What I studied / thought generally:
This year, I studied the Fashion, Retail, Styling and Display course (Level 5) at GTI. I learned so much from this course and I absolutely loved it! My goal is to become either a fashion stylist or Fashion photographer, or maybe both. This was the most relevant course I found in Ireland. The course is extremely broad and there is so many job opportunities to come from it such as fashion styling, photography, blogging, buying, retail, or merchandising. It would also suit a person who was interested in working within any general part of the fashion industry. This course will really give you an insight into all of these areas.
The title of this course is somewhat misleading. One thing I would warn about is that this is a Fashion Business course. Many members of the class were surprised by the large amount of business there is in this course! I wouldn’t recommend anyone to do this course if they are not prepared to take on the business. I did business studies for the Leaving Cert and I found it very difficult but, when I got to GTI I found it to be manageable and I didn't mind it too much. There are plenty of students who found the business side of the course okay that never even did business before. Just do be aware that this course is not just fashion only! I would also say do not bother with the course if you are looking for a “doss” year because this is not a simple course, its hard work! That being said we all had a blast, provided we were keeping on top of the work, of course. What you put into the course is what you get out of it.
The tutors are really friendly and down to earth. They aren't just there to lecture you on how things should be done.They actually show how they are done, because they are people with actual experience within the area they teach. For example, my tutor Oral Sheridan, who is probably the busiest woman alive, was not only our class tutor and responsible for keeping us on top of all our work and teaching the majority of our modules, but she is also a successful fashion blogger and personal stylist! It’s safe to say you're in great hands!
Making friends
I came to college with one friend. However going on your own would be absolutely no problem! At the beginning of the year we did bonding games to get to know everyone and within no time everyone had friends! We were a pretty close class in my opinion. We all had similar interests and there’s no real judgement in the class. We all looked out for each other. It was like a big family where nobody got excluded!
Modules
Retail Selling – Business class which you learn how to sell things (in a not annoying, but effective) way
Customer Service – Extremely important module. The skills you learn in this class are the skills that are the most important thing to employers.
Work Experience – This module explains itself, 10 working days of work experience that you must find on your own.
Teamworking – Probably the most fun thing you could do in college. Played games to bring the class together so we could work well together. We also set up an event where we sold our clothes and wrote group blog posts for www.thestyle.ie
Retail Display – Making a portfolio and you get to design and actually make your own window display.
Digital Marketing – Studying online presences and online campaigns.
Retail Administration – Business class, learning to do invoices etc.
Communications – Similar to an English class, it also prepares you for interviews, cv’s and presentations. Very similar to Link Modules some of you may have done for the Leaving Cert.
Design Skills – This is the styling class, almost everyone’s favourite. Photo-shoots, fashion history, how the world of designers work, research into photography etc.
Typical day
The hours are really manageable. It’s a Monday to Friday course. The time-table changes every year of course but, we started at 9am most mornings and finish at 1pm or 2pm. Then one day we didn’t start until 12pm. One day we only had 2 hours of classes! Our lunch was always an hour long and most of us would go into town or go home for lunch but, there is a café in college in the main building. Assignments are given regularly but daily homework is a thing of the past. Have a way to keep up with deadlines. Basically the whole course is done on computers, you won’t be taking notes down off the board or even writing with a pen and paper much anymore really!
It wouldn’t be right to exclude the nightlife from here as it is in Galway! This is a personal preference type of thing but, my favourite place to go out is Electric. They sell drinks in jam jars and upstairs they play alternative music. Downstairs its “dance / going out” music. Its decorated like a jungle type garden and just has great vibes! Electric also has a sister bar called 'The Factory' which is connected to it. The Factory do some really great gigs and open mic nights for some people who might be interested in something a bit more chill. A lot of students like Karma because it’s has cheap drink and is 100% dance music. Carbon is either loved or hated. It’s generally known as a “kiddies” club but any time I have been there I have had a good night! They also do the best birthday deals! Any other nightclubs that aren’t mentioned here aren’t worth your time a.k.a Club K. But no matter what you're into, pubs, clubs, late bars etc. There is something for everybody to enjoy in Galway.
Accommodation
Unfortunately, I had an awful experience with my accommodation. This is a vital part of going to college and takes a lot of time to sort out! Do NOT leave this to last minute! I could not find an affordable place in town that allowed students to rent. I then thought it would be a GREAT idea to live in student accommodation. I thought that this would be a great way to make loads of friends and meet new people and obviously student accommodation is a fun place for students to live. DO NOT DO THIS!! First of all NUIG student accommodation do not let non NUI students live there. That leaves you with GMIT, which is quite far out of the town. I thought I could probably walk into town and it wouldn't be too far but that is certainly not the case. Transport and rent etc. cost just as much as getting an expensive place in town. College students find it very hard to make it into college if we can find an excuse not to, walking over to the bus stop and seeing that your bus won't be there for more than 15 minutes was an excuse to crawl back into bed. I did make great friends where I lived and also met my boyfriend there so, overall I don't regret it, that being said, I definitely would not recommend it to anyone.
I recommend going to Galway even if it’s far from where you live. If you are interested in studying in Galway, I recommend taking a day or two around August time, to get to know your way around the city and take a look at apartments or houses that are available to rent. If you know anyone you could rent with that’s much better. There’s nothing worse than horrible housemates!
“Galway house hunting (for sound people)” is the name of a Facebook group you can join and keep on a look out for places to stay!
Basically hunt for a place to stay for a very long time until you find suitable living conditions, do not settle
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