Anthony Lawless
When I was in secondary school I decided I wanted to be a PE teacher, but I did not succeed in getting the points in my Leaving Cert. I have dyslexia and found secondary school very difficult. I remember the day I decided I was going to repeat to try and get PE teaching. I did so, but unfortunately while I had gone up a significant amount of points, I still fell short.
This was devastating because the dream was still out of reach, but then I learned about the DARE (Disability Access Route to Education) scheme. When I got in contact with DCU I was greeted with a friendly voice that actually cared. For this I will be forever grateful to Anne O'Connor in the Disabilities and Learning support service in DCU. She invited me up for a meeting with her to tell her my story and to see if she could do anything for me.
Making the dream a reality
When I arrived she was so friendly and made me feel so at home in a place I had never been before and previously thought was daunting. She told me what I needed to do and how it would be possible for me to get into PE and biology teaching. She did all in her power to help me and that's all anybody can ask for.
I started PE and Biology teaching in the Faculty of Science and Health in 2017. I have nothing but praise for the lectures and organisers of the course, including the PhD students who were there to help us out.
If it were not for DCU seeing me as a person and not a number, my life would be very different. It was the best time of my life and changed the course of my life forever. I met some great people, friends I will have for life and a wonderful girlfriend. For anybody who gets to read this, don't give up even if failure slaps you in the face not once but twice. You'll get there with a stroke of luck.
Anthony Lawless - Class of 2021