A buoyed Pamela Noonan from Co. Limerick explains she left school at the age of 11 and struggled with her literacy ever since, saying: "I hadn’t really a clue how to write much when I left school. I wouldn’t be able to fill in a form or get a paper or read a book."
Opening up about the incredible achievement, Pamela said: "When I left school I was only 11. I was taught by nuns and they didn’t care whether you learned or not. I just went out to work."
Pamela, who is a proud grandmother to 14 grandchildren. reveals she attempted to learn through her children as they progressed through school, saying; "I decided then I’d learn from my children as they were growing up. I hadn’t a clue but I learned from them learning."
Speaking on The Anton Savage Show today, Pamela explained the motivation behind her decision to return to the classroom.
"My family life changed and my children grew up. I was left on my own. I could have stayed at home and done nothing. But a lot of people go bad in the head from that," she said.
Having first completed a computer course, an incredibly determined Pamela then sought advice from a Further Education and Training Centre and decided to sit her Junior Cert exams despite thinking she would be lucky to pass.
Surprising herself with her results, the proud mum is now turning her attention to the future and advises other people in her position to do the same, saying: "I’m going back now this year. I’m doing Level 3 in Maths, Communications Level 4, I’m doing a Higher level in computers.I’m going to do anything I can."
"My advice to anyone of the older generation is to get off your chairs and do something with your life if you have your health," she said.
What an incredibly inspirational woman!
