Education an end in itself

Mark Tynan - Undecided

Mark Tynan always liked English and history in school and so when it came to choosing a college course in 1996 he decided to do an arts degree in English and history at UCD.

"To be honest, if you didn't have an interest in science, or maths, or business, I thought there was very little there for you on the CAO/CAS apart from arts, or maybe journalism." Mark had an interest in writing but didn't feel he was ready to devote himself to one particular career, so he felt arts was his best option.

Although most of his friends also went to Dublin, he found that studying arts in UCD meant spending a lot of time on his own. "It was a lot bigger than I expected. I wasn't prepared for not knowing the people I was sitting beside every day and seeing entirely new faces at the exams in the summer."

Being in lectures with 500 other students "took a good bit of getting used to", he says, but it taught him to stand on his own two feet. "I think it breeds independence." Mark says he always wanted to go on to do some sort of postgraduate course after his initial degree. "I never thought three years was enough and I still think it would be better if the UCD arts degree was four years." He considered doing a master's in journalism, but decided instead to continue studying English in UCD. He took a master's, specialising in American literature.

"I was fortunate enough to get the results - you needed a 2.1 in your undergraduate degree as the numbers were very restricted." The UCD master's in English is a 12-month course and so Mark has only just finished college within the last few months. He got a job almost immediately with the curriculum development unit in Crumlin, Dublin, as an administrator. Mark is not concerned that arts doesn't train you for a specific job. "Some people need to know what job they'll have for the rest of their lives, but that's not what arts is about," he says. "I did it for my own knowledge and I think I've learned a lot about life and about myself and I have a master's, which is a very good qualification."