‘There’s always a way to get where you want’

W HEN Kevin Hegarty didn’t get his top CAO choice of physiotherapy, he engaged in a bit of lateral thinking and decided to look around to see what else might interest him.

The former pupil of St Gerard’s, Bray, Co Wicklow conducted a Google search.

“I knew I wanted to study in Dublin and I just looked online,” he says.

Kevin landed on the Crumlin College of Further Education website and came up with a two-year course in sports therapy that would allow progression to higher education.

Kevin, who is now 26, completed first year and was planning to progress further into second year leading to a Level 6 qualification, but realised there was a lot of chemistry and physics involved in this area, and biology had been his science subject in school.

“I took a year off and decided I wanted to do photography but wasn’t sure how to go about it.”

Kevin subsequently learned that a lot of colleges had a portfolio as an entry requirement,” he says.

As part of his research, Kevin went to an Open Day in Griffith College, Dublin, and learned that no portfolio was needed for its BA in Photography, so his decision was made.

He has had a great three years there, finishing his summer with an exciting photographic exhibition at the graduate show.

The exhibition was based on work he did on a trip to Nepal, which he visited with Indreni, a children’s charity, with the aim of improving the lives and education of children in Nepal.

He had done some fundraising for Indreni in the past and last February was asked by the foundation to go on a shoot.

Kevin remembers all the pressure of the Leaving Cert year and, looking back to the disappointment he felt around CAO time, he has wise words for those in the same boat today: “If it doesn’t go as planned, there is always a way around it”.