New horizon beckons for teenager who hails from DRC but has progressed from St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght Roland Yengo. Fri Aug 28 2026 - 06:01 • 2 MIN READIf Roland Yengo had one tiny complaint to make about a very exciting day at his home this week, it’s that he found out he had received the offer of his first choice in round one of the CAO offers through a text message, before he got a chance to log on to the system to find out.“It kind of ruined the surprise,” he says, laughing. “I wanted to discover it. But it’s fine. I’m still happy.”The 17-year-old former student of St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght moved to Ireland from Democratic Republic of Congo when he was in first year. And in a couple of weeks he will begin his creative computing degree at IADT (Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dún Laoghaire). He’s the first of his family to sit the Leaving Cert and now experience college life in Ireland. He and his mum, Malila, are very excited.He was hopeful he might receive an offer after receiving his Leaving Cert results last week. “I was really happy with my results, and compared to the points, I got way over the minimum points from last year.”All the same, he felt the pressure of sitting the State exams. “It definitely was stressful. The Leaving Cert was probably one of the most stressful things I’ve done, with all the projects.“But it was also fun too. Because you’ve had a great time, especially at school ... We always had someone to talk to, like our guidance counsellor.”Yengo doesn’t have any friends from school attending IADT, but he’s ready and excited to make new friends and embrace college life. He’ll commute from Tallaght to Dún Laoghaire by bus to begin with. But he’s hoping to get his driving licence in time and to get a car to make the commute easier.He’s looking forward to “the social life. Making new friends, new connections”, and of course “the education”. He’s also looking forward to joining societies and is hoping there’ll be a drama society. “I’m into drama.” While Yengo hasn’t visited the IADT campus yet, he has done the online tour. And he’s planning to make an in-person visit next week in advance of the new term. And he’s given some thought to what he might do when he completes his four-year degree. “I’d probably like to be a user experience designer, or maybe a software engineer.”IN THIS SECTION