Limerick woman overcomes obstacles along path to education through flexible learning

A LIMERICK mother has shared how staying curious and carving out her own path to education culminated in success and goals fulfilled as she graduated from University of Limerick.

Vanessa O’Rahilly, from Ballysimon Road in Limerick, was conferred with an MA in Sociology (Youth, Community and Social Regeneration) from UL’s Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, joining over 2,000 fellow students graduating as part of the University’s winter ceremonies.

For Vanessa, mum to 17-year-old son Cohen, her graduation is a moment of celebration after encountering obstacles all along her path back to education.

“I never really knew what I wanted to do after school, so I worked and travelled around. I went to South America and even got out to Antarctica – I ended up on a Russian working ship that was delivering food to scientists out there. I've had a very interesting life for a girl from the Ballysimon Road!” she said.

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Vanessa was always keen to return to education, but as she began exploring her options during son Cohen’s early years, it wasn’t straightforward. “As a single parent, I ran into loads of barriers. If it wasn’t on the financial side, then it was the timing.

A lot of courses required you to do volunteer work, and I couldn’t work for free,” she explained.
Vanessa pushed ahead regardless, undertaking short courses with the Women’s Collective in Limerick. Timed to run in the mornings or at weekends, the structure proved far more accessible as she strived to balance education with work and being a mum.

It was at one of these courses that Vanessa would first hear about the CWELL diploma at UL – a unique academic programme co-designed among local communities to address community-identified needs.

The course acronym – Community, Wellness, Empowerment, Leadership and Life skills – is reflective of its curriculum, with the content designed to apply to both individual and community needs.

With a commitment of one evening a week for two years, the CWELL diploma meant that Vanessa could continue to work and be a present parent while studying. She undertook the course between 2022 and 2024 and never looked back.

“I loved it. I found everyone in there to be so supportive. The response to everything was: ‘yes, you can do this’,” she recalled.

Feeling more driven than ever, Vanessa began researching level 8 qualifications, to carry on where she had left off with CWELL. It would be a chance email exchange, in response to a survey from a staff member in UL’s Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, that would introduce Vanessa to a new educational pathway: the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) system.

RPL enables individuals to gain formal qualifications based on their existing skills and work experience, making it possible to build on learning achieved and to be rewarded for it. For Vanessa, it meant she could skip over level 8 and go straight into a level 9 programme.

When it came to choosing her area of study, the MA in Sociology (Youth, Community and Social Regeneration) was a natural fit: “It was always naturally there in me to be in community work. We grew up in an area where the community relied on each other. My parents owned the local shop, and we were constantly helping people in the area.”

Reflecting on her experience at UL, Vanessa emphasised the importance of the supports she received along the journey to graduation. “I think CWELL has created an amazing culture within UL, and I found the same in the MA – you could call on any of the lecturers to give you advice.”

That support extends to Vanessa’s family and friends, and she reserves special gratitude for the Eureka moments that followed visits to her mother’s house for a cup of tea; her partner Philip, and her son Cohen.

Looking ahead, Vanessa is excited for what’s to come in her current role as a project worker in the Limerick-based charity, Engage in Education. The organisation focuses on early intervention educational supports and works with young people the entire way through their educational journey, planting the seed for further education from a young age.

“It’s such important work in the community, and I have joined the team at a very important turning point,” explained Vanessa.

“We often work with young people who are the first in the family to complete post-primary education and go to college, and our support stretches out to the families to help them navigate the many pathways and options that are there now. CAO, SUSI, HEAR and DARE can be a minefield for people, and we are there to help.”

“We are a small team, but we’re expanding, so this is a very important moment to be part of the organisation. I’m very proud of the work we do, and to be part of such a positive programme,” she added.

While getting Cohen through his Leaving Cert is top-priority moving forward, Vanessa is embodying the spirit of ‘staying curious’ as she explores the possibility of pursuing a PhD.