Cormac's story

Cormac has recently dropped out of college. Last term he failed his second year exams in industrial design and decided to give up - even though he likes the subject. He's currently at home deciding on his future. "I honestly don't know what to do. I need to have a good think," he says. Cormac blames college lecturers for his poor performance. First year was fine, he says, but second year was very hard. "We had to make presentations of our work in front of the whole class. The lecturers could be very hard and very critical. They'd make you feel like shit.

"You'd come out of a presentation with very low self esteem. Myself and another lad felt awful. It got that we couldn't go in and face the class. I just lost interest." Cormac admits he found the transition form school to college quite hard. "The course was overcrowded and I didn't have a desk. You'd just hope someone wouldn't turn up , so that you could get a seat." Lecturers were less than attentive.

"Sometimes they wouldn't turn up," he recalls. "Other times, they'd call in for five minutes and say `Get on with it'. They didn't stay and give you any help."