At 22, with two years of a UCC degree course under his belt, Thomas Scanlan is not your typical school-leaver making decisions about his future. Two years ago, he ditched university and opted for a certificate course in agriculture at Clonakilty Agricultural College, Co Cork. "There were too many people at UCC and I didn't enjoy the course - food business. It was more technical than I wanted," he explains. "I come from a farming background near Macroom, Co Cork, and have an interest in agriculture. When I saw the Teagasc course advertised, I applied for it and got it. At the time I didn't realise that I could follow it up with a (two year) diploma course."

Thomas found the certificate course "easy" but useful. "I knew how to do things from my experience at home but I didn't know why we did things in a particular way," he explains. "The course covered all aspects of farming." But surely after two years at university it was inevitable that he would find the course easy? "Anyone who's done the Leaving Cert would have no problems with it," he asserts. "The only people who had trouble were those who had left school after Junior Cert. But the teachers and other students helped them and most of them passed." The camaraderie at college was "fierce", he notes.

After completion of the certificate course, Thomas moved on to do a diploma in agriculture (dairying). To date, it's a case of "so far so good". "We were based in the college for four months until the end of January doing lectures and going on field trips and then I started on the first of my two (six months' long) work placements," he recalls. "I worked for a master farmer just outside Youghal. It was a real eye-opener. It was a much bigger farm than I was used to and I saw a lot of extra things I'd never seen before."

At the beginning of August, Thomas embarked on his second placement at Dairygold's mill at Lombardstown, Mallow, Co Cork. "I'll only be in the mill for a couple of months and then I'll move to a milk processing or artificial insemination unit."

The certificate course was "grand", he notes, "but if you want to do well, the diploma is the way to go. You need all the expertise you can get." For the future, Thomas hopes to work in the agri-industry. Prospects are good, he believes.