English Paper One started at 9.30 this morning and as I sat there, I worried. What if this doesn’t happen…a second time? What if I’m stuck without a college course? What if I become a failure…again?

As soon as I saw the topic of the paper (The Future) I relaxed. What a beautiful impetus for students to act upon. But I couldn’t smile just yet. Oh no, there was questions to be done and I had to do them!

I decided on doing Question B first and chose my question from Text 1: A Personal Future. I thought it went pretty well and I couldn’t stop writing until I forced myself to move on to my Question A from Text 3: An Imagined Future. I’m going out to buy Farenheit 415, by Ray Bradbury, as soon as these exams are over- what a brilliant extract!!! Captured me from the moment I read it!

My final piece was the Composing and I chose 2.:“You’re a new neighbour, aren’t you?”. I really feel my time blogging for Allhonours.ie helped me here and it wen’t according to plan. I ranted and raved about how neighbours don’t respect each other anymore and wrote it like a column article from a newspaper. It went brilliantly….I think!

All in all, a brilliant paper! And if today’s was anything to go by, I wouldn’t be worrying too much about tomorrow. I would reccommend getting a good night’s sleep though. I never slept before my exams in 2008, but this year I did (and will continue to do) and if I’m honest, I admit it really does boost performance. Try knock out the caffeinated drinks too and drink plenty of water. I’m only saying this because they seemed to work for me today. I felt like the energiser bunny- I could of gone on for hours!!!

Most importantly, please don’t worry if things went (or go) badly for you. Life is not about exams and an examiner cannot define the type of person you are by reading 10-12 pages of your work. We all know people who are successful, wealthy and have everything, but most of the time, these people tend to be unhappy with their lives. This paper, ultimately, got me thinking, “What does the future mean to me?” And my answer: I’d rather be happy with family and friends who love me than a 600 points Leaving Cert student with very little happiness!

Bonne Chance mes amis!

Ian