Deciding what to study at university is a very daunting decision. Being a highly indecisive person, I considered everything from law, veterinary science, teaching, to photography and journalism. I changed my CAO countless times, and had many a meeting with my career guidance teacher. The possibility of doing an Arts degree had always been there in the back of my mind, but at the time I only considered it as a back-up option. It was getting a job after college that worried me - what career did an Arts degree lead to? At least with something like Law or Vet Science you were being trained for a specific career; there was a planned and clear path for you to follow.
My favourite subjects in secondary school were Classical Studies and Geography, and as I progressed through 5th and 6th year I realised that I didn't want to give them up once school ended. This is when I really started considering Arts. My career guidance teacher told me to study what I was passionate about, and not to worry too much about job opportunities down the road, because if you love something enough you will make it work. Choosing Arts also meant I didn't have to decide on the career I wanted for the rest of my life, which is a pretty terrifying decision for an 18 year old to make. Before I had been worried that Arts didn't offer enough direction or training for a specific career, but then I realised the beauty of Arts was how open and flexible it is; it provides you with valuable skills and training for a wide range of career paths. It opens up so many opportunities. This is something you don't get with vocational courses - eg. studying primary teaching only trains you to teach primary school - if you decide somewhere down the road that you no longer want to teach you don't have many options open to you. Arts keeps your options open.
And so Arts in UCD ended up being my first choice on the CAO. I chose UCD first and foremost because it was the only university that offered the subject combination I wanted (Classics and Geog is a bit of an odd mix), but also because I loved the atmosphere on campus. My sister studied in UCD so I'd seen the place before and knew a bit about it. I went to open days for other colleges like Trinity and Maynooth, and UCD won hands down. It was a lively place, there was always something going on and it had such a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. I loved that it was all on one large campus with loads of places for the students to hang out - be it the student bar, student centre, global lounge, one of the many cafes, or outside on one of the grassy areas by the lake. It felt a bit more homely than the smaller campuses in the middle of the city. Some of the colleges I looked into, particularly for teaching, were quite small. I went to a very small secondary school and I realised a small college was not for me. I wanted to go to a big, vibrant college. I wanted an exciting university experience, and UCD certainly provided that.
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