Ms Kathlyn Leahy:

I went to an all-girls secondary school, so when it came to apprenticeships, they were at the bottom of the list of options. It was all about nursing, teaching and so on. When I was doing my leaving certificate, I spent a lot of time looking at the Central Applications Office form, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to study hospitality management no matter where I had to do it. I was going to do it and I was going to be good at it. It is hard for young people to make a decision about what they want to do at that stage in life, but doing something like an apprenticeship buys time. I am studying hospitality management, but I do not know what I am going to do when I finish college. However, it is very good to get the experiences that I have gotten from it. What one puts into it is what one gets out of it. It is definitely important to promote skills in schools for girls.