Exam Diary:I feel a funeral in my brain after the six-hour English marathon, writes Miroslawa Gorecka
Maybe I'm not the first person to say this but really, six hours?!
After the fifth hour of writing my brain shut down. I see it as two years of hard work wasted because everything you've learned gets squeezed out by the pressure. I hear the Minister is planning to change things - not soon enough for me, I'm afraid.
At least I can say that my first day of the Leaving Cert and my most dreaded exam are now over forever. I was hoping for an A1, now I'd be thrilled with a C.
No, it wasn't so bad really. Paper I gave me a chance to go on about one of my favourite topics - film. Not Polish film, you understand. I know it's critically acclaimed, but any Polish film I've ever seen has been about killing or drinking.
I prefer the American kind, something with Al Pacino, but without the killing.
I also got a chance to praise the Irish smoking ban in today's paper 1. I wrote a letter to a friend in Poland recommending the ban be brought in at home.
I wrote from the heart. Polish people are terrible smokers and hospitals are about the only places where you can't light up.
At 16 I'm not officially allowed in the pub at night but I've been there often enough to know how much more pleasant it is here now that the smokers are outside.
I wrote an essay on changing the world - another favourite subject of mine. I think young people could do more to change the world if we were given more responsibility. With responsibility you must also take the consequences of your actions.
Poles grow up faster than the Irish. My friends will probably disagree. After today's experience I think the world would be a much better place if students were tested on their whole year's work and not on six hours of torture in an exam hall. I mentioned that in the essay too.
I hope the examiner says it to his bosses. I also hope he or she doesn't recognise me in the newspaper.
Paper II was brilliant. I wanted to write about the wicked Lady Macbeth and there she was. Sylvia Plath was there too. When I saw the name Frost I was so excited but the question was, well, unexpected. I won't say more than that.
It's too painful. He is my favourite poet on the course and definitely not a "poet of sadness".
The worst moment of the day by far, however, was the unseen poem. "Describe the impact that the poem makes on me as a reader". Well, how about no impact at all? This poem gave me no valuable insight into life. I don't think that's the answer they were looking for.
Even though I have learned so much English in my 18 months in Ireland, I felt a lack of words today. Maybe I wasn't the only one, I'm sure there are Irish students who were stuck for words during that six-hour marathon.
The English Leaving Cert exam is a tough call for a student whose first language is not English. As more students like me come into the system, this will have to be considered..
However, I have survived. With Polish as a first language I have made it through the higher level Leaving Cert English paper and while I may not get an A1, I'm crossing my fingers for a B. Now that would really be something to be proud of.
Miroslawa Gorecka (16) is a student at Drogheda Grammar School; Tomorrow: Miroslawa tackles the exam in her native Polish - and maths.
