Okay, so when I set out writing this post I intended to cover a number of topics. However, I got totally carried away and managed to only cover my French Oral before taking a look at the word count. At least this will give me the push I need to blog more often because I have plenty more rants in store! My teachers always say my answers aren’t long enough anyway.

Now it’s time for a post-mortem of the Orals. As much as relatives and teachers advise against replaying exam experiences in your head like a catchy Vampire Weekend song, it’s the very same people who are waiting around the corner saying “how did it go?” and “what did they ask you?” They didn’t ask me anything harder than what you just did, that’s for sure! I mean, how can you compress over twelve minutes of one of the most unnatural conversations of your life into a satisfactory summary for people who haven’t gone through something similar in over thirty years? My standard “it was grand, just happy it’s over” and “there were no surprises” replies have become monotonous by now. For this reason, I am going to be honest with you.

The French went well. In fact, it completely exceeded my expectations. I’m not saying I walked out of there with a spectacular mark but the time went so quickly that I worried the examiner had timed it wrong. She did say beforehand, “les maths, c’est ma bête noire”, when calculating how long to keep me in there (to my utter dismay because I had prepared that exact phrase and would now just look like I was copying her). While we’re on the topic, the examiner was a French native and one of the nicest women to grace the littered halls of my school. When she talked to the year as a whole at the start of the week and asked who her “première victime” would be, I gathered that she didn’t take herself too seriously. Or us either, I discovered, as the week went on. It became common knowledge that this woman liked to laugh. A lot. Hopefully not at the standard of French though.

Although the examiner’s kind disposition should have been reassuring, it did little to put me at ease as I waited outside room 20, with nothing but her muffled laughs to keep me company. I skimmed over notes for my favourite TV show, Gossip Girl, before the door opened and I quickly decided that confidence was key, despite the fact that I had none. Admittedly, I felt like Blair Waldorf incarnate as I strutted into the room, signed the register and took a seat. Yes, I strutted into the room. Convincing this woman that I was self-assured had made me believe it too, so even if an A is out of the question perhaps an Oscar is in order?

The tête-à-tête went nicely and I felt more like I was in a café chatting to an overly friendly waitress than in a classroom being recorded through a microphone. Knowing that the woman enjoyed a joke, I ensured that I went in there with some material. When she asked if I liked sport, I said that I keep in shape by running to the fridge. A belly laugh ensued on her behalf, although I don’t think The Comedy Roadshow will be calling me anytime soon. I was also asked about myself, my family, school, pastimes, college and my document, which posed the most problems.

Bringing in a photo of the Gaeltacht for the French Oral was not the greatest idea but not because I was tempted to speak as Gaeilge. It was because her desire to know of a typical day there required me to use the imperfect, which really is my bête noire. The worst thing was that I had planned to cover this question the previous night but ran out of time. Merde! Anyway, my newfound WWBWD (What Would Blair Waldorf Do) attitude encouraged me to carry on and pretend I knew what I was saying. I hoped she would lead on to the future of the Irish language but it was all in vain. Overall though, there were no major blanks and I got to use all the main tenses, albeit they may not have been conjugated correctly. Alors, c’est la vie!

If anyone is thinking that an overdose of energy drinks and a popular American sitcom suddenly transformed me from a very average Honours student to Audrey Tatou, I have to stress that I put a lot of study into this Oral. I know, I know, I’ve just broken rule #1 of being a cool Sixth Year- never admit that you’ve studied, ever! It’s not all sunshine and Easter eggs for me (although I’ve just eaten a nice milk chocolate one for breakfast) because my fear of the French Oral pushed all other subjects to the side for two weeks. Unfortunately this resulted in a disappointing Irish Oral…

To be continued (for anyone who actually bothered to read this one).

I think that’s an oxymoron. Miserable Advancement might have been a better one but i really can’t be bothered at this stage.

I’m planning on blogging a lot more now closer to the exam. Each day or every two days i will try to post what I’ve done so i keep a log for myself. Also so my internet breaks do not become just arguing with people on facebook over the oxegen line up. Last year Eminem and Kanye drew some amount of scumbags to the festival. If they think the line up is gay and they don’t want to go see bands like The National, Strokes, Foos, Brandon Flowers, Weezer, FLAPES, Ryan Sheridan. Be my guest it means i won’t have to worry about you falling over my tent.

Then again i’ve spent the past while moaning about the leaving cert so swings and roundabouts.

Was listening to RTE radio 1 today and thought there was a great talk about the leaving cert and studying. How these next 17 or so days are vital for our study. I myself have noticed that all Q5’s in the leaving cert music course have been flat majors in all but one year over the past 5. I’m not going to edit this blog, I’m typing it how it’s currently sounding in my head. Syntax poor i have.

I think we are going to be one of the last groups to sit the traditonal leaving cert. On the radio today they also made very strong claims how our system is outdated and unfair on the students doing it ( REALLY ? WE’VE ONLY BEEN SAYING THIS FOR 2 YEARS ).

I should be doing 8 hours a day according to that guy on the radio. Yesterday i did about 3, an English question about my hopes for the future and 3 or 4 music harmonys. I really hope we don’t get one comparable to the last few years. While i love crossing out a good passing note, i do not like when i get a lot of D’s and C’s meaning i can’t pick an appropriate chord. Not to mention WE CAN’T USE 3 AND 7. WHICH ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE THE PERFECT ONE .

Today ,I’m going to do a couple of french letters, a maths question or two and hopefully revise some economics. I’m going out to study in my old minders house . There’s no distractions out there, she takes my phone off me and puts me in the room to study. When i first went to her aged around 3 or 4. Apparently i helped her daughter study for the leaving cert by distracting her and crawling around her trying to get up and draw on her pages. Now her eldest daughter has a child who she minds during the day, perhaps Rian will help me the same way.

Oddly enough my iTunes is on shuffle when I’m writing this, that’s not odd at all really but the song that just came on sums up the leaving cert . You put the effort in and you will get rewarded, but there is also alternative routes and even if it does go bad, at least Noah did something right because,

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N

Andrew.

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

The ‘How Many Days Until’ Calculator that I lazily Googled has just informed me that there are twelve days until the French orals start in my school. And what am I doing? Revising tenses, learning vocabulary, preparing my document? No, I’m playing air guitar to French songs that I found on Youtube.

Today my English teacher was stressing the importance of anecdotes in our writing so I’d like to share one with you. I discovered a charming little French song in an episode of Gossip Girl that I proceeded to look up online. I have listened to the song over twenty times since then and only recently did I venture to look up the translation. I thought that if I sung along and knew what the words meant in French it was bound to help me in the oral. However, to my utmost surprise, the song’s title actually translated into a dirty word. A dirty word which, if I were to use in the oral or any French class, would get me thrown out of the room. Well done Ciara, you sure know how to pick them. The song is called ‘Petite Pute’ by Austine – I think I’ll let you Google translate that in your own time.

I might as well touch on the mocks while I’m here, as they seem to be as talked about as Rebecca Black’s song ‘Friday’. I had a pretty generic experience of the exams and have gotten all of the results except for History. We did it on the 10th February, there are only twenty people in the class and yet, it’s the 23rd March and they’re still not back. What’s up with that? I was satisfied with my results but know there’s still room for improvement. The award for Most Pleasantly Surprised Result goes to Irish with 84%. Most Disappointing was Business at 57% (so much for being my best subject), while the award for Percentage That Made Me Laugh Immaturely was 69% in French.

I did nothing for St.Patrick’s day, in keeping with my reputation as a Leaving Cert recluse. It usually rains, the parade contains one million brass bands and you can’t walk without getting glass in your shoe that day, so I wasn’t too bothered. I actually got a bit of study done over the long weekend, although it’s gone down the drain this week as I’ve been continuously exhausted since Monday. The hardcore party animals that went out for the four days know how I feel, except at least they have an excuse.

In other news, if my Maths class gets one more person seeking refuge from the horrors of Higher Level, we have to move classroom. Just another part of the exciting tale that is my life.

Sorry that this post lacks any structure and is really just a flow of random thoughts. Also, please forgive me if I seem alarmingly bland and pessimistic today, I’m tired and wanted to clear my mind.

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

Election day. Remember the days when it meant a day off so the dusty national school gym could be used as a polling station? No more. Surviving for 18 long years has deemed me eligible to have a say in who runs this country until we realise our next government fails too.

Like most people, I don’t know who to vote for. Fianna Fáil? Are ‘the reason we are in this mess’. Fine Gael are ‘just as bad’, supposedly, and their flashy websites and gimmicky catch phrases have failed to attract me. I’m swaying towards Labour. They seem the least likely to be a disaster. Is that fair to say? Then there are the independents, who with the growing discontent with our political parties are seeing their opportunity to ‘make a change’ and tackle the ‘cronyism’. Either that, or the prospect of a lovely TD salary was too good to pass up!

After debates, canvassers and countless leaflets in the post, I’m none the wiser. The televised arguments were a feat of points scoring, each leader trying to get one up on the other, and the odd seanfhocal I might find useful in a Leaving Cert Irish essay. Any canvassers that came to my door lost my respect immediately with  ‘Hello! Is mammy or daddy home?’ Nope, but I’ll be voting too, goodbye!

I did enjoy the Irish language debate! I was expecting pre-rehearsed responses to arranged questions, answered one by one. Initially, that’s what it was. ‘A Mhichíl, céard atá do fhís don tír amach anseo..?’ But once the initial statements were done with, I was impressed with the leaders’ Irish. I was sceptical at first, but it developed into a proper argóint. Still, I would have liked to see Gerry there, just for laughs!

Despite many peoples’ wishes, Enda Kenny will most likely be our next Taoiseach. I’m going to be bold, and say his success must be attributed to this game.

http://www.finegael2011.com/game/?gclid=CMbY_5iNnacCFcomfAod_CubbQ

Who wouldn’t want him to lead your country out of economic recession?

Ádh mór,

Adam

Hey everyone

Mid-Term is finally here and I hope everyone reading this is finished their Mocks, and if not I pity you, I truly do. I remember thinking when we found out when our Mocks were that I would have preferred them after the mid-term. But now I couldn’t be happier to have them finished

Here’s a quick breakdown of how they went

Irish Paper One After doing Honours for 5 years, it was a bit of a doddle. That’s no disrespect to anyone doing Pass but its just how I feel.

History Oh Dear Lord. My hand after that exam was in bits. Everything I wanted came up but it didn’t make it any less difficult. The timing in it was just impossible.

Irish Paper 2 Again, quite easy.  Probably should have studied a little but meh.

Physics Could have went better. Could have went a hell of a lot worse. Tricky but nothing I shouldn’t have been able to handle.

Applied Maths Bahahahaha. Ha. That’s all I could do during this exam. It was impossible. I almost certainly failed. Better now than in June tho.

Hope everyone enjoys their mid-term
Next stop, Orals

Niamh xx

I should be studying. Panicking, even about my mocks. English 1 and maths 1 tomorrow. But I thought, with the soaring number of views the site has been getting lately I should take advantage and distract some more of you with wizardrous words and idiomatic use of language. Or not.

I’ve been thinking about all the students who desperately join any leaving cert forum to get their hands on coveted mock exam papers. I didn’t know what DEBS or examcraft were before this week. Yes, it’s cheating. But then again, if you know what is coming up, are you more likely to study the material better? Or do we simply want to keep the folks happy with fabulous results? I’m undecided, but I’ve tried to steer clear of the Allhonours.ie homepage, in the fear that I may get an unintended peek at what’s coming up in chemistry!

Another site I’ve decided to stay away from. That leech. That viciously attractive, seemingly harmless, time consuming demon that is Facebook. My friend Meghan and I have swapped passwords. It seems drastic, and her faith is being tested today, after bumping into Ryan Tubridy. Those statuses come around once in a lifetime! But I just think about the extra time I will have. It will be worth not knowing when my friends go to sleep and who’s shifting who if I get the points I want.

Those of you that are newcomers, use this site after the mocks too, there’s a lot more to it than cheating on mocks. Plenty of notes, and other students that are in the same boat as you. I sound like Patrick Barry!

Ádh mór,

Adam

Well, i have some intresting developments to telll you all about.

I have taken up History outside of school. That makes 7 honours subjects , 2 pass subjects and LCVP. So, I’ll be spending my Mid-term catching up on my Modern European History .

Work experience on Monday.I’ll be telling ye all how that goes.I’m really looking forward to it ! .

It’s really weird to see all the 3rd years freaking out over their mocks.It seems so small compared to  the work in 5th year.I’ve now have turned into one of those 5th years who says the Junior Cert is Simple. Even though i know it’s easy to say that once you have them done .

Our school is going to be complete computerised. All of the rooms are going to have computers and projectors yet still no new rooves .

Work Experience Tomorrow!!, I’m really looking forward to it and the next 2 weeks with no school .Hopefully the cats won’t scratch me. Work Experience has inspired me to ask a question.What is Your Dream Job??

Even i have to think about this…

I’ll probally update during the week while writing work experience diary

BYE

Well. That was a stressful weeks. Mocks suck. Remember the JC mocks that were actually a bitta craic cause you got extra long lunches and no homework, all you had to do was show up for two hours and maybe do a bit of study in between (Well that’s how it was for me anyway). Well in the LC mocks, you get shorter lunches, early mornings, late nights and a nice dollop of stress. Sounds fun, right?

I won’t go into any serious details with each exam incase someone reading this doesn’t want to cheat but here’s a basic summary of how my week went.

English Paper One Alot harder than I expected it to be. I kind of just expected it to go alright tho, but that was not the case. The three texts weren’t that straightforward but that’s nothing compared to the essays. Normally, one essay just jumps out at me. But nothing was appealing. About a page into it, I freaked and realised I had no more ideas. But I only had 40 minutes left so I had no choice but to ramble on for two and a half more pages. Not impressed by its shortness either but hey, we live and learn.

English Paper Two Was B-E-Autiful. Everything I wanted to came up so was delighted. Tough paper in so much as its 3hr20mins of solid writing. And you really do need that time. Exhausting stuff.

Maths Paper One Disaster. Epic Fail. Impossible. More depressing words. It was horrendous. Algebra was terrible and even my bankers (Q6,7 and weren’t that straightforward at all. Hopefully I scraped a pass.

Maths Paper Two Another awful paper. You’d swear they were trying to scare people into dropping to pass. You could just see all the honours students looking at the paper dumbfounded (or maybe that was just me). Was nicer than paper one, but still harder than any paper I’ve done before.

French Lovely. Easiest paper I’ve ever done. Was finished in an hour. Reading comprehensions were really easy and the questions were great too. The listening was a great deal harder but still very manageable.

Biology Another nice paper. Very manageable. No major complaints

That’s all I’ve done so far. Irish Paper One and Two, History, Physics and Applied Maths next week. History is gonna be hard. Timing is ridiculous. 2hr50 to write 4 essays. Impossible!

Then Mid-Term Excitement )

Niamh xx