The second years of Portlaoise College were a captive audience for professional boxer and RTE boxing analyst Eric Donovan today.
Fitting so much into a short space of time, Eric’s talk was ideal for teenagers covering so many aspects from dealing with setbacks and coming back from difficult situations to achieving personally and professionally.
Still only in his early 30s Eric had so many experiences that the students could relate to and understand.
The story begins with tales of school and how feelings of anxiety and not fitting in led him to being a disruptive student, something he regrets to this day.
Dropping out of school at the age of 15, being a follower and not a leader at that point in his life was a really valuable message to pass on.
Education was to play an important role in latter years and Eric returned to it at the age of 28. The message of making the most of education really hit home with the students.
In the boxing ring Eric had a rollercoaster career, captain of the Irish amateur boxing team at the age of 15, multiple all Ireland medals, the first senior all Ireland champion for the St. Michael’s Athy club, becoming a member of the high performance national team, everything was on the rise for him.
However, old habits die hard and Eric’s lack of commitment out of the ring was to prove his downfall. Not training as hard as he might, not having the correct lifestyle, resulted in failure to qualify for two Olympic games and the realisation that he needed to change his ways.
‘Good decisions make good things happen’ said Eric and a new chapter begins with an opportunity from RTE to be an analyst and commentator for the 2012 London Olympics and beyond.
Boxing wasn’t over though and he took an opportunity to go to Kazakhstan to train and fight in a really tough environment, highlighting a major theme of his talk- the importance of perseverance.
Really inspirational stuff and the journey is not over yet as his pro career is flying.
The students asked some great questions to finish up and interacted with Eric, even getting the odd boxing demonstration!
Our photographer Julie Anne Miller went along today and captured some great pictures:
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