Peer To Peer CAO Special: Holly O'Neill - "Choosing a course – it’s not life or death"

Holly O’Neill

Bachelor of Arts: Joint Honours in Law and Media
Dublin City University

Originally, I picked journalism, but I didn’t get that in the first round of offers and I got my second option, which was the bachelor joint honours in law and media, but I’m much happier I got that. I was intrigued by how interconnected different media is to law and how well those work together. A part I was very interested in was the media side. It wasn’t just TV and radio that I analysed, it was a multitude of sectors across different modules.

The fact that I could do both was interesting, and I learnt different skillsets from both law and media. You can then transfer those into different areas on both sides of the course. You get freedom. It gives you the chance to work from your own initiative. It’s a complete contrast from secondary school, where you’re kind of baby-fed. In college, they just hand work to you and go, “do that”, and you have to, to the best of your abilities.

I liked how I wasn’t stuck with one subject. I had both options, giving me transferable skills. Choosing a course – it’s not life or death. There’s many different avenues that you can go down. I think there’s a lot of pressure in sixth year. Don’t let other people’s pressure and what they want to do influence your own decisions.

Whatever you are interested in, make sure that’s reflected in the courses you pick. Ignore all the outside noise. Even if you do something and you don’t like it and you finish it, you can do something else. Don’t apply for something just for the sake of it. If going straight to college isn’t something you wanna do, take the year out. Think about it.

After college, I worked in a hotel for a year. I was applying for jobs and I had a couple of interviews, nothing really went anywhere, and then I got my current job as a legal secretary, which I’m really enjoying. It’s interesting because I’m adding on the skills and experiences that I got in college but in a proper practice where I get to see it firsthand.

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