“A positive mind is able to achieve the goal set before it. Never underestimate your ability, and never allow fear to be a boundary to achieve your goals. Always communicate a positive mind to yourself and push towards your goals. By so doing you will accomplish your plans.”
My name is Esther Jovial Kabongo. I moved to Castlebar three years back. I had a one-year old baby girl back then.
At the time I moved to Castlebar, I did some deep thinking on what career path to take. I had refused to give up on myself just because I did not reach or continue with my Diploma in Accounting and Finance. Although I thought I had too much passion in anything to do with accounting.
I remember one day, I was sitting down thinking to myself “what can I do for myself in terms of a career?” The Lord directed me into something totally different from what I was doing previously so, I had to change my career path to study Early Childhood Care and Education due to the conviction that I had within my heart.
I started making calls and visits to enquire information about Early Childhood Care and Education. I called Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMI)T and visited them but unfortunately I was not able to do full time study back then. I visited Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLTB) Adult Learning Centre in Castlebar. They promised to call me back in a few working days. To their honesty they called me back in less than a week, so I went in to meet the tutor and they gave me information which I needed concerning the course I was taking. I registered myself for the course. It was a part time course which was suitable for me because I wouldn’t have been able to do full time studies due to childcare responsibilities.
“To my surprise, the classroom was not tense at all”
I did some modules with different tutors, it was very flexible hours and my tutors were very friendly. At first I was less confident because I had never studied in the country except the course I was doing online before then. I was not sure whether I would understand fully in class, everything was so new to me. And also, I was not familiar with the Childcare industry.
But to my surprise, the classroom was not tense at all, I could go and ask the tutor personally if I had not understood during the class lectures. They were all happy to re explain to me and that made me comfortable and that was when I gained confidence. I felt so comfortable in the classroom, people that I was in the class with were friendly and that made things easy for me because at times we would have group discussions and presentations.
“It is such a great feeling to know that even though life may seem to have no direction at the moment due to COVID-19, I am able to further my studies”
Back then I knew what I wanted but I was not sure how far I could go. I would like to say a sincere thank you to all my MSLTB tutors for the great welcoming and support they showed me. I have just finished my Level 5 in Early Childhood and Care Education and I am currently doing my Level 6.
A big thank you again to my current tutor because throughout COVID-19 I have been studying online using Teams, it is such a great feeling to know that even though life may seem to have no direction at the moment due to COVID-19, I am able to further my studies which I find even greater as a mother because I study from home, life goes on, that is my story.
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Thinking of returning to education as an adult? You may find the following resources helpful:
One Step Up: https://www.onestepup.ie/
Fetch Courses: https://www.fetchcourses.ie/
eCollege: https://www.ecollege.ie/