Mature student Michelle talks about how meaningful and enjoyable she found her studies at SETU and what she has progressed onto since completing her studies
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Early Childhood Studies graduate Michelle Fenton is from Waterford.
What are you doing now that the course is over?
Before I started the course I was working in St. Joesph’s childcare centre on the relief panel whereas now I have a permanent full time position in the preschool and afterschool.
How did you find juggling work and study?
It was very hard but well worth it. I found that when I was in work, the content I studied in the course I could see it more and I could take more into consideration with different points of view while observing the children so it helped me massively in the related modules.
Did you have any placements while in college?
Yeah I had placement in St. Saviours in Ballybeg which I really enjoyed and also I worked as a special needs assistant in my own childcare centre so the two placements were very different. One was mainly working with disadvantaged children to support their education and their wellbeing in the school and the second was working one to one with a child with a condition called fragile X which was really good being able to watch him grow and integrate into mainstream education and supporting his education as well and seeing the difference between when he started and when he finished. In my opinion the placements were very beneficial to the course overall.
What was your biggest takeaway from your time in college?
I suppose it made me look at education in a different way say from secondary school, even though I’m a mature student, my experience of education in secondary school wouldn’t have been as meaningful whereas while I was doing this course and because I’m working in the area and I have interest in supporting children it was more meaningful and enjoyable.
Interviewed by Ian Bradley at Conferring 2018