First Blog Post – The Beginning

I remember my first day in Waterford College of Further Education. It was 2008 and I had been accepted on the course only 2 weeks earlier having walked away from an apprenticeship. At the start of our Leisure Ops class the dreaded “Tell us a bit about yourself” question was asked and in the U shape we sat it started 1 by 1.

My name is…..

I’m from…..

I’ve always had an interest in sports like…..

I want to get into coaching……etc

That’s what the first person said and so everybody else followed suit. I knew my name and where I was from (thank god!) but the other answers were evading me. I reckon I had about 5 minutes to come up with someth…………NEXT! Shit. That’s me!

“My name is Mark Caulfield and I’m from Waterford City………..and I have no idea why I’m here or what I’m going to do when I’m finished.”

Some laughed, some looked at me like I was mad. The tutor, Kevin Wilmott, said it was probably the strangest answer he had gotten to that question. He asked me what I meant and the strangest answer he ever got probably turned into the longest.

When I finished secondary school I headed straight to WIT to study Architectural Technology. From being spoon fed in school to fending for myself in a class of 115 it was too much for this 17 year old to handle. I needed to do some growing up first. Full time hours beckoned in Freshways Supermarket and I loved it. My mother told to apply for a job in Bausch and Lomb, so I did, and I got a job. It was on 3 shifts and I hated it. Not for me. An opportunity arose to apply for an apprenticeship as a Fitter. My main motivation for applying was that it was on days and a trade was a secure pathway to a good job. I hated it. Gave it two years and packed it in.

Left at the start of August and with limited funds and courses starting in September the odds of getting in didn’t look good. I applied for Fitness and Health in WCFE for one reason. I needed to lose about 2 stone. You get flabby eating rich and greasy factory canteen grub including chocolate, crisps and soft drinks.

I got in on the course and started plugging away. I must give a shout out to my cousin Kiara who told me to send in a CV to a leisure centre she worked in. Not only did the manager take an absolute punt hiring a 23 year old with no qualifications but they paid me for my work experience. We had placement every Monday so I got a paid shift every Monday. Got hours during the week too to keep me in pocket. Happy days. To the manager at the time, you know who you are, thank you!

That few months went by in a flash! Working, studying and training daily was more fun than it sounds but having been on courses and in jobs I didn’t enjoy this was fantastic. But I had got thinking that once the course was finished, what would I do next??? As my father asked; ”What are you going to do? Work in a gym?”.

“Eh…….yes”.