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.

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.

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

hi everyone

Sorry for my lackage of posts recently. Honestly when I said I’d take up this blod I’d hoped to blog at least one a week or one a fortnight at a push but then again I had never been in 6th year

How’s everyone Christmas Tests coming along? Mine aren’t going too bad. I’ve figured one you come to 6th year, no test really matters except the mocks or the real thing so getting stressed over small tests is pointless. In saying that however I’ve just spent the last four hours doing French and Physics study. I really cannot stand semiconductors. Or anything that involves any sort of particle physics. My mind is now swimming with n and p junctions and random french vocab . .

Since I’ve last blogged I’ve been at two open days and we’ve had 3 talks in school. Talks on DCU,TCD and NUIM and I went to the DCU and Maynooth open days.

The talks were interesting but I have to hand it to the Maynooth speaker, she was very good at her job. Even though it was last class she managed to keep a room full of tired 6th years (and some 5ths) completely engaged for 50 minutes. No chatting or whispering or even just general noise making like the other talks, she just kept everyone interested. I think it was because she spent a lot of the talk just talking about college in general but still towards the end she made you really want to go to Maynooth, just because she was so good!

The DCU and TCD talks were also quite good but didn’t make such a big impression.

I went to the DCU open day and thought  it was really nice The campus was lovely. There wasn’t as many there as I thought there’d be. I went in thinking about Physics but came out seriously thinking about Biotechnology. Just shows again how much of an impression a speaker can make on you!

Went to Maynooth last Friday. Love the place. Such a pretty campus and the town seemed so friendly. Their Science course looks really good so definitely thinking about there. It all seems so far away when I’m so bogged down in books

Cannot wait for Friday. Last Christmas test AND I’m going to see childline

Gonna Be a good weekend

Hope everyone isn’t snowed in:P

Niamh xxx

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.

Happy Halloween everyone

How was everyone’s midterm? Mine was alrightish. Didn’t get half as much work done as I had planned but as they say “The best laid plans of mice and men often go a rye” (Keeping in tune with the quote theme lately )

Only 7 weeks till Christmas if that’s any consolation! I keep looking forward to Christmas then I realise that after Christmas its only a month to the mocks. I do not feel mature enough to be in 6th year, never mind sitting my mocks/actually doing the Leaving Cert!.  But sure all we can do is go with the flow I suppose.

During the midterm I did manage to get some Maths Paper questions done which was a shock to the system when I realised how little Algebra I remember. Or any early fifth year stuff in any subject at that ? Revision will be needed :L

Also I did a French reading comprehension. Alot more complicated and nothing like the ones in our book. #epicfail me thinks.

Time to get serious from tomorrow onwards I guess. I’m of the belief that if I do small bouts of revision, often, and until the mocks/leaving cert, it will suit me better than big panic filled marathon study sessions. But hey that’s just me, each to their own.

Anyways, must go prep the schoolbag for the morning.

Till next time,

Niamh

Had a little bit of a crisis last week. You know one of those “I can’t do these maths, I’m wasting my time and I need to drop to pass to save myself the stress” moments? Well, in brief I had a revision test of 5th year work and I got a C. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but I put so much effort in, I wanted something a little better. I’m in half a mind to drop to pass. Anyone have any opinions? So far 6th year work is easy enough, circles and complex equations aren’t exactly rocket science, but the more I think about pass, the more the pros outweigh the cons. Less homework, less stress, less effort.. At the moment it sounds pretty appealing. Only downside is I’m guaranteed an awful teacher – his is the sole class that has space. Not surprising really, but that factor alone might be enough to keep me slaving away in honours!  I genuinely can’t make a decision.

In other news, we had a French theatre company perform for us today! The plot wasn’t exactly riveting, but for the first time in my six years at school, I understood every word. I actually spent the time playing translator for my friends in pass.. I loved it! The highlight was watching the French actors trying to sing songs they had learnt from watching Juno… For anybody who plays guitar, G C G C G C x the whole song and you can play “Anyone else but you” down to a T :) At this point I spose I should mention that I spent my summer in complete French immersion. I went to France alone on an exchange and attended school there for a while (their summer holidays are so short – never complain about ours guys, we don’t have a leg to stand on in comparison!) Anyway the whole thing resulted in a huge transformation in my French. It wasn’t an easy summer, but definitely worth it.. now I’ve one less subject to worry about and thankfully I can safely tick off the oral and aural boxes on that note. Study done.

UCC open day is coming up – I really want to attend! Please give me your feedback folks, I’m going to be missing the whole thing. Open days are so much harder to attend when you live in Donegal Everywhere is hours away! It isn’t helped by our lack of trains or decent bus routes.. But complaining about that would take another blog all to itself. *sighs* Time to switch over to Home Ec notes… Remember everyone, Omega 3 is brainfood!

Sorcha x

Yes, that something would be me, Jason, Mr. R.T.E.

This week began with r.t.e. filming our school, however they forget that they were supposed to be filming me, and not some first years and project maths. Like hello, the government want people for their smart economy, and look at me, I am doing all three laboratory sciences as well as honours maths and I don’t mind bragging but these are my best subjects. But then again the government wouldn’t realize a true star because they would rather appear hung over on talk shows

Anyway continuing on …. last week, I said I would be screwed if I incorrectly predicted the years of my Irish exam, and guess what ??? I correctly predicted them (I think it was the 2009 one anyway), I shockingly passed :O, oh well, I dropped down to pass Irish regardles of my Irish result. I also have been noticing that a few bloggers are shifting their views on Irish, but don’t worry I won’t be shifting at all. I really dislike the language and I’m quiet glad I dropped, like look at the pass paper, it’s so do-able (if that’s a word, I’m sure I heard a few pleasant gentlemen gazing at a magazine saying that once), but back to the point, if ye all want a person to follow the “dislike having to do Irish” club, I would be glad to join

Also next week I’m going to the UCC open day, so that shall be a much needed break from studying, but I’ll still be showing everyone I’m still focused on my goals.

Until next time

Jason

p.s. About that french blog I was going to write, I might try and write it in a few weeks, It’s just with so much studying going on I really haven’t had the time, you know what I mean fellow leaving cert-ers

“There’s always time for a nice cup of tea. Sure, didn’t the Lord himself pause for a nice cup of tea before giving himself up for the world.”  - Mrs Doyle (Father Ted)

I strongly believe that the more stressed one becomes, the more tea one needs. Now I’ve always had a bit of an adoration for the beverage, but this week has been ridiculous. I find myself craving tea throughout the day. Half way through after school study all I can think of is going home to a nice cup of tea.  I’ll do 30 minutes of homework then its off I go to the kitchen for a tea break and a biscuit. Even tonight I craved tea the whole journey home. I came home to find an empty house and freddos on the kitchen table. Party over here. So I’m writing this eating a freddo and drinking even more tea. 4th cup of the day infact.
Random thought: Whatever happened to Taz bars? Hm…

I reckon all this tea drinking is related to the stress of my week.  This week was just tiring. We only had a four day week and I’m still wrecked. I also helped out for my last ever open night. Weird feeling in a way.
This week just dragged in. And left a weekend of assignments in its wake. I got most of my biology homework done on Thursday. But I still have so much homework due Monday and at least 2 tests every day til Thursday. I think… Really should check that out..

I spent a fair amount of Friday evening going through all the information I got at Higher Options last week. The future looks scary. Eeny meeny miny mo may not cut it for this decision in life… Too many variables.
Is anyone else a little terrified anytime they even look at their CAO booklet? Maybe thats just me…
And another question, Anyone going to the open day in NUI Galway at the weekend?  I’m wondering if I should…

And finally, a little story about something that made my week this week.  On Tuesday, We had our open night. I was a guide and was showing people around the school. We got to the language room. I was talking to my German teacher when I spotted a box of Harry Potter books behind her. I asked if they were the books in German.  She checked and said that they were in French which was a shame because she’d have loaned me the German ones. Next day in school, She was asking around for me. Found me at the end of the day and handed me the first Harry Potter book in German. She had gone home and looked for it to loan to me.  I just thought that was so thoughtful and kind. I’m really quite excited about it. I’ve been translating it using the English version for a few days. I now actually enjoy German :)

Today, I had a really good day with my favourite person , and I barely thought of all the assignments and study (and tea) that awaits me tomorrow. Thats what Sundays are for right?  Tea powered cramming?

Speaking of tea, I need another cup.
- Ash