She hated school and suffered anxiety, now Jess is a star of MTU

As someone who admits she hated school and “wasn’t in any way academic,” Jess Megan Daly has come a long way.

She has just been awarded a certificate for Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and Care at MTU, completing a remarkable educational journey for the Killeagh woman,

“I was the first person in my family to go to university,” says Jess, 32.

Her graduation came at the end of a road that was full of bumps en route to a more meaningful life.

“I didn’t like school at all,” says Jess. “I wasn’t in any way academic. I hated it.”

Why?

“I felt very lost,” says Jess. “I couldn’t concentrate and I felt very isolated. I kept to myself.”

She felt like she stood out too.

“I dressed different to everyone else,” says Jess. “And I used to ‘doss’ a lot.

“I dropped out of school before 6th year. I didn’t finish secondary school.”

What did she do?

“My first job was in the kitchen of a local pub. I washed dishes.”

She was still quite withdrawn.

“I wasn’t used to work,” says Jess. “I had no qualifications.”

She had gumption though.

“I went to work in McDonald’s in Daunt Street,” says Jess. “My aunt lived in Cork, and I slept on her couch after night shifts and would go back into work the next day

“As I got older, I did lots of jobs - waitressing, cook, barista, working in a call centre...”

She liked to let her hair down as well.

“I’d go partying and I’d go into work the next morning without having gotten any sleep,” recalls Jess.

It wasn’t a healthy lifestyle.

“No, it wasn’t,” says Jess.

“I spent all my wages on socialising. I went from house-to-house, and I was evicted from one house! The housemates were partying too much.

“My life was made up of partying and working.”

She fell in love along the way.

“I wasn’t very aware of my mental health issues at the time,” says Jess. “I was very impulsive. When the guy I was dating was going to Vietnam, I went there after him. I had moved back home and saved some money. I was young and I was clueless. So off I went.”

What was the plan?

“The plan was that I’d do a TEFL course online to allow me to teach English at a school in Vietnam,” says Jess.

“Western English-speaking people were in demand for employment in schools there. I thought it was a good start.”

It didn’t end well.

“The romance lasted four days!” says Jess. “Funds were low, but I decided to go travelling.”

She hit a bump on the road then too.

“One day, I was driving on my moped along the road and a car crashed into me.

“I had a really bad foot injury which got infected. Treatment in a private hospital for three weeks after surgery would cost $10,000.”

She had to act fast.

“I asked if could I fly back to Ireland with my foot the way it was. The answer was yes, but I had to fly home straight away or there was a danger I could lose my foot. I flew home that night. My parents were worried.”

Jess, after a broken romance and a badly injured foot, was not in a good place.

“I was couch-bound and on crutches for months,” she recalls.

“I felt very down, depressed, and anxious. My anxiety issue was diagnosed at a later date.”

She was down, but not out.

“After covid, I intended going back to work again and going back to living in the city again,” says Jess.

The feeling of isolation set in again.

“I felt really isolated,” says Jess.

She made a brave decision that would lead her to greater things.

“I decided to apply to the Cork College of Commerce to do Level 5 Playschool Social Studies, and I was accepted!

“I always thought college wasn’t for me and that I wasn’t capable of going to college.

“I remember going into the room at the college on the first day,” says Jess. “I was bricking it.”

Any barriers she had built up were broken down.

“Life as I knew it totally changed,” says Jess.

But she wasn’t supposed to be any way academic?

“I know!” says Jess laughing.

She was curious.

“I took an interest in psychology and social studies. I learnt about all kinds of things going on with me,” says Jess. “I gained confidence.”

She was hell-bent on changing her life for the better.

“The principal said that I didn’t miss a day in a whole year,” says Jess.

Her mojo, missing for a long time, was found again.

“It was a matter of stay stuck or do more,” says Jess. “Be brave and get on.”

Fortune favours the brave.

“Anxiety was still a struggle,” admits Jess.

When she achieved level seven along with distinctions in year one, her father, John, couldn’t believe it.

“Dad said, What?!”

Jess was well placed to progress in her studies.

“When I did my placement in playschool, I discovered that I had this absolute passion with kids,” says Jess. “I was amazed with them.”

She applied to MTU to sit early childhood education and care and was accepted.

“I could have gone to MTU in Galway, where I was working as a cook at the time, but I missed Cork, so I took up the offer of MTU Cork.”

She doesn’t want her time there to end.

“I adore MTU,” says Jess. “I never want to leave it!”

She won’t have to.

“I’m working in the IT customer support department at MTU for three years now, and I hope to graduate Level 8 in Early Childhood Education and Care next year,” says Jess.

“My goal is to do my masters in play therapy.”

She is writing her dissertation on screen time and children’s development and hopes to become a lecturer herself.

The stars aligned for Jess Megan Daly.

“When I was lamenting about the dating scene, my housemate Clara stepped in and told me to hear her out,” says Jess.

What did Clara have to say?

“She had a friend, Eoin, who she was adamant I should meet,” says Jess.

And?

“And it was love on our first date!” says Jess, delighted with the joys of life.

Jess and Eoin don’t believe in wasting time.

“We’re talking about getting engaged.”

What else does Jess want to talk about?

“I want to break down barriers for people who feel they might be at a dead end,” she says.

“Yes, it takes a bit of doing to pick yourself up. There is a lot of internal work involved. You have to work on it.”

She knows she is one of the lucky ones.

“I had support from my parents, my friends, my lecturers. My counsellors...

“Dr Judith Butler, lecturer, researcher, and postgraduate supervisor in the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood Studies at MTU is phenomenal,” says Jess. “I learned so much from her.”

Jess, B.A. with merit grade 1, wearing her cap and gown over her colourful vintage dress on Friday, October 30, at her graduation in MTU, was one proud lady.

“Yes, it is a big accomplishment,” says Jess.

What would she say to her younger self?

“I wish I could go back and give her a big hug,” says Jess, smiling with happiness.