They have been facilitated to undertake evening classes on the subject during the year, with maths a requirement for apprenticeships and training schemes in the service’s four branches, including supplies and engineering. The service has teamed up with TheMathsTutor.ie to allow personnel serving at sea to study online from on-board the LÉ Orla in the coming school year, meaning that preparation for Leaving Certificate maths will no longer be restricted to naval personnel who are on shore rotation.
