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Louth GAA captain Sam Mulroy reflects on his education journey, reassuring students that the Leaving Cert doesn't dictate their future, as Round 1 CAO offers are issued.
‘I left school without filling out CAO form’: Louth GAA’s Sam Mulroy insists Leaving Cert ‘doesn’t define you’ Businessman who runs his own gym says he ‘got 200 points in my Leaving Cert ificate, and still ended up with a Master’s degree’ Louth GAA captain Sam Mulroy: 'I left school without even filling out a CAO form and ended up with a Master’s degree, not because I suddenly became academic.
I had just found something I actually cared enough about to apply myself to.
' Photograph: Ramsey Cardy/SportsfileMulroy has reflected on how his journey through education wasn’t as straightforward as expected, in a bid to reassure any disappointed students following the issue of Round 1 CAO offers at 2pm on Wednesday. “I got 200 points in my Leaving Certificate, and still ended up with a Master’s. It doesn’t define you,” said Mulroy, who completed his Leaving Certificate in 2015 .
, said college was never on his radar, and instead of celebrating his Leaving Certificate results on the town with friends, he went GAA training with his Naomh Mairtín club in Monasterboice, outside Drogheda.
‘An incredible course’: K Club’s Palmer South emerges from the shadow for Women’s Irish OpenThe Tipperary walled town: ‘The bars on the windows aren’t decorative – they kept the cows out’ “I was amazed I passed everything to be honest, because I didn’t do any study. It wasn’t a big deal for me,” he said.
“I got through school focusing on football during lunch or that evening. It was a safe space for me really. My parents weren’t happy with all the calls they got from the school, but they understood I wasn’t academic and never pushed me into anything. They have always been hugely supportive of me.
After school, Mulroy secured work locally in pubs, restaurants and builders’ yards and was never shy of hard work. , but didn’t have the points to get into the college. So he studied sports for a year as a Post Leaving Certificate course in Drogheda Institute of Further Education and a further year inSam Mulroy studied a master's in sports management at Ulster University and started his own gym, Sam Mulroy Fitness, which now employs five people.
Photograph: Sam Sanni “I was working in a gym environment there and for the first time I felt that I’d found something that brought out the best in me,” he said. , along with his degree in Sports Exercise, and to start his own gym, Sam Mulroy Fitness, which now employs five people.
“I left school without even filling out a CAO form and ended up with a Master’s degree, not because I suddenly became academic. I had just found something I actually cared enough about to apply myself to.
“There may be young students out there now who are disappointed at this moment, but they need to realise that there is always a way to get there. Be positive. Commitment and hard work will always get you places.
“Whether you got exactly what you hoped for, something completely different or whether, like me, you don’t even have an offer coming at all, none of those outcomes decides the rest of your life. Keep working, keep trying things and saying yes to opportunities. There isn’t one right route. Find out what brings out the best in you.
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