There’s a slight chill in the air, the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees and homework is beginning to build up. Along some school corridors, whispers of a class trip to the RDS can be heard.
It’s Higher Options time.
Higher Options, Ireland’s largest education expo, is back in Dublin from Wednesday to Friday, September 17th to 19th.
It provides a unique opportunity for students from across Ireland to speak with representatives from third-level institutions from here, as well as from the UK, Europe and further afield.
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As Peter McGuire notes in his article online today, there are two ways students can do Higher Options.
Option one: Whether they’re hopping on a bus to the RDS in Dublin, or travelling en masse with classmates, students can ditch their teachers and take some time out to hang out with their friends.
Option two: Making a plan for the day and making the most of this early chance to find out all you can about colleges and courses, both in Ireland and abroad.
As appealing as option one might sound to students, encouraging them to take the second option might can save a lot of time (and stress) in the future.
Luckily, Peter has laid out everything students should know about making the most of their time at the expo. If you’ve got a student going to the expo, it can be a good idea to take some time to plan what they’d like to find out from the event.
Having some questions ready to go can be a good way of doing this.
Some of these could include:
What’s the best thing about this college? And the worst?
Was it hard to find accommodation?
Is the library good?
Tailoring the questions to suit the students’ wants and needs from a course or career can be a good way for them to learn from the first-hand experiences of those in their desired field.
For students beginning the senior cycle this year, all this talk about education expos and future plans can feel quite overwhelming.
If you’ve got a worried fifth or sixth year student at home, we’ve got you covered - chatting to people who did PLCs, apprenticeships and went straight to college after the Leaving Cert. Knowing the correct path to take can be hard, and, as with most things in life, one size definitely doesn’t fit all.
Maybe you know someone who has their sights set on studying abroad, such as Rodhan Harris, who studies international business administration at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, and is currently on a placement in Singapore.
For all this and more, pick up a copy of our Higher Options supplement with today’s paper, or head to our website.
