Six years ago, I embarked on a journey. Back then, the biggest worry for me was making new friends. Now 6 years later, I would easily dismiss this idea, telling myself I had nothing to worry about. Now I feel myself worrying about exams I no longer have control over, CAO course choices that will decide my future. In six years, I have been exasperated far beyond my limits, felt emotions I didn’t think existed … and these were caused by my friends alone. Exams on the other hand, groomed, beaten and stripped me. They were both a terror and a joy, they would decide the mood for the following days. Goals were set and dreams were envisioned.

I sat my final two exams Physics and Chemistry on the 20th and 21st of June respectively. Achieving an A grade in both for my pre, I told myself I had nothing to worry about. However this never settled my nerves with physics. I’m certainly not weak at the science. My classmates like to refer to me as the physics king, but I was never confident with the subject. A certain fragility which was never mirrored in other subjects. One too many B’s, I suppose have added to this uncertainty. Despite my fears beforehand and also the need to literally regurgitate everything, the exam was a soaring success. I doubt it was the A1 but hey, I predicted a B3 in my pre and how wrong was I with that one ? Chemistry which was undoubtedly my best subject in the last few months. Unrealistic expectations comes to mind now. After the exam, I felt terrible. I know I’m tethering on the very edge of the A grade, so I’m not very happy. For me the questions were far different to previous years and on a scale from 1 to Gary Glitter how much did it rape me.. I’d have to say the full shabang.

Whenever anyone blogs about the HPAT, I always reminisce about the blog made by Jennie on the other leaving cert blog website (for anyone who hasn’t read it I’ll post a link below) Jennie for me was a true inspiration, she certainly had a way with words, and this blog always shows me even though things look bleak at this moment in time, things have a way of working out in the right ways. After repeating her leaving cert she went on to study Medicine in Trinity College Dublin. In terms of my own experience, the results were released last Monday. It seems the “tested” results on the CAO website posted months ago were infact the actual results… surprise…. surprise. I scored 155 in the HPAT, hot a great score and beforehand I wanted to score 170 to obtain my place in medical school. So you’d expect me to be abit more upset. But hey I wouldn’t be an evil villain if I didn’t have a few tricks up my sleeve. The day after my exams I was deemed eligible for the HEAR scheme. So that daunting 3000 list of med -seeking students can be slashed down by a dramatic amount, so hey I still might have a chance and there’s always next year. Interestingly I read on boards.ie someone received 154 in the HPAT and 560 in the leaving cert and got into Trinity.

Since finishing my exams, my desk (or shrine as I like to call it) has been cleaned up. I’ve still kept a few copybooks and several folders to use as souvenirs for the years to come. A testament to the fact that hard work pays off in the end. In our school we have a rental book scheme in which we return our old books after the exams. Abit fearful of being forgotten I decided to leave a message at the back of my biology book, so that next year hopefully the receiver will cherish the subject (and teacher) as much as I did.

So what is planned for the future for Jason Hayes ? Well first of all I must get a job. The idea of sponging off my parents for the summer doesn’t agree well with the theme of freedom I have expressed lately.  I also want to start driving soon, my friends have been telling me for the last year to get the theory test done, but I always used the leaving cert as an excuse, but I no longer have that asset. After that, I have my Debs which is going to be the final time the class of 2011 will be in the same building together before we finally disperse. Finally, I plan to keep on learning French. I know despite it being one of my B subjects. I just can’t get enough of it, hey maybe it’s due to the girls aloud song. But it’s more likely due to a french exchange student that came to our school in fifth year. We still remain great friends and she was a life saviour writing out certain essays for the leaving. Since her arrival, I saw the language in a new perspective. I plan to go to France in the next few years and I’ve set the goal of being fluent in the language before I’m 25 (I also want a gold gaisce for that matter)

Finally I know alot of people complain about the leaving certificate. It has become a topic of much debate but for me, I loved it (perhaps the A-levels would have suited me more) but in terms of what I have gained, it was incomparable. From the great works of Shakespeare to vast mathematical equations. The leaving cert is mainly just an exam where you have to make goals, organise yourself, prepare, knock down obstacles and take down exams step by step, all under a huge amount of pressure. All things you have to do in life under a constant basis. Without doubt, I haven’t received a perfect leaving cert but I still tried my best. All I can do is pray that will be enough. Every exam brought with it new challenges and everyday brought a new work load of study. When things became hard and stress became overwhelming , I often heard an alarm in my head going off, ringing our school motto.

Educate that you may be free

and I feel now that I have achieved this freedom I sought long and hard for.

Thank you everyone who has been apart of this year. You have all served in helping and supporting me in ways that you probably do not even realize. Thank you Allhonours for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime and finally good luck to the class of 2012, you will seriously need it!

Jennie’s blog – http://students.theleavingcert.com/hpat/

My Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=743241854