First days in college: Ian Power, president of NYCI, Ex-UCC, Kings Inns

Name: Ian Power

Occupation: Executive director of spunout.ie and president of the National Youth Council of Ireland.

Education: UCC, Kings Inns

“A lot of people don’t know what they want to do in college. I was one of them. I asked my parents for a year off to figure it out. But they resisted because they feared I wouldn’t go at all.

“So I went with an arts degree. The course was good, but it just wasn’t for me. Still, I stuck it out. If I was doing it again, I’d have cut my losses in those first few months, while there was still a chance to move course or drop out with a view to starting a new course the following September and still be eligible for free fees the following year.

"For all that, I hugely enjoyed my time in college. I threw myself into student life. During my time at UCC, I was deputy president of the students' union, editor of the college newspaper and president of the societies committee. I set up an independent magazine, Motley, which is still there.

“All the work and job experience I’ve done since, including working as a guidance counsellor to young people at a sixth form college in London, has been connected to the skills I learned in college, outside the formal setting of the lecture hall or classroom. It’s all been related to the extracurricular side of college life, because while I was never very good at going to class, I was good at the skills of event management and communications.

“My friends and my professional network now are largely based on the people I met in clubs and societies. Get involved from the outset. There will be a societies or freshers’ day at the start of term, with societies or clubs based around your interests. The second and third years will be keen to have new members and they want you to get involved. There is a club or society for everyone on college: if not, it’s easy to set one up.

“I was in the choral society, the journalism society, the commerce society and, because it was a really fun, good group of people, Macra na Feirme. I ran for class rep. I threw myself into the student newspaper.

“All this time, I was working a part-time job as a manager in Penneys. I’m from Waterford, so I had to live away from home, and I had to pay my way. It’s not always easy. One useful piece of budgeting advice is to join the credit union and save up what you can. I had to pay for accommodation upfront at the start of the year, and credit union loans, along with a grant, were crucial.

“There are times when you might struggle, but there are supports in place, such as a students’ union emergency fund or a student assistance fund.

“In first year, I lived in a house on College Road, with nine people in an eight-bed house and a tiny kitchen. If you’re living away from home, it helps to live with friends: if you’re close enough to them, you’ll forgive almost anything. Don’t be that passive-aggressive housemate who marks all their food with a post-it note. Learn to communicate with the people you live with.

“Maybe I should have struck a better balance between the social and academic sides of college. I left a lot of study until the very last minute. Instead of doing a little bit often, I crammed. Sure, it gets you through the exams, but if the aim is to actually retain and use that information, cramming is a bad idea.

“Before I went to college, I thought that your degree defined the course of your life. I expected to emerge and work in a corporate environment; instead, I work with young people on social issues and I’m friends with engineering graduates who work in human resources.

“College is about learning and growing and seeing all the different opportunities it offers. I’ve learned that college is not as linear as we think. It will be one of the best experiences you ever have, if you fully embrace it.”

Ian Power has a BA in economics and politics from University College Cork. In 2010, he began work as a guidance counsellor in Hackney and established an organisation, Raising Aspirations, which helps young people from poorer backgrounds to go to good universities. He has an advanced diploma in juvenile justice from the King’s Inns.