Aside from Leaving Cert results day, CAO day is one of the most nerve-wracking days for teenagers across Ireland.

It’s long been lauded as the day you find out the fate of your entire life, but Rosanna Davison, a self-proclaimed ‘nerd’ and multiple degree-earner, is here to tell you: wrong!

Rosanna has a BSc, BA, and an MSc under her belt, and her important message for students on CAO day is that it’s ‘never too late’ to pursue an education and chase your passions.

On Tuesday, Rosanna found out she’d scored a first-class honours in her BSc Nutritional Therapy from the University of Buckingham, which she gushed was a ‘proud moment’.

Sharing a video of herself finding out her results, the former Miss World said: ‘It’s never too late, and you’re never too old to pursue education. Time is going to pass anyway, and it’s a valuable tool for shaping our lives, careers and perspectives.

‘This is my third university degree… I studied Sociology and History of Art at @universitycollegedublin and won @MissWorld just after my first year.’

‘After a year out, I returned to university while working as the face of a European company, travelling almost weekly and balancing work with study, photoshoots with lectures,’ Rosanna continued to explain.

‘I graduated with a First in Sociology and was offered a PhD scholarship at UCD, but at 22, opted instead to pursue the Miss World career and travel opportunities.

‘In 2019, I graduated with an MSc in Personalised Nutrition from @middlesexuniversity, alongside fertility investigations, recurrent miscarriages, and our surrogacy journey to Kyiv, where we welcomed baby Sophia.’

‘My MSc dissertation explored fructose consumption and obesity, focusing on hepatic de novo lipogenesis and insulin resistance. It was awarded a Merit, marking the beginning of my research interest in metabolic health,’ Rosanna reflected.

‘Then came motherhood. Sophia was followed by our twins in 2020. In late 2023, once my trio was in pre-school, I decided to complete this BSc.

‘My fertility experiences shaped my decision to return, with fertility nutrition and reproductive and metabolic health now central to my research, CPD and client work.’

Speaking about balancing her personal and professional life, Rosanna continued: ‘I was studying alongside renovating, moving house and raising three children, so it had to fit around family life.

‘In May, I was awarded a First for my BSc dissertation exploring the gut microbiome as a therapeutic target for insulin resistance in PCOS, now known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS).

‘My two research projects built on one another: From metabolic health in my MSc to the gut microbiome, insulin resistance, and PCOS in my BSc.’

‘Years of education, sheer persistence, and returning to something I love. Think I’m officially done… Unless a PhD comes calling. Dr Davison does sound kinda chic,’ Rosanna joked.

So, you see, folks: the Leaving Cert is not the be-all and end-all.