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!

Ok this is a bit of an odd one, but where do you get your inspiration? Poetic, artistic or, in my case, what motivates you? As I was desperately trying to fall asleep on Tuesday night, this thought crossed my mind. It wouldn’t leave. Like that those annoying lyrics of a song that play over and over, it was jammed.

Famous faces kept dropping in and out of my thoughts, Obama (who should not have won that Nobel peace prize), and his goosepimple-speaches, Mary Robinson, Mary McAllese and so on. But what have they ever done that really affects me? Anything that warms my heart or chills my spine to even thin.

Random phrases took their turn early the following morning. Those quotes, those petty clichés; so annoying, but true. I’m not even going to list them, they annoyed me so I’m sure they would annoy you too. Iconic quotes always seem to make me feel as if what I have to say is pathetically insignificant – sometimes I do need to be told to shut up, I know, but wouldn’t it be nice to hear your name break that crisp silence after real quote? One that sends shivers down your spine and through every muscle in your body. I may keep dreaming!!

By this time I was on the bus to Trinnity, probably the reason these thoughts were harassing my brain. Bus = iPod = crazy lyrics that are usually meaningless mumble to me but, because of this whole philosophical mood-thingy, sounded really deep!! Example; The Blizzards – ok take “Buy it Sell it,” always seemed like an over-energetic “mumble,” but it’s about consumerism and prostitution and its actually really meaningful!! Coldplay; ok always one of the “deeper” bands, but really listen to the lyrics and it means so much more. “Clocks “and “Yellow” have to be my favourite two. Those guys will go down in history. They are immortalised by their music (it’s a half borrowed quote from my notes on Yeats’ “Sailing to Byzantium”).

Yeats wanted desperately to be immortal, to not be hurt like a human. “Sailing to Byzantium” is by far my favourite poem of his. The quest. The journey to perfection. Isn’t that what we all want? Perfection. Maybe it’s just us Virgos, but I think not. Being self-critical is good, but there’s a limit. Oh I feel a quote coming on (courtesy of my Granny)!! “There are enough people in the world who will want to put you down without you doing it for yourself.” That’s really true! I read a book called “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers.” Read it and live it! It had so many of those confidence boosting quotes that when it made you fell all warm-and-fluffy inside!!! Let’s face it, who couldn’t do with a little boost in the auld self confidence every once in a while =D

Ok back to this inspiration thing. Well, where is more awe inspiring then the big TCD itself? Walking through the cobble courtyard, I just felt a “bubble” rise in my throat. I swallowed quickly and ended up in a coughing fit!!! I think it must have been laughter – laughter at the fact that I was walking in the prints of some of the greats – laughter at the fact that I was wandering around looking for my life inspiration instead of living my life – and probably laughter at the thought of the ridicuolous sentence being handed out to the people of this country only a few blocks away.

Well I found my inspiration later that day in an unsuspecting Cork man or his words anyway. Have you ever heard someone speak and thought “yes, this is for me”? Well I had one of those moments listening to a mini-lecture on medicine. Don’t ask me why, but this is what I want. And I can now say that without feeling guilty, because he said I could! I have always thought I would like to do medicine, but never felt right saying so because I had no answer to “why.” Among some of the people I know, it was and is thought that being ambitious is the same as being snobby. That wanting the best, is like saying what I have is inadequate. And so what if it is? I won’t regret not living my life just because a used-to-be friend thinks I’m being snobby!! Humph! (Sorry that needed to come out!!)

Well after this momentous realisation, I decided I had some changes to make, which I would do in a calm, mature manner. I dropped to pass maths the next day, and made a pact with myself not to get emotionally caught up with this person again. I will not be dragged down!!! Dropping to pass maths really was the right thing to do because I now need to come up a grade (at least) in everything else :/

For now though, my hpat preparation begins. Anyone got any tips? (I know I’m competing against you if you think about it like that, but you’ve got a head start!!) So I have six days of school left, then six days off, and then it’s up to Leeson Street for five. Having a bad biology teacher has a lot to answer for =( Anyone else heading up???
Make the most of that Christmas spirit =D

Ta ta
Katie xxx

So, where to begin?… I’ve always assumed the beginning is a good place to start…:)

My name is Ian (a.k.a StressingOut) and this year I’m repeating the ol’ Leaving Cert. If any of you think doing it once is/was tough, try doing it a second time! Presently, I’m sitting at the dining-room table with about thirty textbooks for six different subjects -(I’m not fully convinced I’ll be attempting Biology again yet) - and all I can see are the wonderful English books, the marvellous Irish texts, the captivating French tracts, the inspiring History tomes, the amorous Music publications and of course the euphoria-inducing Maths eulogies….sarcastic much? And yet I cannot afford to screw up this time for you see, I live in the countryside and because of ye ol’ recession I’m not seeing nearly as much nightlife as I’m accustomed to! I reside in a rather beautiful house, but a house nevertheless, and I feel, due to the connotations of the ever-serene countryside, I’m becoming a tad deranged, like I’m suffering “cabin fever” or I’m becoming the Mr. Hyde to compliment my Dr. Jekyll! And all because I did nothing in preparation for my first attempt at the L.C….that’s right: nothing, nada, zilch! I wasted every single day, only listening in English class, and disrespecting the study of all other subjects! Coming out of the dark tunnel into what I thought would be blinding white light, I painfully received only 315….for shame! and thus, back into the tunnel I go! Study, study, study!… the odd episode of Scrubs…and rather embarrassingly The X-Factor!…and then I fall back to “Study, study, study!” And that is why it is imperative I do well; to leave la campagne behind and head for the city!

What is worse I find, is that not only do I have to repeat the L.C. but, I must do so without the assistance of a secondary school staff! That’s right! I’m all by myself this year and yet, I feel I deserve it for my lack of enthusiasm back in 2008! You never know, I might actually do some work this year without annoying qualified teachers telling me what I pretend I already know! Take it from me, if your in a school with teachers who are doing their best for you at least do them the courtesy by going in everyday! I wish I had and deeply regret it now!

The whole stress and strain of “doing it” by one’s self is ten times as strenuous or stressful as when you have an adult who knows all the answers of the subject they teach by your side. ‘Sir’ and ‘Miss’ are two words that have evaporated from my vocabulary and I cannot depend on the two figures led by the words ‘Mam’ and ‘Dad’ because they’ve never done the L.C. (and besides, the course would have changed drastically from their day even if they had). I depend solely on myself…ah! Poor me! I’m not looking for empathy, or even sympathy, but merely trying to express my regrets at not taking the L.C. seriously enough last time when I did have the comforts of a worn-out copy of Othello and a basic dose of nutrition come one o’clock. I’m by myself. I grow increasingly confused about the hours I put in for study and the lack of hours I put in for sleep!

And besides, how much work is enough? How much work is too much? And what is it all for anyway? : 2-3 hour examinations set in June to purposefully (and conspirationally, me thinks!) keep hormonally-imbalanced 16-20 year-olds inside on hot –  (o.k. Irish weather is technically not “hot”) –  summer days when we should be outside on “the moors” shouting out for our lovers, or in suburbia contemplating the temperment of a “War Horse”….if that is your idea of fun Ms. Bronte and Mrs. Boland! Should we ostracize ourselves from society just to achieve something that neither matters nor inspires when we are simply dust in a coffin? True experience does not exist in books. Powerful and beautiful they may be but that is simply what they are: books.

O.K., I realise that there is some light at the end of this seemingly never-ending tunnel. That is, should one do well, one gets to gallavant off to UCD, TCD or NUI to, yet again, study for a further 3-4 years in hopes of aquiring one’s dream job: teaching in a run-down school in the arse end of Wicklow or playing with chemicals in Schering Plough. Whatever the case, UNI better be as good as “they” say it is if I’m putting as much effort into this as I’m implying I am in this blog!…

So the cobwebs of my brain are dusted away, the foglights I use as eyes are framed and blazing, and my mind is raring to go…well nearly…but the X-Factor results show is tonight so “I got to go”!

Ian