With Tralee VTOS hosting an Open Day next Thursday, Joan Griffin, a First Year student at the service, says it has given her a focus on where she wants her education to progress…

When I discovered VTOS, it was my intention to press the restart and update button on my education.

It had been many years since I was last in a classroom environment, so this was the perfect stepping stone.

I draw the parallel with updating a computer because we all here in VTOS have had some form of educational background — for example junior or leaving certificate — but for whatever reason it meant that our education ceased there.

When we restart and update a computer we are adding new information to the existing device, or in our case, we are restarting and updating our education.

I have learned so much from my time at VTOS and it has given me a focus on where I want my education to progress.

I am learning in a relaxed adult classroom environment and I am evaluating all of my new opportunities for progression.

It has also helped me with organisation and formed a stable routine to incorporate my learning.  I have formed new friendships and a great understanding of working as part of a team.

We have a great comradery as we are all equal in the adult education experience because we are all there for the same reason, to better ourselves.

It has given me a new confidence that I can achieve much more when I apply myself and focus.

So in conclusion, I would be a huge advocate for VTOS.  In our current global crisis VTOS will emerge as important as ever.

The inevitability is that many will lose jobs and require returning to adult education to retrain and upskill.  It has great teachers who have a vast experience in adult education that make the educational journey much more enjoyable.

When I move on to the next level of my education I know I will look back and be grateful for the stepping stone that it has provided me in progressing further.

So if I was to suggest a motto for VTOS it would as I mentioned at the start “press the restart and update button on your education”

• The Tralee VTOS Open Day takes place on Thursday, September 3 from 10am to 1pm at the centre in Clash.