{"id":14844,"date":"2017-01-08T19:21:53","date_gmt":"2017-01-08T19:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greensideup.ie\/?p=14844"},"modified":"2017-01-08T19:21:53","modified_gmt":"2017-01-08T19:21:53","slug":"follow-your-curiosity-with-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensideup.ie\/follow-your-curiosity-with-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Follow Your Curiosity"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n In 2008 I made, what turned out to be, a life changing decision to return to education as a mature student. For the previous ten year\u2019s I\u2019d been a stay at home mum of three and was project managing our ongoing house renovation on top of a Carlow hill.<\/p>\n This week, aged 53 (I’ve finally said that out loud),<\/em> as well as working with Carlow and Kilkenny community gardens, over the next two years I\u2019ll be continuing with my own education as I head to Kildalton College in Pilltown, Co Kilkenny<\/a>\u00a0two days a week to study the Advanced Certificate in Horticulture.<\/p>\n I\u2019m embarking upon this new journey with an open mind. I had no idea when I returned to education in my forties that it would lead to me starting Greenside Up a month after finishing, or that I’d go on to become one of the founders of Community Gardens Ireland<\/a>. Who knows where this new adventure will lead.<\/p>\n I was blessed to be able to spend ten years at home with our children before I returned to education, watching them develop and grow. Giving up a wage meant our lifestyle was very basic but it was a decision we\u2019ve never regretted.<\/p>\n If Ian and I had stayed in the UK things would have been very different. There\u2019s no doubt I would have continued to work full-time so we could pay the mortgage on our semi-detached town house. We\u2019d have spent all the extra money on childminders, watching someone else bring up our kids and sharing their special moments instead of us.<\/p>\n If I\u2019d been following my dream career, I might have justified it, but I wasn\u2019t. My job was simply a way of earning money to pay bills. There was no satisfaction and the desire to rear our family outside of a polluted town environment was partly what influenced our decision to move to Ireland almost 19 years ago.<\/p>\n Like many of my generation, I left school at 16 with a handful of basic qualifications, to join the female equivalent of an apprenticeship. In a school of 1,300 around 30 stayed on for sixth form before moving on to study for their degrees. I wasn\u2019t one of them. I hated the authority of school and couldn\u2019t wait to leave and join the workforce. In the beginning, I worked in a large international business as a secretarial trainee, learning from the other departmental secretaries four days a week, then heading off to college one day a week to develop my shorthand, office practice and typewriting skills, qualifying at 18.<\/p>\n After several years, I left that job to join the throng of \u2018commuters\u2019 who travelled by train to London, first finding employment in a glamorous design company a few doors away from Oxford Street, before moving to a large accountancy firm close to St Paul’s Cathedral. My last City job, now in the fast-moving financial district, held the most responsibility as I supported the Marketing Director of an international financial news agency, helping him set up offices around the world. My twenty something lifestyle was a busy one – working hard and playing harder. However looking back, other than my friendships and the motorbiking lifestyle the money I earned supported, I felt very unfulfilled. I was an ‘earth girl’, never a city one.<\/p>\n And then I met Ian. We fell in love and within a couple of years I found myself in a new country where I barely knew anybody. We shared the rental of an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with another couple and their child, living miles from the local village with only one van between us and no phone. I used to write to family and friends to begin with; they\u2019d reply with stories of their new online world of email, Facebook, summer holidays and winter parties and I felt homesick and left behind. We didn\u2019t own a computer for several years, weren\u2019t connected to the internet for many more, and despite joining a couple of toddler groups, I\u2019d only made once close friend.<\/p>\n As a stay at home mum, the one thing I hadn\u2019t anticipated about being out of the workforce was how it would diminish my confidence. We\u2019d left the UK, a large circle of close friends and extended family to relocate to a new country and as my social circle closed, so too did my ability to fit in. I joined the primary school parent teacher group and became involved with our local scout group, attending leadership courses, but I was still searching for my \u00a0elusive \u2018tribe\u2019.<\/p>\n And then my life changed. It\u2019s another story how I ended up choosing a full-time Horticulture course. I knew I never wanted to work as an executive secretary again; as a full-time mum I was used to being my own boss and the opportunity of returning to adult education helped me look for alternatives.<\/p>\n From day one as I\u00a0headed out every day on my own without little ones in tow, I studied and learnt, handed in assignments, quizzed tutors, and attended work experience. I felt empowered. Adult education was more than learning about flowers and shrubs, soil and plant science. It was a transformative experience.<\/p>\nReturning to Education<\/h2>\n
A Stay at Home Mum<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
An early school leaver<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Falling in love<\/h3>\n
Horticulture \u2013 it\u2019s not just about digging<\/h3>\n