Cara Gilleece

First job: My first job was collecting glasses in my daddy’s pub in the Gaeltacht area of Donegal.

What it taught me: Helping out in my daddy’s pub in Rosguill sparked a lifelong love of the Irish language. My first teaching job was teaching Irish and French. I think working in the hospitality industry equips you with good communication skills and tolerance.

Family/status: Happily married to Peter with four children, Lorcan, Garrett, Conn and Aisling.

Best advice anyone ever gave you: The best advice I ever received concerned the importance of building resilience in life. My approach to building resilience has been through exercise. For many years I have followed a programme of running, yoga and fitness training. I love walking on Divis Mountain and on the Lagan Towpath. I believe this has been invaluable over the past 12 months through this pandemic.

Best advice you could give someone thinking of a teaching career: The motto for our club, St Brigid’s, is ‘Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí.’ I consider this great advice for a teacher embarking on their career. We must invest in our young people in order for them to do well in life and to fulfill their potential, whatever this may be. As a career, teaching is humbling, rewarding and really good fun. I love it! So if you have a passion and commitment for working with our young people, teaching is career option for you.

I graduated from Queen’s with a BA (Hons) in French and Business, followed by a PGCE, as I was only ever interested in teaching.

I began my career teaching Irish and French but, realising the potential of IT, I returned to study for a Masters degree in IT at Aston University. On my return from Birmingham, I was delighted to secure a job at Malone College and have loved working as part of a fantastic team ever since.

Delivering high quality ICT is central to my teaching at Malone. I have worked hard to promote ICT and the opportunities and pathways it opens up for our young people. This approach equipped our staff and pupils to embrace the demands of the pandemic, leading to the Digital School Award in December 2020.

I’ve learned the importance of building resilience and stamina to survive the stresses and strains of teaching, never more so than during the current pandemic. I enjoy boxing with Mark and Ray at Tribe and yoga with the fabulous Paul Harnett. I am a keen runner, looking forward to the Craic 10K on St Patrick’s Day and returning to the beaches of Donegal in July with my family.