Degrees of Seperation

SARAH MCGOVERN
Model Sarah McGovern (pictured) studied Business, German and Italian at DIT Kevin Street, Dublin.

“I’ve always wanted to do modelling, but I never planned that I would go into it after college. After I graduated I became Students Union president for three years. I got a lot of experience out of it, managing a team of officers, organising events and dealing with money issues. I then went back to my studies and did a PR diploma in the evenings – it feels like I’ve been a student forever. You have to have a head on your shoulders for modelling, you can’t just be an airhead. You have to be professional, always turn up on time and do your own accounts – we’re self employed after all.
If you’ve started college and you find it’s not the course for you don’t panic, nowadays there’s so many options you can literally go from one course level to the other. Also, don’t forget to enjoy college time, cos there’ll be many years when you have to work as well!”

COLM O SNODAIGH
Kila’s Colm O Snodaigh is a qualified physiotherapist.

“I went straight to college after the Leaving and I made it through in the end, by the skin of my teeth! I practised full-time for nearly three years, then part-time for another ten years or so. Eventually the music just took over and I wasn’t able to do it anymore, I do miss it though. I met a physiotherapist friend a few days ago and I was thinking it would be great to go back. It’s an amazing thing to do. It involves very fundamental human reactions and you have to use your hands in a very physical way. I learnt an awful lot about things like touch and patience. Touch is a big part of music, so it helps that my fingers are quite sensitive to subtle changes.”

RYAN TUBRIDY
RTE radio and television presenter Ryan Tubridy studied History and Classics at UCD.

“My time in college also helped me carve out a niche in terms of what interests me in life. Anything to do with history, and therefore politics, comes into my realm and it greatly informs what I do on the radio. I think any Arts degree is great because it allows you to get a broad look at education in general, rather than just an intense look at one thing. Don’t take your college years too seriously, either. There’s a lot of fun to be had, a lot of books to read but also a lot of booze to be enjoyed and girls and boys to be met. Try not to get caught up in academia too much – party while you’re reading!”

MICK PYRO
Mick Pyro, lead singer with Republic of Loose, has a master’s degree in English from UCD.

“I always wanted to go to college to study English because I just love it so much. I was very inspired by the poets I was studying, especially renaissance poets like Christopher Marlowe. He gave me a love for hip-hop, because his stuff is very similar to that – a lot of it is hyperbole, bragging and boasting, but it’s done using incredible images, which is very similar to how hip-hop works. It really gave me an understanding of how beautiful and important hip-hop is as an art form. Marlowe was rock’n’roll as well – he died in a knife fight when he was 28, after a disagreement over a restaurant bill, which is pretty hip.
“If you go to university it’s something you have to take very seriously, because you have access to a huge amount of resources and knowledge. A university library is a gift: you’ve got all of the knowledge of humanity there in one space. I really cherish the times that I had in the library, just wandering around picking up books on any subject – Kurt Vonnegut one minute, Japanese history the next!”