Well folks!!

I think I may have hit a little depression over the whole studying for the Leaving Cert thing. I’ve had a four day weekend and I have done sweet FA. I’ve caught up on series of 3 of Gilmore Girls and season 5 of criminal minds but asides from that…nada.

I have been trying to study, I swear! But every time I sit down to do some work….it just doesn’t happen! And to make it worse I keep taking needless days off from school. I’m getting increasingly frustrated with the seemingly never ending workload but I just cannot be bothered.  The amount of distractions is unreal. Phone calls, texting, the internet, the TV…it’s a bitch.

I need to stop procrastinating now though. The sooner I get the work done, the less stress I’ll have nearing the actual exams. I have to stock up on teabags, berocca and red bull and just force myself to concentrate. I’ve been through this hellish process before, I can do it again. I think!

Okay, feeling a bit more optimistic now. Hows everyone doing with the xmas exams/pre-mocks, or whatever you call them?? Hope you’re all doing good!

G’luck!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: there is never enough time to get what you want done, is there? And as I asked in my first blog, ‘how much time is enough?‘ I’m spending 33hrs 45mins studying a week (including “class time”), and still I have a LOT to get through! And how do I know if I’m taking the L.C. seriously enough? I sat in shame watching ‘The Late Late Toy Show’, seeing that young boy called John Joe speak so perfectly about the literature of Roald Dahl – on a side note: how cute was his little laugh? – and thinking to myself, “I’m screwed!”  There is no way Shakespeare will get something so wonderful from my brain come June next year. I’m stressing about orals, aurals, practicals, written papers, C.A.O. forms, examination papers, future college prospects, acceptance into a college, open days, exam results, and simply wondering if I’m doing everything correctly!

However, I am receiving a C.A.O. form and a external candidate  application form this week in the post, and I will hopefully begin work  on my history research project this week too! I also received news this week that “took a load off”. My old secondary school contacted me and told me I could sit my examinations there, so phew! And U.C.D. open day is next friday – I can’t wait for that. Anyone else going?

But I am a little exhausted. I’m worried this year I won’t do as well as I’m anticipating. I don’t want a lot, just enough to get me into a university, hopefully U.C.D. But night after night I lie, tossing and turning, unable to sleep because I think of the alternative prospect: having to repeat again, wait till I am a mature student, or settle for less. Is it too early to be suffering from butterflies in the stomach?

However, with regards to study, I did get a LOT done. King Lear is finished, as is the comparative study, basic French grammar is nearly finished, and I’ve also written a good bit of notes too! Yet, I only hope I’m employing the correct study techniques. What is the best form of learning?

I do not believe that the examinations are simply memory tests. Subjects like English, French, History, Gaeilge and Music are designed to exhibit  flair, intellect, opinion, cultural, social and political awareness, and some degree of personal response. If they were memory tests one would not be required to understand any of these concepts. We would  just write answers on a page based on what we’ve committed to memory, and let us be honest: what is interesting about that? If we perform as conformists, we lose all personal identity. My opinion would not be something that would matter to anyone, and even if it doesn’t as it is now, it matters to me.

On the other hand, what if being a robot is what the examiner expects? What if a person, like me, strolls into the examination, expresses his/her opinion in a clear, but controversial manner, and yet loses marks for being unique? Is identity important when writing a response to the study of John Keats’ poetry, or should one simply do what has been seen and done before, if doing so earns an ‘A’? Was Robert Frost right when he said ‘I took the road less travelled by and that has made all the difference’? Or was he merely speaking of himself? Should we do as he did if, in the long run, we remain true to ourselves; or should we conform to sample answers and committing essays to memory if, in the short run, it gets us to our first choice college?

Au revoir mes amis,

Ian

“Genius is 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration”
“Tough times don’t last, tough people do”
“Courage is being scared to death and doing it anyway”
“Motivation gets you going, determination keeps you moving”

Even if every single one of the above is true, and my problem has always been with the latter. It just continues to remind me what a “fun and exciting” couple of months I have ahead of me…. as I have now just reminded you
Anyway I had better introduce myself. I’m Katie, doing the leaving this year (first time) and not looking forward to it one bit!!! Well that is apart from the whole college thing (wohoo!). I turned 18 at the end of august and LOVED that whole new “freedom” thing….. Then it was robbed from me, and a study desk with piles of heavy books took its place  my social life has been reduced to holidays i.e. Christmas! (Well we’ll see what we can do about that!)

The worst thing about this year (if I can only pick one) is the confusion. Not knowing. I HATE NOT KNOWING! Yes. I am one of those people who needs to plan, who needs order so to me the big L.C. = Lots of Confusion… Until now, I had thought my life was as complicated as it could get. WRONG!

The leaving cert continually throws awkward situations, decisions and deadlines in my path. Diversions and confusing signs, two of the most hated things by motorists, and me. At the moment, sadly, that’s all we have in common. My plans to take the theory test last summer failed miserably. And, living in the middle of nowhere, public transport is next to non-existent and, well as regards cycling?  Let’s just say a broken arm at the age of 10 proved that balancing on two wheels was not for me!

Anyway, back to this leaving cert thing… why?  And, more importantly, how? Well I think we’ve all figured out that it’s just a memory game so it’s something I might be good at right? Wrong! Its seems as though my mind is so full up of useless information trying to organise itself that is just ends up like the M50 at 8 o’clock on a Monday morning. Not good. I store so much useless information about people and times long forgotten that it amazes me! And also provided a bit of amusement to my friends when a stupidly recount something that happened in primary school, expecting them to remember it. They don’t, and I’m left hanging! You’ll learn not to take me too seriously after a while, because I definitely don’t!

Back to that confusion thing again… every single year I have known, and been DEFINATE about what I want to do after my exams. Ok maybe I wanted to do a something different every year…. from medicine (found out I have a fear of injections!)…….. To veterinary (then TY happened) ……… to wanting to do “medicinal chemistry” (or something of the like last year)….. To not having a clue! *sad face*. So yes slightly panicking with the whole UCAS/CAO thing. And the fact that we have pre-mocks…….. Yes. PRE-MOCKS next week!!!! Not good on the auld stress levels. And as you guys know, when the stress levels go up, the grades go down!!

So I had better go and de-stress then….. A nice quiet hack around Tara on the nag sounds good…….. That is before De Broglie stresses me out again with his complicated electron stuff *sad face*

Ta ta for now xxx

Katie

Don’t worry guys, despite the title, this post will be a little more upbeat- and more sane- than my previous one!

I’m right in the middle of the Christmas tests, well two down and five to go! I had Irish and Geography on Friday, which went pretty well I think. We hadn’t done a lot in Geography for the test to have a lot of variety, so the whole thing was basically about regions, which I like! Unfortunately, there was a map of Ireland above my head and although everyone else thought Christmas had come early copying down the towns, rivers, etc. from the poster, I was at a loss. Oh well, I think I did okay anyway!

For Irish, an essay on the recession came up, thankfully! I’d already prepared one and even managed to include John and Edward into my introductory paragraph (have pity on me). I was saying how everything was gone wrong for the country, i.e., them getting voted off, the World Cup, floods and so on… you get the idea. Oh and anyone out there stuck inside because of floods, you have my full sympathy, luckily my house is on a hill but the images on the news are scary!

Friday night I watched…*drumroll*…The Late Late Toy Show! Not a year has gone past when I haven’t watched it, probably like most of you out there. I thought Tubridy was good, better than Pat Kenny but not as unreal as Gay Byrne. The kids were hilarious- Junior Culchie of the Year and of course, John Joe! Aww it really marked the start of Christmas.

And as for other distractions, now that John and Edward are gone from the X Factor, I’ve remembered how much I dislike the show. Seriously, I just watched the final last year and that was only because I wanted to know what everyone was on about. But now I feel I better finish the series, although I didn’t even bother watching The Xtra Factor last night! Sorry Holly Willoughby!

Aoiffe is gone from The Apprentice at last, Hallelujah! Finally some justice has been brought to reality TV. All we need to do now is get rid of Lloyd Daniels.

I have Business and English tests tomorrow. Eavan Boland, I’m sorry but I really dislike your poetry. Robert Frost all the way! I totally underestimated how much theory is involved in Business but I’m just going to do some past exam questions on what we’ve done and hope they come up.

How is everyone?

Good I hope. I’m just going to be honest. I did barely anything Tuesday. I went to watch new moon again, yep again.

I have an art test tomorrow. History of art question on one of the Irish art chapters. All I have prepared is the Iron Age and Bronze age jewelery, Ahenny and Moone crosses and High Christian Ireland metalwork. By prepared I mean I have notes written out on them and have yet to go over them! I’m terrible I really am:( I’ve been so down lately:( I’m starting to get worried about it. You know. IT. The Leaving Cert… I thought I was an A standard English student. Ive been getting Bs lately which i just can’t deal with. Don’t ask me why, I’m just starting to get paranoid. Irish sucks, like I honestly can’t do it anymore. I can’t! is it just me or is ‘ An Triail ‘ not the most unrealistic, depressing, down right thick Irish play ever? (please just nod happily and smile:)). King Lear is annoying me too. Just saying. Oh and we can’t forget about the comparatives. I keep getting B’s in my essays!! (sorry, this just frustrates me as I usually get A’s..:() my comments from the teacher always say ‘ your not comparing them enough..don’t be afraid to really dissect the texts!’…and there’s me a night before, beaming proudly at my attempt at answering a literary genre question,also known as impossible and mind twisting pieces of utter nonsense! I’m really pessimistic today. The school recently put up photos of girls who achieved like 7 A1’s in there L.C in 2009 and 2008 too. Jealous much? Yes actually.. very.

The moral of the story you ask? I suppose i realised not to be getting aggravated or bogged down on everything,to take it easy and not look at what others accomplished..I seriously need to make a study plan too Man does it feel nice to vent.  Oh and I got Foinse today (thanks Ciara!) its great!! I’m glad they’re up and running again ^__^

That’s all I think, sorry if i got you in a crap mood:( Thanks for putting up with me:)

P.S this is actually really funny:) I’m so against it but seriously…:D hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqvg0C90FhM

Well this leaving cert business will be the death of me.  All those days i spent dossing back in TY ‘08 and i never appreciated them . Now I’m up to my eyeballs in Die Imperfekt, King Lear and differentiation *shudder*

As if that wasn’t enough they’re telling me now to decide what to do with the rest of my life!!! As a sufferer of chronic indecision I struggle to choose between Cookie Crisp or Cheerios gach maidin!! So how on earth am i going to manage this CAO craic?? I guess a lot of ye
are in the same boat I hope im not alone in feeling way too young to make these choices!

Ah well ill give it a shot anyway… Although I’m a South East culchie at heart i think ill head for the big smoke.  So UCD is at the top of my list for its Arts in International Modern Languages. As its only a two year old course i know no-one who has already done this course but languages are my first love so i reckon ill go down that road…

I’m sure all you fellow 6th years will identify with that drowning feeling on a weeknight when you feel there’s no way you can finish the essay, do the comprehension and learn off your Stáir na Gaeilge for 9am the next morning but I’m trying not to let it get me down… In the beginning some things suffered but i think ive got the hang of juggling the sport, the friends, the boyfriend and of course the work at this stage… That really is my main advice to fellow leaving cert students; don’t let it get the better of you! Try make time for doing the little things you love like quitting the homework early to have a cup of tea or taking a night off occasionally, one night won’t make you fail stressing out too much could be disastrous… and now I’m off to watch the midweek movie (yes its cheesy i know but its my guilty pleasure!)
Caoimhe

Bonjour my fellow students:)

So Sunday was my last HPAT class with John Maher. What.A.Ledge. That guy is probably the most supportive, enthusiastic, motivational and genuinely most suited man to do the job. What we did yesterday was our practice test, i scored 54/110 so I got 49.09% which was average on the day, man was I disappointed, I guess I’ll have to practice every week,,,one person got 77%! Basically he just said that the score we got on the day can defo be improved and we shouldn’t linger on it. I thought the whole experience was great, I timed myself perfectly and had about 5 minutes at the end of each section to look over my work. I found Section 1 to be the hardest, 2 was tricky but 3 was my strongest. I honestly gained so much from this course I can’t even explain. I am way more confident in myself and know I can perform well. I would totally reccomend this course to anyone who wants to do medicine in Ireland and needs to do well in the HPAT. Most people won’t get the 600 points (my self included) so the HPAT is a great thing and it could be the reason you enter med school. So really just again, stay positive, buy the HPAT practice booklet online (ACER/ HPAT website) practice every saturday morning to get your mind set on that certain time, time yourself, see where your weak and work on those parts. Make sure to build your aptitude,read more, do more puzzles etc that test your mind, silly and basic things that make the difference. All in all I wish you all the best of luck doing your HPAT and hope you get into the course you want Its a competitive choice alright but if you work hard at it im sure it would be much easier…

And on that note … have a good week enjoy your Tuesday off, lament the fact that Jedward have gone or in my case have a party and celebrate ( hey maybe they’ll go back to school now and i might see them on Saturdays…FAT CHANCE:D).

and… I’m seeing new moon again tomorrow :):):):)

Should I be blissfully satisfied that the blues(-inducing) brothers “Jedward” have been finally flung bobble-headed-first from the x-factor?; or should I regret my hostility toward them, as I now contemplate the fact that the only entertaining act of the x-factor has now been eliminated? True they were high-haired, self-concerned, clueless “wannabes” but they were good at it, and they seemed to enjoy every moment, which is most important. As well as that, they had more bad press than all of the other contestants combined and yet, their pale Irish faces still bounced back on screen smiling every Saturday night at nine o’clock! -(Almost sickening wasn’t it?)- But, they were more entertaining than even some of the professionals that have appeared on the show throughout the series. I must ask though: were they brilliant because we are simply patriotic towards them; hate-to-love them; or are we just aware that no other Irish duo could kill some of the world’s greatest songs and get away with it? Whatever the case, I’m sure the show will lose a vast number of viewers as a result of tonight’s results. All in all, I will miss them, for what they were worth!

I will now confess that I have become a die-hard “Twilight” fan! First I loved the travels through “Narnia”, then the adventures of “Hogwarts”, now I adore the escapades of “Forks” -(the placename, not the inanimate objects! ) Although I haven’t finished the books, Meyer is like the J.K.Rowling of teenage fiction: precise, detailed, imaginative and ultimately: legendary. – (Bit much?) – But still, she is a really, really, REALLY good writer! And there is still three books to go- SCORE! …I really need to get a social life

With regards to study, I didn’t do a lot this week. Mainly Walcott’s poetry – (which I love!) – and study on what is quickly becoming one of my favourite subjects: Maths! That’s right, this maths-phobe is learning more maths with the help of a little d.v.d-ROM and a little study.

What happened to change my unlucky past with maths, I hear you say? Well, I recently acquired a ”digitalGrinds: ACCELERATED LEARNING MATHS” disc with the request that I review it for the company. I popped it into my computer and clicked Arithmetic (something I used to ABHORE!). But I must admit I’m learning a hell of a lot more with this interactive disc than I ever did from six years of secondary schooling and two years of one-to-one grinds. With that, I’m inclined to tell you that I never worked strenously hard at maths, possibly because I never understood the basics (which, again, is through no fault of any teacher I’ve ever had). Yet, that is NO PROBLEM for the “digitalGrinds” disc(s).

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know (or HAD TO know for the Leaving Cert., because let’s face it: not many of us WANT TO know much about maths) is explained exactly as it appears on the paper in June. Every sort of problem is tackled with the same precision and detail as a one-to-one grind would be, with one exception: cost! I used to pay a great deal of money for grinds but this disc(s) only costs €65- (which saves a packet, particularly in these difficult times) – and yet, every single question is covered from Algebra to Vectors, Arithmetic to Functions and Differentiation and it becomes easier as you go along. All of the theory is explained thoroughly and simply and applied to example paper questions. One is encouraged to attempt the questions themselves and even if one gets the answer (or format) wrong, one is shown exactly where they may have gone astray. For instance, I went through the Arithmetic lessons, then I took out the papers today and did all of the Arithmetic questions with ease, whereas before, I constantly got part (b)’s and (c)’s wrong. There are also rewards one earns after completing each question: videos, songs etc; that have nothing to do with maths I might add!

It’s a worthwhile course if you can get your hands on it. Look up www.digitalgrinds.ie or telephone the company on (065) 6833003 to find out more. I’d like to point out that I’m not being paid or supplemented in any way to advertise this maths program by either allhonours.ie or digitalgrinds.ie; I merely know what it’s like to struggle in a difficult subject and thought I’d let “y’all” know about it, because let’s face it, you don’t want to get six or seven ‘A’ ’s and one big fat ‘F’  in your results. Sincerely, it is a good program and if you are worried about maths I believe this is the way to learn. You may not like it if you’re a techno-phobe, or you’ve been taught how to answer questions in a specific format and find it difficult to change your ways but honestly, it’s not a difficult course to follow if you’re willing to put in a little effort. Sometimes we just don’t get along with our teachers or we are sat beside the most disruptive student for the year and thus, we turn to any means necessary to get our ‘A’: these discs are worth a try if you’re totally flummoxed with Funtions and tormented by Trigonometry! Give it a go

On that note, I shall leave for another week. And this week, I’ve promised myself I’ll complete last weeks TO-DO list and return to my normal routine of study, stress and sandwiches.

Have a good week fellow students,

Ian

Warning: This blog contains some emotional and distressing content from a very pathetic girl on a very frivolous subject.

I felt it necessary to blog at this unplanned time because life as I knew it these past few weeks is over.

John and Edward have been booted off The X Factor.

Yes, I know it wasn’t fair they got through week after week but I loved them. I really did. In all my sixteen years of living, they were my first proper celebrity crush… you know, the ones people usually develop for guys in Westlife at the age of seven? They were always just so…happy. And as wild as the hair was, there was something downright attractive about it. I was a follower since Boot Camp and they’ve come a long way, albeit with some pretty cheesy performances since then!

At this point, we must remember they had a life before The X Factor. They were in Leaving Cert, like most of the bloggers here. Apparently they were very good at art, especially calligraphy. Then all of a sudden, they were Jedward. They were being debated, tweeted and written about daily and I’m sure the LC was far from their minds.

Okay, so I know this is a very pathetic blog and is the most emotion I’ve expressed possibly ever but we must see light at the end of the tunnel. No more distractions for me! Sure, I’ll still watch The X Factor but it just won’t be on the top priority list; rather, it’ll be replaced by my upcoming Christmas tests.

So John and Edward, it was a great couple of months. You made everyone have an opinion on something so insignificant and while I suffered some taunts for sticking up for you, by the end most of my friends were converted to Jedwardism. Perhaps someday I’ll fulfill my dream of meeting you but until then, I have tests to study for and you have some calligraphy to finish.

So sat down with the mammy this morning for a cup of tea and a truly enlightening conversation of my future. It was great how we laughed and joked about me hopefully getting into college this year and not having to spend the rest of my life repeating the LC. However, it suddenly dawned on me that I actually have no bloody clue what I want to do.

My mind was set on Law, then journalism, social work, commerce then back to journalism, back to social work…then commerce…you get the picture. I have been so incredibly influenced by the TV that I even decided I wanted to join the BAU in the FBI (my cousin was totally up for that as well!) or become Veronica Mars.

I AM SOOOOOOO CONFUSED! Journalism is forefront in my mind now…I think….or commerce in UCD. But I have to take up maths again to improve by a grade to get into Commerce…and the 450 points necessary might also hold some problems. I love business and economics and I love English, so both degrees hold a lot of appeal for me.

Is anyone else having a problem deciding what to do? I think I should make a pros and cons list for both courses and just do my CAO before some other type of job pops into my head and I decide that I maybe want to do that aswell. Frustrations!!!

On another note, we had our xmas tests last week. They weren’t too bad with the very little study I did. I was so excited for seeing the New Moon film on Friday.  But I didn’t get there!! Stupid floods closed the roads and made so much traffic that I couldn’t get into Galway to see it.

But I’m going in on Tuesday to see it, even if I have to get a boat or something. I CANNOT MISS IT AGAIN!

Catch ya laterz!