EXAM BLOGGER: College:Loreto Secondary School, Wexford I wanna be a...journalist
I WON’T forget yesterday in a hurry. Specifically that moment shortly after 2pm when everyone, to a woman, flipped to the back page of English paper two and found no sign of Sylvia. It sounded a little something like this: rustle, rustle, GASP! We all looked at each other in horror. It didn’t get much better after that.
As it happens, I had a visit from the ghost of Eavan Boland last night (yes, I know she’s still alive – perhaps it was a personal appearance).
She warned me about Bolandgate of 2010 and suggested I pop a little Kavanagh in my back pocket. Not physically; that would be cheating. I took her advice and boy am I glad. I think this year’s English paper 2 was the hardest exam that any Leaving Cert student has ever had to sit. I’m also aware that no one is going to agree with me and that in the end, the marks will probably work out the same as they do every year.
Why do we get ourselves so worked up?
But come on, even the comparative section, which the teachers say you can nearly learn off before you go in, threw us a curve ball this year.
Can’t take anything for granted any more.
Now that English is in the bag, I can relax a bit. It was the subject I was most worried about because I need it for journalism in DCU. I think I did enough.
Some of my friends are not doing so well. The poor Home Ec students were in ribbons yesterday. They had prepared a lot of meals in advance, so to speak, and they got served up a very unfamiliar menu.
They came out the exam hall looking like they’d contaminated their cookware. It looks like the SEC are determined to shake us all up this year.
What a fiasco. I know the whole prediction business is risky but still, does it have to be this way? I think the Leaving Cert brings about a multitude of unnecessary pressure and stress upon thousands of students every year. It claims to be the fairest way to test the abilities of candidates. However, I disagree.
In theory, it works. I myself haven’t struggled too much with the whole process. I’ve put in the hours of study, paid attention in class, did things by the book. Of course, I’ve had the moments of sheer panic, the worry about not getting my course, and basically total self-doubt.
I still believe the ideas of continuous assessment, interviews and practicals would prove for a much fairer system.
Still, it’s a bit late now. In fact, come Thursday I’ll be done with the whole lot of it.
MY EXAM PLAYLIST
Eminem- Not Afraid
The Coronas- Heroes or Ghosts
Ryan Sheridan- Dreamer
Florence and the Machine- Dog Days are Over
Coldplay- Paradise