College or not?

LegacyUser

Hi all, Im not really sure if this belongs here or on the college forum, as it isnt really a serious problem, just some small decision I need to make and its starting to get on my nerves that September approaches.

Basically, I'm 20 years old, and left school with a poor leaving cert (I got more than I expected to be honest, and yes I did try fairly hard).

Over the past year I have done a FETAC level 5 course in I.T and passed it with good results. This enables me to move onto level 7/8 college courses in that area of study only. But the thing is, after this 1 year course I know that I.T isnt what I want to do with my life. I dont want to spend the next 3-4 years studying programming and computing etc.
I love computers as a hobby. I've built my own and take great interest in them but its not something I want to do for a career.

I know this sounds crazy but after a lot of consideration I want to try nursing. I love helping people and working with people, especially in that kind of setting. However, I don't qualify for any nursing courses in colleges/uni/I.T due to the poor leaving cert.

At this stage its too late to do a FETAC course in nursing as I would have had to apply back in January/Feburary and done interviews before June. (I was still doing my I.T course at this time and hadn't fully made up my mind).

So do I suck it up and stick with some crappy I.T course for the next year and drop out if I dont like it? or do I decline this all together and try to get a job (unlikely, and have no car/live in the middle of nowhere), but most likely end up sitting at home all day.

Thing is, even if I do the FETAC course in nursing next year they don't accept that as a qualification for level 7/8 nursing, so Im going to have to wait until Im 24 anyway to try get in as a mature student.

This is actually starting to make me worry a bit. I don't want to end up sitting at home all day doing nothing, and I don't want to go into college every day for something I haven't got an interest in doing. I also have great pressure from my parents who will pretty much try to force me onto the I.T course. I'm no push over though.

irishbarb

Are you sure that it's too late to apply for a fetac course? I'm pretty sure you can still apply. I know a girl who applied for a fetac nursing course after she got her Leaving cert results in August late year.

Mousewar

It's strange that you love computers so much, enough to build you own, but don't think you'd like it as a career. Are you sure the FETAC course wasn't just a bit crap? I mean, there's some boring parts to a lot of computer courses but a lot of it can be interesting and give you the freedom to pursue a career in the specific field you're interested in.
Nursing is a great career and populated by some of our best people. But it's often hard hard work with mediocre pay. With IT, if you work hard so that you can avoid boring tech support jobs you could get a solid career with potentially very good pay, that satisfies you both creatively and financially. Just a thought.

LegacyUser

irishbarb wrote: »

Are you sure that it's too late to apply for a fetac course? I'm pretty sure you can still apply. I know a girl who applied for a fetac nursing course after she got her Leaving cert results in August late year.

Yeah, unfortunately nursing is an extremely popular course and they already filled the course, and have people lined up to take the spots of anybody who drops out early in the year. I think a few hundred applied for something like 30 places.

It's strange that you love computers so much, enough to build you own, but don't think you'd like it as a career

The course wasn't crap, I enjoyed it for the most part but it had a lot to do with having friends with me too. The programming, web design, mathematical, and other technical software aspects of it turned me off completely. I think I would hate to continue doing all that for the rest of my life. There is a big difference between building pc's and working with the software. I also have 0 interest in the business aspect of it.

I already give my time to helping people and nursing is something I definitely want to try. As I said, I love helping people and Im not really interested in pay, just a career choice I'm happy with.

Nymeria

Just wondering if you had thought about studying Nursing in the UK? There are loads of Irish people studying in Scotland, where the fees are free if you are an EU citizen who has not yet completed a degree before.

I know the UCAS (the UK version of CAO) applications don't close until January or something so you would have time to apply for starting September next year. In fact, I think some Universities over there do a trimester starting in January, so if you wanted you could maybe sort yourself out by then.