Opening my results yesterday was undoubtedly one of the scariest moments of my life. Even though I knew I hadn’t done atrociously, these are the kinda thoughts that were running through my head as I began to rip apart that envelope. I had my “LC calculator app” at the ready.

So this was it. The moment we had all been waiting for. The product of  a year of pushing oneself to the limits, endless homework and long stressful study-orientated months.

I glanced down at the paper… and then I tallied my points up. I repeated said process three times to be sure. 555. There was no mistaking it. I had about 50 points more than I needed for my course (or so I should have, judging by entry last year). Here was my happy ending. Or perhaps, more aptly, my new beginning.

English: A1

Home Ec: A1

Business: A2

French: A2

Biology: A2

Irish: B1

LCVP: Distinction

Maths (pass): B1.

I was ecstatic. In all my months of studying, I had aimed for 525 at best. I had exceeded my own expectations and the feeling of combined relief and excitement was surreal.

To prospective Leaving Cert students- If I have any advice, it’s timing. Get it right. Whether it’s beginning a study routine, exam technique or even pencilling in a night out – it’s just a matter of finding the time to do it all. All work and no play will make you crack up. Fact. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get as much study done as you had intended way back in September, it’s never too late to throw yourself back into the LC ball game. Don’t listen to everybody else talk about their prison-like study hours… Do your own thing. It’s your life anyway, not theirs. You’ll get there. We all do. The Leaving Cert is a rite of passage and you’ll learn more about yourself in these two years than the previous four. Enjoy it.. or at least attempt to.

To Patrick Barry – Thank you for the opportunity you gave me by allowing me to blog for your website. Allhonours.ie acted as a medium through which I could vent my stress and exam concerns as well as hear from people experiencing the same thing. It allowed me to improve my writing abilities which I fully believe contributed to my A1 in English but most of all, it helped me document one of the most important years of my life.

To my fellow bloggers – I wish you all the very best of luck in college in September. We’ve heard so much about the amazing life of a university student, now it’s our chance to experience that for ourselves.

In my last post, I referred to the Leaving Cert as a domino that sets the rest of my life into action. Well, the path has been built. The momentum is present. All that’s left to do now is watch the whole show unfold… something I intend to enjoy ’til the last.

Sorcha x

It all finished with Biology. It was the last hurdle that stood between my ten month hermit-like existence and freedom.

It was one of my favourite subjects and so for me, Biology was a brilliant way to end the Leaving Cert. The paper was lovely (in my opinion) but I guess I should credit that to my excellent teacher and not entirely my own abilities. I actually found it to be the best out of all my exams, but then it’s a subject that has always clicked with me – it’s straightforward, no nonsense and almost completely composed of short questions. Although he who knows why male ducks migrate further south than females, please share your wisdom with those of us ignorant to the mannerisms of the duck community. I must have neglected those chapters in my last minute revision… But in fairness, it’s the kinda thing that’s meant on a David Attenborough documentary, not the Biology LC paper.

As for French, I found that relatively nice too. I mentioned before that I had spent time in France on an exchange, and so that really stood by me for the exam. However it has to be said that it was no help for the written side of things. I know I made some stupid grammatical errors, so if my results aren’t what I want them to be, I can rest assured it’s because of my opinion pieces. Structure is always the one to catch me out. Still, I was happy enough overall.

Moving on to Irish, it was a fair paper all round. I had left a substantial amount of work until it was too late… well, I thought I had. I guess the teachers are right about retaining information – somehow, most of it comes flooding back out of no where in the middle of an exam. Just as well too, because I lacked any form of motivation the night before. I was wrecked, my hands were numb from writing and in that moment I genuinely couldn’t have cared less what I said or didn’t say in the pending exam. Trust my rebellious streak to kick in days before I finish…

The following day, I didn’t have time to recover from all the writing in Irish as I had business to attend to. Literally. It was a paper I had previously struggled with, not because of it’s content but because of the timing allocated to the exam. Thirty two minutes for an ABQ? You must be joking. Forty is the average. But in such a structured exam, every minute counts. I finished it (thankfully!) with a mere three minutes to spare.  As far as the questions went, they were predictable enough. Not much on the EU front as far as I remember, but the break-even at the back was a nice treat.

Finally, I got a taste of my long-awaited freedom. I haven’t gone wild as of yet. I’m waiting until next Thursday when all my other friends finish up before the proper celebrations kick in! These past few days I’ve only gone out for a quiet drink or two and I’ve mainly spent my time reorganising things so that my life can get back to normal. My study is now clean, my diagrams are ripped off the walls and the “Hang in there kitty” poster previously mentioned a lifetime ago in my posts has been laid to rest. This kitty has hung in there long enough. Now that her stint is over, she needs her sleep. I didn’t realise it until my exams were over, but I was definitely in need of a serious amount of me time. Sleep, relaxation, sleep again… a day or two was required to wind down before I could get properly pumped up. Nothing is as sweet as waking up the day after you’ve finished exams and realising that this is the first day of the rest of your life.

To finish this post, I’m going to refer back to my final moments as an LC student. There were only three of us left in the exam room as the supervisor glanced at the clock, then towards us again as we all waited in the silence of knowing what he was about to say. I zipped up my pencil case in preparation. My exam paper was neatly folded. I couldn’t hold back a smile. This man, this absolute stranger, was about to say the words that I had waited to hear since this year began. It’s over. It’s finished. You’re done.

I will always hold a sense of nostalgia towards the Leaving Cert. It’s not that I feel any particular ties to the subjects nor the study itself (funnily enough), but it represented a part of my life that is evidently the domino that sets the rest into action. I walked out the front door of my school, down the steps towards my freedom and I swear… I never looked back.

Sorcha x

PS) My Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000484089032

I know I said I wouldn’t blog again until the Leaving Cert was over, nor had I any intention to until I saw everyone else updating as their exams unfolded and so I decided I’d drop by and leave my own little post too

English was a beautiful paper for me all round. Who knew how accurate the country’s predictions would be? Diary entries for the question B, Claudius, Frost, Boland, Dickinson, Theme or Issue… I don’t mean to rub it in for anyone who thought it was tricky, but that paper could not have gone any better. I was thrilled! I did Frost out of sheer loyalty – he has never failed me yet in coming up in an exam, so I felt it’d only be fitting to choose him out of my prepared Dickinson/Boland/Frost combination. I was a tad surprised that neither Wordsworth or Hopkins came up, I assumed at least one would’ve appeared (and Hopkins would’ve been quite a nice one too), but I guess the examiners needed to keep some element of surprise to the exam… Again, I don’t mean for any of this to sound cocky, things just really worked in my favour.

My English was followed by Home Economics and although that exam was an overall reasonable paper, timing got me in the end. I literally was writing frantically up until the very last minute. Maybe it was a sign that I shouldn’t have been so thrilled with myself about English? I was really hoping that Home Ec would be a good paper so I was disappointed that I set my pace too slow. I managed to get it all done, and I guess post-mortems are never of any help,  but I can’t stop wondering if I’ve done enough to get the results I was looking for. In a situation like mine where I need every point going just to scrap into a course, one grade lower than planned can be potentially devastating.

Finally there was Maths this afternoon. I do pass myself, so I can’t empathise with those of you who suffered that disgusting paper earlier in honours, though I’d say paper two will make up for the trauma of today. I’ll stay optimistic for you all, even light a little candle or two for all you mathematical geniuses – from experience I can honestly say that the prayers, the medals, the daily drowning of myself in holy water – it’s all been of great help so far. Divine intervention next week? Please and thank you! Although God can work in mysterious ways – here in Donegal we got a scare the night before the Leaving Cert began – we were told that despite it being June, we were due another bout of snow. Imagine. SNOW. I almost died. It only lightly featured the following morning thankfully… had it been otherwise I may have gone into cardiac arrest there and then!

My weekend shall be spent enveloped in Irish and French with some Business and Biology thrown in for good measure. It helps that the weather has taken a turn for the worst – no sunshine, just an abundance of downpours and a general state of overcast skies. I’m loving it! Pathetic fallacy? Possibly. However this time next week my Leaving Cert experience will all be a thing of the past – even thinking of its close proximity seems incredible. Perhaps the sun will come out again then? I live in hope.

As I’ve said before, I wish nothing but the best of luck to everyone next week. United we stand guys.  And as for the sun… well a very intelligent little red-headed orphan once claimed that it’s always on the cards for tomorrow, and that therefore the sunshine and happy times are merely only a day away. Story of our lives right?

Sorcha x

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with school. As a first year, I was the one who refused to rebel against the uniform – the nerd with her shirt buttoned fully up and her tie neatly in place. In second year again I played the role of the nerd; the one who studied and got good results and the one who didn’t venture out to teen discos for fear of the unknown. In third year I typified the stressed student, swotting over books for hours on end, learning Irish essays that could twist to any situation, somehow believing that whatever I obtained at Jr Cert level would greatly affect the rest of my life. I spent my junior cycle in school in a happy sense of innocence, trudging my way through studies and counting down the days until summer.  I didn’t realise how easy-going school actually was until I advanced to senior level, but then again thats life – nobody ever realises how good we have it until it’s gone. Nobody ever understands what it’s like to have no real concerns until some greater reason for stress and worry plants itself in your life. Then we panic and look back on the “good old days” where answers were two lines long and extracted directly from the paragraph word for word.

In my senior cycle I quickly became sick of the study routine, the perfectly worn uniform, the falling to pieces schoolbag. After TY things suddenly became alot more serious, it began to dawn on me that I wasn’t studying for my Christmas exams, I was studying for June 2011 – papers which would stand by me for the rest of my life.

In September of sixth year, I remember quickly glancing through my exam papers, bemusedly thinking how difficult some looked and how exceptional I was going to be at every subject in nine months time. I assumed that somewhere down the line, I would suddenly become an expert in all the subjects and be able to answer all the questions without hesitation. I believed that there’d be a eureka moment, where everything just clicked. Looking back on it now, sixth year was nothing like I expected it to be. Yes, there were the “clicking” occasions,  but these weren’t brought on by instant divine intervention, more so by hard work and hours of pouring over essays/writing out pages upon pages of answers.

This year was an experience to say the least. Over the past few months I have added several “firsts” to my school routine, things which in hindsight seem drastic and perhaps unhealthy, but also appeared to be a necessity at the time. I  have been the student who stayed up until 3am working on questions. I have gone into a class in tears because I was too tired to finish my homework the night beforehand. I spent two weeks solid getting up at 5am just to do well in class tests. I skipped so many social occasions that I was dubbed “The Hermit”. I gave up exercise. I took up exercise. I dropped it again. I went off my beloved Twitter and knocked back my time on other social networks. I studied until bedtime, going for weeks on end without watching any television. I’ve been close to the brink of exhaustion this year but now that it’s almost over, I feel a sense of achievement. Currently I’m not too stressed about the looming exams. I still feel as if there’s so much left that needs to be done and yet I simultaneously realise that there isn’t enough time to get everything I want to do covered, although given another few months I’d probably still say the same thing. I’m not panicking. I’m staying optimistic. I’m trying to keep my focus going for just a few brief weeks longer…

Yesterday was my last day at school. I assumed I’d cry but I didn’t. The truth is, leaving secondary school behind us isn’t the end, it’s the beginning. Those who have stood by us for the past few years aren’t going to leave simply because they’re destined for different universities or courses. The friends we’ve made who are meant to stay in our lives, will do so.  The lessons we’ve learned, the memories we’ve made and the growing up we’ve done will all stand by us throughout life… So in a bittersweet way, the Leaving Cert isn’t just an exam, it’s a rite of passage. It’s one of those things we need to work through in order to be equipped for the real world. It’s our passport to reality.

I doubt I will have any time over the next few weeks to blog again, so I’m taking this opportunity to wish everyone the best of luck in their exams and I sincerely hope that you all have a brilliant summer ahead. I promise to blog again once my exams are finished on the 16th (I do believe I’m one of the earliest to finish?) and maybe then I’ll have an even more grounded view of this Leaving Cert process. One thing I’m looking forward to doing once this is all over, is re-reading my posts on this blog from September onwards. It’s easy to forget the different stresses and opinions I had from the beginning right through until the end, and it’ll be something which I can keep as a constant reminder of the year that counted for so much towards the rest of my life.

See you all on the other side.

Sorcha x

I decided it was about time I updated this blog, considering the orals are over and the Easter “holidays” have started, so really I’ve no excuse not to drop by and keep you all posted

News? Well, the orals are over (in case you didn’t guess from the title….) and I still can’t fathom the fact that they’ve already finished. It’s unbelievable to think that one moment they’re weeks away and next thing they’re a thing of the past. I’m saying it again for sheer emphasis – the orals are OVER. Finished. Done. The relief, as I’m sure you can all relate to, is immense.

From this moment on, I need never speak Irish or French ever again.. It’s yet another chapter in the Leaving Cert cycle closed. And how’d they go? Well, pretty much as expected. French was basic enough, all text book, nothing random, but Irish was a little challenging. I didn’t get asked anything related to the Lottery or Taoiseach.. but merely to describe the weather, the room I was in and to talk about my family and friends. The questions were ridiculously basic – which of course then had me on nerves waiting for something drastic to happen.  I couldn’t believe that the examiner wouldn’t throw me a curve ball, so as a result I spent the whole 15 mins waiting for a bomb to hit. It didn’t really come. Lesson? If something’s working in your favour, just let it go. Enjoy it. Don’t always expect the worse – you’ll just stress yourself. I came out of the room absolutely delighted with myself but also partially on edge thinking I didn’t get a chance to “show off” everything I’d learnt. Truth is, I doubt anybody went in there and got everything they wanted said. It’s all a load of improvisation. Oh and a little bit of an act too! A teacher of mine described the experience as a performance.. and she was completely right. Dramatise everything. Be an actor; add emotion, expression, even just a smile – it makes the whole thing so much easier. Trust me (It’s a bit late for me to be saying that now, granted, but maybe someone from class of 2012 will pick up on it ). So yeah, that was my orals in a nutshell, a pleasant surprise if anything. Though I can’t be cocky either – I was extremely lucky with my examiners. They were brilliant and did everything to help me instead of catch me out. I can only imagine the horrors of a bad examiner, and so I express my deepest sympathy with everyone on that front. Moving on…I don’t believe I recorded my mocks results on this blog yet… have I?

Well in brief, I got 505. A1 in Biology, B1 in Irish, B2 in English, B2 in Business, B1 in French, B1 in Home Ec, A1 in (pass) maths and distinction in LCVP. I’ve no idea how I managed to get that B1 in Irish, so I’m knocking myself back 10 points for realistic purposes. Sounds stupid, but I don’t want to set myself up for something that won’t be attained in June… still, I’m working on it  I’m delighted all round, though I know I made some stupid mistakes in English and Business around timing. They’re the typical exams where knowledge isn’t enough to win out – it’s all about the hackneyed “exam technique” these days. You either have it or you don’t. Again, I’m working on it guys.

Anyhu, the easter holidays are some light relief too. I took this weekend off just coz’. To be honest, I felt I deserved it. All work and no play makes Sorcha a very dull girl indeed… you physics students should know better than the rest of us that it’s all about the equilibrium between study and the social life. I’m happy with the way thing are playing themselves out too.

Til next time,

Sorcha x

Clock ticks. Pen down. Silence.

Then its all over.  I could almost feel all the definitions, diagrams, quotes and experiments spilling out from memory as I left my script on the desk and headed into mid-term. The feeling of being finished was absolutely surreal.

I made the decision not to study over the break and to be honest, it was the best thing I could’ve done for myself.  For the first time since September, I had the chance to properly relax without the twinging guilt that I should be studying. See I figured that being through the wars was enough, the brain needed “me” time. So yeah, midterm consisted of lie-ins and socialising, nights in and nights out.. reading for the sake of reading (something I’d missed more than I had thought!), etc. The thing I enjoyed most though was simply the opportunity to switch off. I allowed myself to be bored for the first time since God knows when! I can only imagine how good June 17th will feel – I can’t wait!

Naturally, it flew in. A blink, and suddenly we’re back to normal. Mocks are now unfashionable, orals are this seasons must-have. I’m not too worried as of yet, but since these are the first brush we’ll all have with the “real deal” I’m predicting some sorta panic attack between now and April. Whats left, four weeks or so? I’ll take bets for the 3 week breakdown. Probability means its more than likely gonna be a Monday. Just sayin’

And to distract us from this oral pressure, we have the return of the mock papers flying round. In some cases, they even provided a little comic relief, but that aspect of things is definitely best left behind us.

I’m still waiting on a few, but I’m pretty pleased all round. A1 in Biology, B1 (84%) in Home Ec, B2 in Business and English, Distinction in LCVP. I’m still awaiting Irish, French and Maths, which are the ones I’m most interested in… but I’ll keep you posted.

I know I made some stupid mistakes in the mocks, timing being one of them, but I guess that’s the whole point of them in the first place – its a clock based race, so we need to pace ourselves.  The teachers kept telling us all that for ages remember? Lesson learnt. They must love this smug time of year where their cautionary speeches come back to haunt us. But don’t worry, we’ll have our moment soon enough!

Best get back to the desk .. I’ve Irish notes to do. If anyone has suggestions for what they would do if they were Minister for Education/Finance/Taoiseach, it would definitely be appreciated. Can’t get any more topical than that guys.. It’s oral gold.

Sorcha x

Its all fun and games until somebody goes and puts the mocks timetable up.  That’s when the panic starts. That chapter you studied a month ago? Yeah, now you can’t even manage the short questions on it. Hamlet seems like a distant memory.  Home Ec was meant to be general knowledge. What’s the name of the main guy in Il Postino again?!

Such is the debacle that I’ve been facing this past week or two.  I’m not panicking as of yet, but there’s still the continuous twinge of nerves that maybe, just maybe, I’m gonna disappoint myself. See the thing is, I’m well aware that the mocks are just a trial and error process… If you’re to make a mistake, make it now and then learn from it. They’re glorified Christmas exams – a timing practice!

I know the teachers aren’t going to mind too much if I don’t get that A I’m working towards, and my parents have already told me that they’ll be happy with whatever I get. But it’s not them I’m worried about pleasing – It’s me. I’m my own biggest critic, and I’m competing against my own self-inflicted standards. Stupid isn’t it?? Yup. My stress is entirely self-induced! But if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say many of you are in the same boat.

From looking at the site these past few days, it’s obvious a universal panic has set in – allhonours is buzzing with LCs and JCs and we’re all looking for the same thing – some sorta assurance that we’ll all be sorted for the mocks. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…. its not gonna happen guys. Might as well relax about it and let things play themselves out (The hypocrite that I am really needs to start taking her own advice). Well, if you’re all anything like me, then the following situation should sound a tad familiar and perhaps reassuring:

1. You emptied your locker on Friday, knowing you’d need all the books to study over the weekend.

2. These books have now become a mountainous bundle piled high on your desk.

3. Trekking through this bundle seems like an Everest challenge.

4. You decided the most rational thing to do is start making charts and drawing out memory keys.

5. They work out great. You stick them up on the wall and never look at them again.

6. Your business/ economics teacher asks you about current affairs. You havent a clue. It’s been so long since you had time for the news that you’re shocked to hear Egypt is a bad LC holiday destination.

7. You’re keenly listening to any reference the teachers make about the mocks. If they say “I haven’t seen the paper” Its clearly a cover. “This might be up” is a given that it’ll be the first question. “Revise this if you’ve time” means CODE RED – STUDY OR FAIL.

8. You hear from a classmate….”I’m screwed. I just revised chapter 1 -23 twice this week, and only managed to finish 10 long questions in 15mins. My essay on Hamlet is only 17 pages long. I’m totally gonna fail.” Dont listen to them, they’ll just get you down. Let them at it. See how much they get written in at the exam.. that’ll teach them.

9. Your newfound guide to brainfood: No I will not eat porridge for breakfast. Slow release of energy? Hah. My fool proof concoction of coffee, diet coke, berocca boost, lucozade and honey gives me all the energy I need… (Dont actually try this, its disgusting and will probably kill more braincells than one can afford to lose)

10.  Such is your persona: I’m not cranky after school, I’m a brave little soldier. I’m carrying on despite all the pressure and the weight of the world being on my back (literally). My life is an eternal pit of doom right now… but I’m struggling on. Have sympathy for poor me and pity my condition by giving me chocolate, comfy blankets and not giving out that I haven’t tidied my room since August………

So yeah. That’s my life right now in a nutshell. Stress is building. Study is mounting. Mocks are pending. The good news is, I’ve more chocolate than I can handle.  It’s all just a matter of perspective isn’t it?

Sorcha x

*sighs* I actually did try. I had the most beautiful time table – Christmas was going to be crammed with study, but also loaded with the nights out and the days set aside for simply doing nothing. I had it all thought out – I genuinely was going to make a huge effort!

You can predict whats coming… my time table (like they tend to do) went way off track. 6 hours a day? Try 2 or 3. Max. Not that I think I’m doing badly, I’m just not doing half as much as planned. And worse still – Ive turned nocturnal! This whole week I’ve slept in til 12pm, regardless of alarm clocks, wake-up calls, etc. To be honest, I think I’m just wrecked. Before the Christmas holidays I was under the impression that doing everything like some sorta student superhero was just a matter of “penciling it in” but alas, I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Guys, nobody beat yourself up about not doing enough study over the holidays. Theres no point. New Year’s eve I had a little bit of a panic attack, thinking that come the 1st of January it was game on. In true movie style, everything just hit the fan. This shizz just got real. Mocks are in February, and even though I know things have a way of working out, theres still that nagging voice that I haven’t done enough and that there’s no way I’ll be prepared.

Mid-crisis I realised that yeah, okay – I’m not gonna be prepared. My worst nightmare of being in over my head is inevitable. But thats okay. Mocks seem HUGE to us right now, though that’ll pass. We can only do as much as we can. Even if we have the days where we slack, and even if studying hours on end doesnt work out for some as it might do for others…. its okay. We’ll all get there in the end. Remember my “hang on in there kitty” post? Well…. I still mean it. I am well aware how cheesy my blog is turning out to be, but really I felt I had to write it, even just to assure myself more than anyone else that things are gonna be alright. When I’m all done and dusted with these exams in June, I fully intend to read back through my blog and I know that I’m gonna stop at this one and cringe. It’s gonna be one of those “I wish I could turn back and tell her to cop herself on, lighten up a bit – enjoy this year.” Still, had to be written. I remember somebody telling me over the summer that Leaving Cert is an experience – one not to be missed. Hah. They said that its one of those things that we’ll fight against til the last exam, but appreciate for the rest of our lives. It’s only now I can see where they’re coming from.

Roughly we’ve got about 5 weeks til the mocks. Give or day a few days. Breathe.  Besides, whats the worst that could happen?*

*Ans: You could fail. (Ain’t that blatantly obvious kiddo?) And if anybody reading this does fail any of the mocks… or even doesn’t do as well as hoped.. Embrace it. Shrug it off. Just don’t let it get to you. At the end of the day, it’ll make your actual result in the Leaving Cert so much sweeter. Look at it as a challenge… Bring it on.

Hey guys!

I’m finding it more and more difficult to find time to come on and blog! Its been almost a month since my last post…  Thats rather abysmal really. I’ll try to do better, I promise! I’ve been absolutely swamped with school and thats the God honest truth. Snow helped me out a bit with that though…. anyone else get the Christmassy vibes? The Late Late Toy Show started it off, then the advent calenders, and now everywhere I look people are putting Christmas trees up. Its hard not to be in a good mood these days.. we’re so close to the holidays! Bring it. NOW.

Right well let me see… Time to rewind back a month!

I’ve been pretty much taken up with the usual homework and school things, some prefect duties and some charity events. That pretty much sums it all up! Then the snow started falling and our whole county was in turmoil. Despite last year’s embarrassing lack of organisation within the Donegal Council RE grit and the likes, this year was exactly the same… every last one of us were stuck in our houses for at least a week, unable to go anywhere. It was awful. Yeah the lie-ins were great, but cabin fever kicks in after a day or two and from then on I just got grouchy. My studying dropped a bit, my social life plummeted (as if it could sink any lower… *sighs*) and I got lazy. I think the worst part was the Trinity cancelled open day – as sad as it sounds, I was really looking forward to the trip up!! And its the same now for UCD on Friday and Saturday… our county is still in such a bad shape that Im not sure I’ll be able to make it outta my drive, let alone make the four hour journey!

Moving quickly, so very quickly onwards…

My usual blogging slots on the computer have been taken up with a little project of mine – Leaving Cert hoodies. I decided that this year for my Christmas good deed I’d start a mini -company basically consisting of organising personalised hoodies for the LC students in our school. The profit made would be going to charity.. but the whole process is turning out to be alot more work than I bargained for. And nobody is willing to help! Its ridiculous. Everyone expects a decent design, etc, but nobody is willing to help. This led to me spending three hours two weeks ago scrawling through notes and the likes trying to create spreadsheets for the embroidery company. Then the snow added a massive set back… and to cut a long story short, the hoodies still arent ordered. Stressful enough to be honest.. I advice nobody to take the project on unless theyve help because trust me, everyone’ll want the product, nobody’ll want to help.  Sorry, thats my rant over for the day, I promise!

No wait, the budget. Its borderline amusing at this stage. No seriously.  Nobody wants to hear it. I personally am completely and utterly sick of our current economic climate – not so much the drastic measures we have to take, but the absolute crap that’s been coming out of our *trusted* government. I don’t think things would be half as bad if they’d just have been blunt and upfront about it. I’d rather not hear that  ”we’re all in this together” coming from our Taoiseach because 1) We’re not – he’s evidence enough himself of that and 2) If he’s resorted to quoting cheesy HSM characters, then one can only imagine the mental age we’re dealing with here. I’ll pass the word onto my 13 year old sister.. see if the message hits home.

Sorcha x

I’m baaaaaaaaack! It’s been a little too long since I last blogged. I apologise everyone! But I do actually have an excuse – my modem was down and these things take a ridiculous amount of time to get fixed.. I was at my wits end without the internet by the time the fix-it guy came out and sorted it! It was an awful experience altogether, however absolutely brilliant for study purposes. I never would’ve considered myself a cyberaddict, but spending a week or two without it made me realise how much of a hindrance it is to my study.  No seriously I spend time on everything – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr, Formspring…. it’s embarrassing. *stands up* My name is Sorcha Cusack, and I have a social networking addiction. *everyone nods head in unison* I’ve come here to get help.

That aside…

Study has been going pretty well, I’m still not doing hours upon hours every night, but I’ve worked out a little routine for myself which has definitely helped get me stuck into the study mindframe. Exam papers are invaluable right now to me too… practice makes perfect I spose. I do after school study until 6ish, then come home and take a break for half an hour, then study until 10ish. Of course there’s a good few mini breaks thrown in there too, I like my comforts, and tea works a treat Every weekend I plan to get hours and hours done, but to no success. I always seem to find something to distract me! For instance I sat down to study yesterday and got about two hours done before I decided to take a brief walk. One thing led to another and it ended up being dark by the time I got home, and at least 3 hours of studying was knocked off the to-do list! Fantastic..

In other news, I’ve dropped to Pass Maths! I don’t regret it one bit. I think I subconsciously always knew that I was going to drop, but it was the whole “I’m doing all Honours” aspect that kept me hanging in there. Even in deciding to leave I acted entirely on impulse – I got a transfer form under the illusion that I was going to keep it “just in case” but as soon as I got it, something felt right about moving.. so everything just fell into place from there. FYI – Pass Maths is BEAU-tiful! I love it! I spent the past three months working so hard on maths that I was beginning to hate it, but now that I’m in Pass, it’s enjoyable! Anything that looks remotely difficult is solved by opening the log tables, case closed. Another bonus from the whole thing is that I’ve been able to pay alot more attention to my other subjects and since I’ve dropped, I’ve gained back my A average in everything and study has actually become “relaxing.” That’s something I never envisioned saying…..

Also, I’m a little curious about supervised study – does that really help people get work done? I stay in until six, but it’s not a controlled thing, it’s simply me not leaving the canteen until the cleaners kick me out. I’ve reached the stage now where I’m on first name terms with the cleaners.. could be beneficial I guess. Haven’t yet quite worked out how though :P

A la prochaine fois,

Sorcha x