Shall I presume to believe this is the end of something great, or only the beginning of something greater? We are all feeling immense pressure right now but its important to see the light through the everpresent rain. We can do this. We will do this.

I myself am drawn to anxiety like moths to a flame but I refuse to give into my fears. Not this time. This time I’m better prepared and more mature. This time I’ve experience in exam technique and last-minute cramming. This time I know I’m not the only one going through this, and this is the most comforting thing of all.

I want to thank all of you for every kind word, strong advice and sincere assistance through this last (very fast) year. There were a lot of things I was unsure of with regard to the Leaving Cert but knowing that every one of you are experiencing what I’m experiencing made the experience a little easier to withstand. I’m going to enjoy sitting the Leaving Cert with such intelligent, incredible and imaginative people.

In particular, I would like to thank the creative force that blogged alongside me. I grew so much this year (not physically, but personally) as a human being thanks to all of you. Hearing your ideas spurned me on to create my own and I’m thankful that I could be part of the first Allhonours.ie Blog family!

I want to thank Patrick Barry for allowing me to divulge dispairing details of my experience with the Leaving Cert this year. I’ve had a great time alongside all of the people who wrote with me.

Now I want to wish each of you the best of luck in your exams. Stick to your plan! Don’t be over ambitious or over generous with your estimations but look at each exam with focus and clarity. Its not important what you know, its important how you use it. I really hope each of you do well enough to get your first choices but, and this is most important, don’t distress if you don’t achieve what you aspire to. At the end of it all, most of us are only finding out who we are now, and we can’t expect ourselves to know what we want to do with our lives. We are going to experience so much in this life and we will all have experiences that we don’t want to have, and ones we will. Don’t stress if you don’t get what you want, just push on and discover something new. Ultimately, what I want to say is, life is best played unpredictably. What you may think you want now may end up being something incredibly different.

Most importantly, be different, be risky, be happy and be yourselves.

Bonne Chance,

Ian