As Baz Luhrmann said in his iconic Sunscreen song “The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; and some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.”
Thinking about what to do after school can be an exciting time, but it can also be confusing for many students who feel under pressure to know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives.
However, as student Corinne Gibbons discovered when she embarked on her learning journey, exploring your options doesn’t have to be stressful. It can be an adventure.
In 2017, eighteen year old Corinne wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, so she decided to follow her dad’s advice. “When it came to college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at first, I thought about studying nutrition and maybe becoming a dietician. And while I’m still interested in that subject, I didn’t think it was going to be my passion. Then my dad told me he felt he saw a spark with my photography and that’s when I decided to explore a more creative choice. My parents really supported and helped guide me through this.”
Photography was a hobby for Corinne’s father and he set up a dark room in the house he grew up in to see if it was something he had a talent for. He thought Corinne might like to try her hand at it too and bought her a camera at Christmas. It was then he noticed that she also had a creative flair and an eye for taking photographs.
Together they googled photography courses and came across a Level 5 Photography programme at Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board’s College of Further Education and Training, based at the ETB’s LCFE Mulgrave Street Campus. It was a one-year QQI Level 5 programme, which both Corinne and her dad thought would be the perfect opportunity to see if it was something she would like to pursue.
Talking about her experience at the campus, Corinne was full of praise: “From the moment I started there I loved it. It felt like a family at the campus. The other learners were great, we made great friendships, and we got great advice from one another & our lecturers. Our class went on trips abroad to Vienna and around the Mediterranean taking photos, editing them and working on our assignments. The facilities at the campus are brilliant, with all the equipment and lighting we needed. I loved that there was an on-campus dark room that we had access to. This really helped me explore my creative side and I ended up going on to do an Advanced Photography programme at the campus.”
“I never felt like there was any pressure to know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I just felt encouraged to explore my creativity and the lecturers were great. Honestly I don’t think I’d be where I am today without Áine, Dan, and Eoin.”
After graduating from LCFE Mulgrave Street Campus, Corinne went on to study Creative Broadcast and Film Production in TUS where she is currently in year three of a four-year programme. She has also won three awards for her Documentary ‘Underground Éire’, including a First Cut award in Cork and awards at the Dublin International Film Festival and The Catalyst in Limerick. The film is a music documentary inspired by a group of music learners she met during her time at LCFE Mulgrave Street Campus. “I met such a great group of friends at the campus and I decided to do the documentary because I felt young Irish musicians don’t get enough recognition in Ireland, so I wanted to make a documentary and shine a spotlight on what they do,” she explained.
Looking to the future Corinne says she would love to work in both photography and film, using film technology instead of digital and is looking forward to the future. As for advice for anyone not sure about what they want to do after school, her message is simple: “Explore as much as you can. I did night-classes in photography to see if I was interested and then I applied to the Photography programme at the campus and went from there. What I’ve also learnt is that creativity doesn’t come straight away. I’m still finding it actually. You’ll have your doubts and you’ll go through different emotions while you’re looking at your options, but you’ll find someone (like a parent or friend or the team at Mulgrave Street Campus) who will inspire you and push you to find your passion. But if you realise it’s not for you, there are so many other options you can take too. So it’s important to remember that.”
If, like Corinne, you’d like to explore your passion and be inspired by all the exciting possibilities available at LCFE Mulgrave Street Campus, including… go to www.lcfe.ie.
