'I'm so glad I didn't take Greek'

MY EDUCATION WEEK: MATTHEW O'BYRNE WHITE, Final year student, Business and Languages, DCU

SATURDAY

Woke up this morning to happy news. Ireland and Germany are among the only euro zone economies not to report a fall in service sector activity last month. Wouldn’t cheer most people up on a cold November morning, but when you’re an Irish student of German and business about to hit the jobs market, it’s music to the ears.

In fact, studying German is a constant source of relief to me these days as more and more commentators conclude that Germany is running the show. It seems to be the only economic safehouse in Europe. So glad I didn’t take Greek.

Headed off to my job waiting tables in Blanchardstown. I’ve had to do 10 to 12 hours a week in the restaurant all the way through college. It’s getting harder now that the finals are approaching but I’ll have to keep it up to pay the bills. Actually I live at home with my Mum so the bills aren’t too bad but the DCU canteen is on the pricey side.

With such a squeeze on time, I have mixed feelings about this hip injury that’s keeping me away from the Ratoath Harps this season. More time to spend with the books and the girlfriend, I suppose.

SUNDAY

I went to see Tintinthe movie this afternoon. Actually I was dragged to see Tintinthe movie. Impressive animation but otherwise thumbs down. From then on it was a day of study and project work. I'm working on a group assignment in business strategy and another on spreadsheets and data modelling. Pretty difficult stuff. I'd rather be watching the Premiership with my brother. I'll catch up in the car on the way to Dublin tomorrow morning.

MONDAY

Monday is the busiest day of the week for me – I have lectures from 10am until 6pm. I travel up from Meath in the car with my brother who’s in third year studying engineering at DCU. I start the day with Spanish.

I took it up from scratch when I started at DCU. Another very useful language as it is so widely spoken. The Spanish economy not looking so hot at the moment though.

I have four hours of German today as well. My German is much better developed as I did it for six years at school and then did an Erasmus placement in Germany as part of my degree.

Finished the day with eCommerce and information systems. It’s my specialisation this year. I think the combination gives me a pretty handy chance of getting a job when I graduate – at least that’s what my family told me! I know there are loads of unemployed graduates out there at the moment, but some of the people I know who finished last year are in graduate positions with companies now. I’m no economist, but I like to think things are picking up.

Went home and watched The Apprentice. Very funny. Three lads ended up in the boardroom fighting about chocolate. One accused the other spending too much time concentrating on a handbag. I have to tell you that that show makes me feel very positive about my future in business in Ireland. If that's the kind of competition I'm up against I'll be alright.

TUESDAY

Went to a talk on campus by Willie Walsh on the subject of Aer Lingus. It was organised by the Students’ Union. There was a very good turnout for a change. When I first started at DCU the social scene wasn’t great, but the SU have picked things up a lot in the meantime.

Not that a talk by Willie Walsh is such a wild party, but it shows that people are getting more involved on campus I suppose.

In the German college in Berlin, where I spent my Erasmus year, there was no collective campus feel at all, so I appreciated DCU all the more when I came back.

Home to the books with the glare of my open Facebook page giving me an eTan. I never post anything up, just watch what my friends are up to. Silly really. I should just switch it off. There’s a Facebook page dedicated to people like me called “I don’t trust anyone who never posts a status update”. Only 30 people like it so I’m not that worried.

WEDNESDAY

More news stories about Germany’s healthy economy today – it’s looking surer that I’ll be off when I’m finished my degree. Most people in my year are talking about leaving. They’re not moaning about it though.

In fact, for most of them it’s a case of unfinished business. After spending a year abroad on Erasmus they made connections in various places around the world and now they want to go back.

I’d really like to go back to Germany too. I broke my ankle there and had to come home early. Had a lot of trouble with injuries lately.

I won’t just book the first flight out of Ireland when I graduate though. I’ll try and get a graduate placement here with someone like Diageo first and see if they give me an opportunity to travel. Maybe I’m in a bit of a bubble because I have a foreign language. It seems to be one of the few degrees that’s still got currency out there.

I have got a taste of working in Ireland too. I took a year out on placement with Enterprise Ireland. Managed not to injure myself in that post. Maybe they’ll field me again?

THURSDAY

I only had two hours lecture time today. In fact, apart from Mondays I only have about two hours every day. In the past I would have played a bit of rugby on campus or headed back to Meath in the afternoon.

The atmosphere is different this year, though. Everybody’s working a lot harder. I even went to a “coffee and cake” session to network and chat with German students on Erasmus here, and what do you know, there were plenty of my classmates there. None of us would have done that before.

I guess we must be taking things a bit more seriously. Not that seriously though.

FRIDAY

Heading off to Madrid today to walk the city with my girlfriend and forget about spreadsheets and German verbs for a while. I probably won’t be able to get away from the drip drip of bad news from Europe though – it would suit me better not to understand Spanish this weekend.

To be honest when I filled out my CAO form I didn’t give a thought to the economy. It was early 2007 and things were just about to go badly wrong for the economy, but my friends and I (along with the rest of the population, save for one or two pessimistic economists) were blissfully unaware.

The future wasn’t even on our radar. We had the attitude that it didn’t matter what area we chose, there were jobs for everyone in every discipline.

Initially I wanted to be a vet, but I didn’t get the points. I took business because I liked the look of the course. I never thought about it in terms of employment.

By the time I was in second year, things had gone pear-shaped. I was, and am, angry about what happened to this economy, but at the time I felt relieved to be in the middle of a degree programme. It seemed like the safest place to be. I was sure that by the time I graduated things would be on the up and up again. In fact, things have flatlined.

Even if I stay in college for a masters and PhD I might still be met by recession at the gates, the way things are going.

Come June I won’t be able to hide in college anymore and I’ll have to get out there and take on an economy that was far more inviting to me when I started than it is now.

On the up side, flights are cheaper – I got to Madrid for a song so my inevitable European odyssey won’t put me in hock for the rest of my life. Looks like I might just about dodge university fees as well.

THIS WEEK I WAS

READING

Spreadsheets. No novels for me this year

WATCHING

The Apprentice. I could win that.

LISTENING TO

The Strawberry Alarm Clock

VISITING

Facebook. Just looking