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

The world is a beautiful place.

This may be because I’ve just FINISHED THE LEAVING CERT but I suddenly truly understand what William Wordsworth, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Louis Armstrong have been talking about. On my way home, I took delight in the heat, the seaside and even a piece of rubbish floating around. This view may diminish over time but once I put down the pen after History, it’s like the sun came out. Poetic, I know. Too bad English is over.

It hasn’t quite sunk in that I’M DONE (but if I keep saying it, it’s bound to stick) because I’m one of two in my school to finish today. I’m even finished before the Junior Certs. As a result, celebrations will be confined to my house tonight (wild, I know) but tomorrow I can go crazy with some friends. I know how much I’m rubbing it in but hopefully this will spur people on who have another while to go. Well, I really just want to keep bragging.

I suppose I better backtrack to the exams for a moment so I don’t get ahead of myself. Irish Paper 2 yesterday was nice and there were no major shocks, although I was a little surprised that an Cearrbhach came up as the compulsory story again. Being the only person I know that likes Lig Sinn i gCathú, I was sad to say goodbye to the Púca and the secretary, the mad gits. As for Business, I wrote at lightning speed for the whole three hours and all my hard work paid off in the sense that I knew all the answers bar some short questions but despite emerging with bruises on my hand, I could not get it done. I was gutted because I know I could have gotten the A I studied so much for otherwise. I was even talking in my sleep about how much of a tragedy it all was!

French today was lovely. As someone who is quite weak at the language, I was delighted with the written pieces in particular. I did the independence one, the diary entry and the one on social networking websites. Almost all of my material was what I had learned for the Orals, so it was great that things I didn’t mention then could be used now. I liked the listening too but have to admit I’m a bit worried about the couple who were too busy mushroom picking to notice their son was missing… I haven’t had time to dissect History in my head with all the excitement.

Oh wait, I just remembered Coleraine didn’t come up. That was a bit of a shock and the contextualisation question on the Apprentice Boys was a bit iffy, I thought. As for the Irish section, I can’t believe the economies didn’t come up! Anyway, I went for the consolidating democracy, an old reliable. The European was okay, although I hadn’t put in much work for it so I went for Mussolini. What was with the US questions? I laughed at how random it was that the moon landing and Vietnam were in the same question! None of my predictions came up but I tweaked my bus boycott essay to suit the Martin Luther King question. Of course, I didn’t get anything done but that’s a given with me and History. To be honest, my hand wasn’t able for it after yesterday. I jotted down some points in the last minute in the hope that the examiner will have pity on me. I don’t really mind with History because I never get very high marks but I hope I at least get a C3.

So that’s it. Wow, how odd. No more navy nylon, no more Hitler or Gealt or Algebra. It’s strange. Now what do I do with my life? I’ve just spent the first few minutes of freedom writing a long blog post about exams. In my defence, none of my friends are finished yet, okay! I’ll post again in August when results and offers come out and whatnot…but that’s a worry for another time! I’ll say a proper goodbye then because I’m too happy right now to be sentimental. For now I’m going to throw out all my notes, sleep for hours on end, go to the beach and tan. Oh who am I kidding, I just go red and then back to pale white again! If anyone wants to keep up with the trivial events of my life, you can catch me on Twitter here. I might as well give myself a plug.

To everyone who still has exams, good luck! Finishing is fantastic so enjoy it, be safe and have a good summer.

To quote the little old women at my bus shelter, “It comes earlier and earlier every year”. Okay, so they were talking about Christmas and I would normally complain too about the early arrival of everything Christmas-related but not this year. Everyone seems so down and out about the Budget and just the state of the country in general that I say, why not talk about Christmas? I don’t know about you all but for me I can think of no happier time. Two weeks off school (even longer this year though), mouth-watering food, busy shops, a nice cosy fire at home…Okay, snap back to reality Ciara before you break into song. What I was trying to say when I started writing this (yes, would you believe that this actually leads to something exam related?) was that while I have no problems discussing Christmas now, I think it’s too soon to start talking about about Christmas Tests. The sad thing is, the Christmas Tests are before Christmas. Crap.

Yeah, the second we arrived back last week the teachers started calling out prescribed chapters for the exams and before you know it, everyone has made study timetables and Granny has started lighting the candles for them at mass. I’m sat here wondering where to start with all my study…Times like this I’d really like a crystal ball. Or a photographic memory. Maybe if I get Granny to light an extra big candle I might get one of the two. I think a trip to the library is in order this weekend, without my friends in tow because let’s just say they make it hard to study…ever play Hide and Seek in a library? I have. I need to finish the second draft of my History RSR anyway.

In other news, we got our Drémires this week. I know, the fun never stops in my life! For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s like a mini Irish book with essays and grammar tips, etc., aimed at LC students. It’s handy but I find the comprehensions too complex. I’ll stick to my Foinses for the most part, thank you very much. My French teacher advised our class to pick our documents for the oral in the coming two weeks. Is she serious? The oral is months away! I don’t know what to pick, any ideas? I was thinking of a picture from the Gaeltacht but I just know that’ll put me in the Irish language state of mind that I really have to avoid, considering it’s a test of French. She said it could be a picture of anything but the other class’ teacher told them it really should be French-related, so they’re all picking French movies (the same one) and French celebrities. Unfortunately I’m not as absorbed in the culture, although I like croissants (cliché much?).

I’m going to start studying in a few minutes (I promise) and then reward myself with some TV. The Apprentice- I’m addicted! And I do Business so it’s practically educational.

Sorry for my absence on this for the past few…I don’t even want to check how long it’s been since my last post! But really, as a Fifth Year student on a website mostly visited by Sixth Years, I felt that as exams are approaching, the last thing they want to read are my minor complaints! I’m just after reading the others’ recounts of the orals and now all I want to do is go study for them! I’m going to the Gaeltacht this summer so that should be a help but as for French… I have never put on a French accent once in class because I can’t take myself seriously with it. It’s a bit unfair, expecting us with our rural Irish accents to suddenly become Audrey Tatou for twelve minutes!

Okay, so I’m going to jump right into this. I’m sure like most of you, I’ve had this thought for years but it was only when I changed my Facebook language from English to Gaeilge (after a pretty hilarious/confusing period of using Pirate language) that I thought to myself:

If methods of learning were a little bit more fun, I think I’d do a lot better in school!

Over the past few years attending secondary school, I’ve tried to make learning stuff as easy as possible. The methods varied from the common acronyms to composing a song about the rock cycle. Revision books are handy to concise facts and carry home instead of the 10-tonne Business book but are much the same as your actual textbook. Here are some of my ideas:

Irish- introduce newer and more modern stories and poems. Some of the ones on the course are good but others are quite pointless. A 21st century romance novel as Gaeilge? Yes please! Until the department takes my ideas on board, try some fun ways of enhancing your Irish. Foinse comes with the Irish Independent every Wednesday and there’s great articles to suit everyone. I love the fashion column personally. There are some great songs in Irish too that will get you in the right mindset. Des Bishop’s Léim Thart, The Corona’s Heroes or Ghosts, Mundy’s Mexico and Galway Girl can all be found on Youtube as Gaeilge, along with some others that may appear in the sidebar while you’re watching. And if all else fails, follow every muinteoir Gaeilge’s favourite tip: Watch TG4!

French- many of the same pointers here. Popular culture is the greatest learning aid for languages, I think. For music, I love Carla Bruni, especially Quelq’un M’a Dit. I don’t know much about French films or TV but I’ve seen Entre Les Murs and Les Choristes in class and loved them! Coco Avant Chanel is on my must-see list too.

English- seeing as we speak English all the time, that’s most of the work done. Reading and writing regularly will of course enhance your abilities for Paper 1 but as for Paper 2 all you can really do is study what’s in the books. I did find, however, that watching The Simpsons’ version of Hamlet many times in my youth helped me when we were doing it in class. You may laugh but I knew what was going to happen before anyone else and the teacher thought I was some sort of psychic!

Maths- there’s not much you can do here but even simple changes in the books could make a difference. For the Area and Volume chapter, Find the volume of a cylindrical rod is just plain boring. Find the volume of a cylindrical tube of Oreos, however, is more appealing!

Business- I don’t have too much of a problem with the Business course because the exam gives you room for creativity already. You know the questions that say ‘illustrate with a product of your choice‘? I love picking the craziest products for them because as long as you answer the question properly, you can waffle on about pooper-scoopers and tricycles all you like! Shows like The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den give you a basic knowledge of Business skills and we often discuss them in my class. I’d love to see a question such as Write 100 words on your favourite Apprentice character.

History- movies are great for this subject and of course documentaries. Michael Collins, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Downfall… there are ones to suit nearly every aspect of the course!

Geography- this is a tricky one. All I can really suggest is, go outdoors!

Hey everyone!
I owe you an apology for vanishing for a few weeks there! I suppose the only school related topic atm is the mocks, well down this part of the country they are! I have all mine back except the most dreaded! That would be Irish and Maths, so far I’ve calculated that I have 465 points, hopefully at least a B3 in irish or A2 in maths (pass) will bring me up?(updated-465 are my total points..not exactly what i hoped for,,)Overall, apart from English,which I will get to later, (believe me), I thought I did really well.  I had my mock French oral and got 92/100.So that along with my actual mock got me an A1 in french! Delighted so I was! I keep asking myself what was my problem back when I was young, *sigh* a C in the Junior Cert was pathetic in my case, considering I LOVE french and am decent enough in it I know you shouldn’t really go by the mocks because who knows? I could get a horrible paper on the day and totally screw it up (hope that won’t be the case though). I thought my art exam may have been marked too easily, but I cant complain.  Actually, just thought I’d throw this in here, my friend got into NCAD!! So 140 points-yep that’s all, and a few months later she shall be walking into the NCAD college building, dressed like one of those indifferent, aesthetic, expressive art students (which in my opinion are the coolest frickin’ people on earth!!). 

Anyway,what was I actually bringing myself to say…? Oh yes! PLEASE if this has happened in your school too COMMENT and let me know..because to say this as politely as I can possible say, I am absolutely furious, mad, raging, fuming pure angry! Ok, so for the next minute please excuse my ‘big-headedness’ as I’m not going to be modest at all. Basically, I’m an A1 student in English, I’m hoping for an A1 in the actual thing this summer.  I think I’ve only once or twice gotton lower than a B1.  Since 5th year my average has been in the high 90s. This is honours English we’re talking about, there is about 25 people in my class. Not everyone is the same standard. So how is it even POSSIBLE to have given not only my English class, but EVERY higher level English class in the SCHOOL a C1. Yep, everyone got grades ranging from C3-C1. Ridiculous, was the examiner just not bothered or did she actually think that we were all C3 students? The proof? There is no ticks beside my work, no coding, no nothing, nada, zilch, nothing:( yet he/she just marked it in ‘general’. A few people don’t mind, a C3 was shocking to get after failing the whole year, (these students don’t exactly attend school). I hope I’m not coming out as insulting or arrogant but I’m seriously mad at the way the English mocks were corrected.  I mean we pay good money to do these exams, what’s the point if they come back not corrected right and don’t give any significant idea of where a student stands? I mean, i honestly thought I would have gotten a B or something…a C though was just, sickening, and just left me disappointed really. The teachers have filed a complaint but I doubt that will do anything.  The other schools were marked properly. Yet, we were apparently ‘bunch marked’ as they told us. How can over 100 students all get a C?

Has anyone else been getting the exam briefs with the Irish Independent? I find some of them helpful, mostly I just dwell on how well the past students have done, ha,  sad, sad Ally. The total opposite of what the papers are meant to do.  Well done *pats self on back*. This Wednesday are all the business subjects, then the following is the Junior Cert.

Hmm, what else? I’m kind of rushing this blog because I have my Irish mock oral on Wednesday, not as good in Irish as I am French. I also have chemistry revision to be doing. Right now I feel as though I should be doing something productive,I mean I think we have 3 months left? Wow, seems shorter when I type it out Ohh! I also finished ‘The Road’ last week, by Cormac McCarthy, a very different book might I say, well written but the style was something I’ve never experienced before. A good read, it’s a movie now too I think? On another note; isn’t the line up for Oxegen amazing? Muse AND 30 seconds to mars??

Isn’t it funny? (ok not really), this year is just pure mad.  I mean we’re definitely going to remember it forever, hopefully for all the best parts but just the whole experience, the stress and everything, it’s something we’ll keep for the rest of our lives.  After all they pretty much depend on what we do this year!

Bonne Chance mes amis!

-Ally.

Hey guys!

I can’t actually remember the last time I blogged. I’m terrible! I’ve become so lazy these days…I’m barely making it into school! But that’s been put a stop to since…..THE XMAS REPORT. I wasn’t really planning on letting my parents see it but they insisted that I give it to them. I always hated school reports. There’s always some comment or result I figure is safer not to let them see. But the results weren’t too bad…English 68, French 60, Biology 75, History 70, Business 86…fairly alright results for me but do you think the teachers could leave it at that…hmmm….no!

There had to be remarks about my high absenteeism from school. I had my father convinced that I didn’t actually have to go to school the full week and only really had to go for three days tops. Everyone was happy out with this arrangement..especially me! But now it’s been ruined. The teachers couldn’t just write good result or whatever, they had to point out the bad also. Is it really only me that understands that I can work far better at my own pace at home with my kettle at hand?? Now, my father is insisting that I go in…Everyday! That’d be fine except…I have 25 free classes a week! I don’t want to spend all that time sitting in a cold hall. And I get so much done at home….I really want to quit school…..

But on the plus side Joe won the X Factor!! He is actually sex on legs! Though my friend thinks he possibly bats for the other side…not my opinion though…himself and Mrs. Cole have deffo got something going on! And The Apprentice Final is on tonight….bets to whos gonna win?? Steve Rayner ftw!!

So, asides from the whole ‘I have to go to school thing’, Life is good!  Btw, does anyone know where I can watch Il Postino on the ‘net??

They watched it in English but….I wasn’t in….ok, maybe they do have a point….I also do have a lot of homework to catch up on….Oh shit!Gotta go!

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

Let me set the scene for you: Sunday evening, at about eight thirty, a teenage girl sits on the couch after hearing the announcement that John and Edward will be in the sing-off, with two thoughts running through her head. The first thought was “What? This is it? They’re definitely going to go and I might not ever see them again!” Cue melancholy violin music.

However, as I sat there nail biting at the prospect of losing the loves of my life at the hairy hands of Simon Cowell, and tabloid journalists sat nail biting wondering what on earth they’d have left to write about if the twins were to be booted off The X Factor, I decided it’d be better to adopt a more optimistic approach to the whole thing. Ciara’s Thought #2 was, “at least now I’ll have time to study!”

I guess “Business Today” and me just weren’t to be, as I’m sure you all (even those of you living underground) know by now that John and Edward Grimes live to fight another week. Simon Cowell, if you’re reading this (which no doubt you are), I love you man!

We had a half day today so I plan on spending the rest of it looking into ideas for my History Research Topic. We’re starting it this year, which I suppose is wise but it’s so hard to think of something original that has three or more sources. I’m trying to come up with something on Twentieth Century Ireland, which is my favourite topic by far. Also, Christmas Tests are in just over two weeks!