Looking forward to college — 21 years after leaving school
The unemployed construction worker received three As and two Cs in the state exams and was among 70 students who received results at Limerick Adult Education College.
The 37-year-old father-of-three from Moyross left school in 1992 after completing his Junior Certificate, in which he received five honours and four passes.
“We were a big family and the finances just weren’t there, so I never went back to education and started working.”
Like many who worked in the construction industry, the qualified steel sheet fabricator lost his job when the recession hit. “I have been on the live register since the end of 2008 and this is five years later. If I had took the initiative I took last year then, I would be finished and have my masters now... I might be 40 by the time I finish my studies, but I will still have 20 years of work experience,” he said.
Brian, who hopes to study at the University of Limerick, would strongly urge anybody thinking about returning to education to “just do it”.
Father-of-two Mike Harrington, from Mungret in Co Limerick, is hoping to do a music and technology course at Limerick Institute of Technology.
The 46-year-old left school when he was just 14 and only returned to education a few years ago after he found it difficult to help his own children with their school work.
“My daughter and son are real proud of me. On the times when I didn’t feel like getting up for school they would say ‘you have to go to school just like us’,” he said.
Grandfather Gerard Jackson was also among those celebrating results at Limerick Adult Education College yesterday.
The 56-year-old from Carey’s Rd, Limerick, is hoping to work as a care assistant.
According to Pat McInerney, guidance counsellor at Limerick Education College, students ranging from 21 to 70 have gone back to study at the college.
“We have had some very happy stories, some very big successes. Very often we can’t tell our best stories however, because you are talking about people coming back from addictions and they don’t want that to be known but they have turned their lives around,” he said.
