Page 37 - IFAFA ebook v4
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12. Pauline M. Cogan
When I look at this photograph and what it represents I am struck by the
meandering road full of twists and turns which brought me to this stage
of my life. The force which propelled the twists and turns was my
decision to marry an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs. I
hitched my wagon to his and our journey has been full of change,
challenge, contrast and decision making which brought me to territories
and junctures I would not otherwise have visited.
The first change came in 1972 when Frank Cogan, my husband, was
posted to the Irish Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN) in New
York. I had been teaching happily and enjoying our friendship, when
Frank was unexpectedly posted abroad. We had been making some
enquiries about getting married and had secured a possible date in
September when both my home parish church and fairly local country
house were available on the same day. Suddenly, we were now looking at
early July as Frank was to be in New York by the 23rd July. He felt we
should get married immediately, so we did! Many hilarious incidents
happened between our wedding day and the end of our honeymoon, but
this is a public exhibition and a certain ‘tone’ must be maintained. We
had a wonderful wedding and ‘interesting’ honeymoon and set off for New
York. We arrived at a weekend and had so little money between us that
all we could afford was a shared hamburger. At this time, spouses were
not supposed to work but I ignored this. Frank had an element of
continuity in his work, but I had to find a job. I bought The New York
Times, found an interesting advert and applied. I was called for interview
that was unforgettable. Being Irish, we are trained to be reserved and not
to ‘push’ ourselves forward. The interviewer did not greet me by any
physical movement. He did not even lift his head but uttered the question
‘How good are you?’.
I began work the following day and remained there for 9 months after
which our first child was born. Following the birth of my son, I worked as
a substitute teacher in New York in the Bronx and Greenwich Village and
was granted teaching certification by the State of New York by the time
we were due to leave.
A cross posting to the Irish Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva
followed. Again, change and challenge! I tried to get a job only to find
that the Swiss would not give me a work permit. So, I visited the local
primary school and offered my services free of charge to the principal.
His wife taught the very early years children, so I found my degree in
French came in useful after all. I worked happily without pay. My son
attended a local crèche which was free of charge and my 6 month-old-
daughter was offered music classes each week taught by a student from
the Conservatoire de Genève.
Three years later we were off again back to Dublin, where I started a
temporary job teaching Honours Irish to Intermediate (Junior) Certificate
students. Subsequently, I got a permanent teaching job, which allowed me
to indulge in my passion researching and studying the causes of why
students have learning difficulties. In my third year in that school I
volunteered to become the ‘remedial teacher’ and simultaneously attended
a year-long course leading to a Certificate in Special Education. This 28
piqued my interest in psychology. We had a home posting for 7 years. As
luck would have it,
