He continued to train in London, but the coronavirus pandemic returned him to Belfast, where his foster parents told him they wanted him to stay with them until he was 21, rather than leave at 18. “When I went to get my prize, there was a big banner with me and my boss on it, it was crazy, just two or three years before I almost got kicked out of school,” he said.
Mark attended Belfast Metropolitan College and received his diploma, winning the Apprentice Hairdresser of the Year award. He paid tribute to Belfast Boys Model for being loyal to him and said he was almost persuaded to go back to do A-levels, but after talking to his head of the year and his foster parents, he decided to follow his dream to cut hair. Things I never dreamed of, but I was able to get there.” “I’m a long way from where I want to be, but I’ve turned it around and won awards, I work in an award-winning salon in Melbourne. “I want people to know that even if you don’t get the grades you want, grades aren’t everything, it’s about your drive, your motivation and how much you want it. Mr Hawthorne demonstrates his hairdressing skills (Mark Hawthorne/PA) / PA Media “When I was 16, if you asked me where I would be in five years, I would have said, I don’t know. “When I was in school I felt like a stat and was told I would be lucky to get five qualifications, but I’ve had jobs in London, got jobs in Canada and now I’m in Melbourne until next year. “I want to show people who are now waiting for their GCSE results how much they can do,” he said. I know from experience that it only takes one person who believes in you to change your life, as my foster family believed in me.”Ĭoncurrent with his studies, he gave his time as a youth worker at St Peters Immaculata Youth Center on the Nationalist Falls Road, over the peace wall of his home on the lower Shankill.įive years later, he said he felt a little lost at the time in terms of what to do next, and as students prepare to receive their GCSE results this week, he said he wants to emphasize to them how much there might be. “The most important thing I want to do now is help other people.
The daycare was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, because it helped me help my mom get clean, and now we have a brilliant relationship, and I respect her so much,” he told the PA News Agency. “I went crazy at school and got suspended.
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