Education

Orla Dwyer

odwyer@farmersjournal.ie

Students are supposed to do their Leaving Cert and then go straight to college for a respectable degree. At least that’s what most people are taught in school. What happens when you don’t want to follow this exact path and decide to take a year out instead?

A gap year between secondary school and college is the norm for many UK students but is viewed as an anomaly in Ireland. Cork student Ríonach Hurley (20) was unsure which course to choose after her final exams. Tied between music, engineering and languages, she decided to take a year out and give herself time to decide on which one would be right for her.

“I stayed at home in Cork and worked in the local supermarket for six months at the beginning to save up some money,” Ríonach said.

“Once I had enough money saved, I went travelling for three months. I did three weeks of Interrailing from the Netherlands to Croatia and went to nine or 10 different cities in that time. I then worked for about a month and a half in a hostel in Croatia before travelling to Crete in Greece with a girl I met in the hostel. After that, I went to Cyprus for a while but I started running out of money,” she explained.

“Travelling allowed me to be excited about learning again because the Leaving Cert ruined that for me,” she continued.

This feeling of burnout is common among students who have finished their exams. The years of preparation followed by over two weeks of intense assessment can leave students feeling deflated and unable to absorb any more information.

When asked if she had any regrets from the year, Ríonach said that she had none at all. “From travelling, I figured out that I wanted to study languages,” she said.

She started first year at Dublin City University in 2017 studying Applied Languages and Translation but will be switching courses in the upcoming college year.

Uncommon

A gap year is not the usual move for Leaving Cert students.

Ríonach said that most people in her life were not surprised that she was taking time out because she has always been one to go against the grain.

However, she agrees that it is viewed as abnormal and admits that none of her friends would have even considered it.

“It wasn’t mentioned at all in school. Career guidance teachers only talked about college, PLC courses and apprenticeships. I think that parents are afraid their kids won’t do anything with a gap year,” she said, adding that she was lucky her own parents were supportive of her choice.

Higher education is not the right option for everyone straight after secondary school. According to a 2017 report from the Higher Education Authority, one in six college students in Ireland dropped out of their degree during their first year. Some of the highest drop-out rates were in engineering, one of Ríonach’s three considered paths.

For those who are unsure of which course to choose and are considering a gap year, Ríonach would definitely recommend it, as long as you are willing to push yourself, do plenty of research and take ownership of your own decisions.