To Be [Public] Or Not To Be

In September 2014 I started a 4 year Law and Business degree in Trinity College Dublin. With no experience of college before, I just presumed my days would revolve around, naturally enough, Law and Business, and making the odd friend or 2 along the way. How wrong I was.

I got my first taster that something was different when I went in for the first week. I had missed the first day due to my son being born so went in on the second day grinning like a Cheshire Cat, dying to tell anybody who would listen (or not) that I was a new Daddy. It was on that day that we got to meet our Student Mentors. These mentors are part of a program called Student2Student.

They provide information on your course, places to watch out for, fantastic little tips and most importantly encourage engagement with your new college group mates. The part that fascinated me was their enthusiasm, they were doing all this for free, on their own time and genuinely seemed to enjoy every moment of it.
Throughout that week I was blown away by the level of volunteering in college. The sheer amount of activities that are organised by students, for students, blew me away, and still does. I had fallen in love for the second time that week. Firstly by the amazing son that had come into our lives and secondly by this wonderful college that wanted me, and I decided there and then that I wanted to give back as much as I could.
Since then I’ve been involved with as much voluntary activities as I can possibly manage. A couple of weeks in I became treasurer of the Student Parent Society. I’m also the Student Parent Officer for the college and advocate on behalf of students who have children. I’ve been helping people quit cigarettes in a smoking cessation group, took part in a healthy living campaign. I’ve mentored students who come in for open days and went out to speak to prospective mature students. The list could go on and it will, as taking part in extracurricular activities is something I believe can greatly enhance your experience in college. I will do a separate post on why I find it so beneficial and go into much greater detail.
Shortly after I returned this year I was contacted by a member of staff, Clodagh, who is responsible for Mature Students. Every year there is a week dedicated to promoting access to college for students of all ages called College Awareness Week. As part of this the college had arranged for a journalist from the Irish Times to shadow a mature student for the day. I was honoured that I would even be considered for this task, never mind offered the job! However, I felt that the journalist would probably want to know about my journey to college, and this was something that caused me to be conflicted. I really wanted to help out and promote education but on the other hand, my circumstances were not widely known. It was not just me to think about, my wife would need to be consulted too. I’m bankrupt, possibly soon to be homeless, had actually been expelled from school twice; was this something I wanted published by one of Ireland’s leading columnists?…. Yes it was.

I wanted to show that no matter what issues someone is facing, they can take something positive from it. I also wanted to show that there are people in all manner of situations trying to deal with debt and all it entails. I just had to convince my wife of it. Eventually she saw the value in it and I confirmed with Clodagh that I’d be willing to take part.
Shortly afterwards, I spent a fantastic day with the journalist, Roisin Ingle, showing her all that Trinity had to offer.

I had been apprehensive beforehand about dealing with a journalist and how they might try to get information from me. My fears were unfounded. I was totally honest with Roisin and she was absolutely wonderful. This was all confirmed by the beautiful piece she wrote about our day together.
The article was well received and I got some lovely feedback. It truly felt that it had been worthwhile. A few days afterwards I was talking to a fellow student I admire in college and work quite closely with. She commented that she had seen the article and thought it was fantastic. She also said that she saw I was losing my house and that made her happy. Happy because she wasn’t alone; she too is losing her house and didn’t think there was anybody in college in the same situation. Mission complete. I was happy then too.

Here’s the article: http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/r%C3%B3is%C3%ADn-ingle-on-going-back-to-college-1.2428615