MY LEAVING- Glenda Gilson
The Leaving Cert was a very big deal in my school, Mount Sackville secondary school in Chapelizod, in 1999.

I can remember being so nervous that I wasn't able to sleep.

It wasn't that I hadn't done my work and should have been feeling nervous. I was a good student. I didn't need to be told to study. I remember my mum coming in a couple of times and making me turn off the light because I was working too late.

It's difficult to know where that pressure comes from but some of it definitely comes from yourself and your friends. I remember when I was in school, I'd call friends of mine and God, if they had done two hours of study and I'd only done an hour and a half, the nerves would be frayed again. You're constantly competing and comparing. Some of that can be healthy and it can encourage you to do your work, so it's not all bad, but there was a lot of stress.

Like everyone I would have been a crammer of course. At the start of the year you feel that you have all the time in the world.

I worked steadily, I always did my homework but you always end up doing loads towards the end.

I found studying tough a lot of the time. I had to work at it. Some of my friends could read something twice and remember it. It used to take longer for me.

It wasn't all work though. I was big into sport - everything you can think of. I'd play hockey, basketball, I'd do cross-country running and all sorts of athletics, javelin, high jump, you name it. I think it's so important to have something like that in Leaving Cert. The exams aren't everything.

I used to love getting out of study to go and play a game of hockey. I'd be ready to start studying again after coming back. I don't think I ever missed out. If you've been studying for six hours straight, chances are you've only done two hours' worth.

English, history and art were my favourite subjects. I was brutal at maths from first to third year but I sort of started enjoying them in fifth and sixth year.

Home economics was probably my least favourite subject. I hated it with a passion. My best friend was my cooking partner and she never let me touch anything. I'd always have to do the washing up. I hated it.

I studied so hard for the first few Leaving Cert exams but towards the end it just got to the stage where I was like, "I can't do any more". The weather of course was great because you could study outside, but it was torture at the same time. I suppose if it was miserable and rainy it would have been completely depressing.

When you look back on the Leaving Cert you wonder what all the pressure and fuss was about, but I do think you should put your head down and study hard. If you get the points you need the first time around, it'll definitely make your life easier.

Glenda Gilson presents Showbiz Gossip on Bubble Hits TV channel, Monday to Friday, from 6pm.