Watch Pamela's inspiring story above
“This is my dream and I decided I would go for it”
Pamela Downes, 52, from Limerick had always dreamed of being a primary school teacher but life got in the way and she saw that ambition slip into the background. As the eldest of five children and with her younger two brothers having autism, Pamela decided to get a job when she finished school so she could help out at home. “I got a job in a factory and I worked there for a long time, I made fantastic friends, I met my husband, then I changed jobs and worked for an autism group but in the back of my mind, the dream of teaching was always there.”
Three years ago, Pamela felt down and depressed, uncertain if it was the menopause or just life struggles, she decided to do a course in counselling and psychotherapy which made her look at her own life and what she wanted from it. She knew she wanted to teach so decided to go for it. “In order for me to get into teaching, I had to go back and do a teaching education access programme with MI college in Limerick, I had to repeat English, Irish and Maths in the Leaving Cert and work, and run a family.”
Pamela credits her family and close friends for encouraging and supporting her during the tough days in winter when she had to leave work to go to do three hours of maths grinds but her husband, daughter, mother and friends told her to ‘keep going’.
“The defining moment was opening my Leaving Cert results, I went in to get them, I needed to see that piece of paper, I remember looking at them and saying ‘on my god, i have a place in college’”.
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Pamela believes many women forget themselves when they have children and get older but age is not a barrier. “If I can do it at 52, anyone can do it, you have to believe in yourself.
“I have changed since I started, the first day I walked into Mary I, I was reverberating with excitement, that I had done it, I had gotten into college.
“I am here as proof that it is never too late to change your life.”
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