I returned to Ireland, my heritage home, and rediscovered a part of myself that had been lost…

Returning home to Ireland amid COVID had a profound impact on my life. I was working from home in my corporate job, sufficiently utilising the law degree I spent years obtaining. I was living the life I thought was the life I wanted. COVID affected all of us in different ways and for me, countless bread loaves wafting through windows and new puppies adopted, and I came to the realisation that this was not what I wanted to spend my life doing.

“I felt a connection to the land and the people in such a way that made me realise the depths of my identity…”

A few online short courses in literature laid out the path for my passion. I reconnected with my love of reading and literature. I spent hours looking through secondhand bookshops and libraries, finally feeling that honey-like warmth of learning begging to be read. And who I am to fight the alchemy? I felt a connection to the Irish landscape and the people in such a way that made me realise the depths of my identity.

As such, I have undertaken a drastic career change out of my corporate job to focus on my passion for reading and studying literature. Currently, I am enrolled in my Masters programme in Literature and Arts through the University of Oxford and my research focuses on the representation of minorities in Early Modern Literature. I aim to pursue a PhD and focus on a full-time academic career. Most importantly - I am studying part-time and distanced.

This rediscovery has highlighted how important continuing education departments - globalised learning, the diversity of a student body and access to education no matter their age - pulled me into a space where I wanted to share this journey and inspire others to pursue their passions, no matter at what stage of life.

My studies occupy my little home office in the countryside in the Wicklow mountains, where I wake up every morning to the sound of birds and walk my dogs in the surrounding natural beauty. My life has slowed down and is filled with love. I now embody the slow, sustainable and intentional lifestyle of the past that seems to have been lost in the wake of modern life. 

And this is the life I have wanted for myself.