The end is near. No, not global warming… well that too, but I’m talking about the leaving cert.

Arriving late for school, desperately pushing your mind to its limits in an effort to come up with yet another unique excuse for being late. Trying to exit the school a class before lunch to have an extra half hour for lunch. Challenging the school system, the teachers and their stubborn ways. Participating in a race with 300 other students to reach the canteen and indulge in those breakfast rolls prepared with Ireland’s finest goods? Or not.

Those are some of the things that I will probably miss. That excitement and buzz that seemed to grow within the school on a daily basis. Walking mindlessly in a trance from class to class.. Actually, that was one of the downsides. It really is hard to talk positively about school for so long.

Next stop, grad mass. The night where we get drag our teachers out on the town and get drunk look back on those beutiful moments of school with our parents and teachers, as we embrace ourselves for the rest of our lives.
So from now until the 4th of July, do as Barry said - ” Hit the books. Hit them hard. It’ll be worth it”

An overview of the past few weeks.

Today I finished my final Oral examination. My Irish and German Oral completed, along with the music practical exam completed. And the feeling is great. But what now?

Mood wise I am better than ever. I enjoy the day of school in a way I have never enjoyed it before. Which is a sure sign that it is time for me to get out of there. And by that I don’t mean I enjoy sitting there listening to the droll voices of teachers who’s own enthusiasm to teach is at the same level of the majority of students willing to learn. And I don’t blame them.

I sat there day after day wondering when it would hit me. Hit me? Yes, that burst of motivation that hits most students around this time of year all over the nation. I feel like I’ve missed that train, and was left behind. Me and a hand full of other students in the same position as myself. Surely I want to do well to get into college. And I do, I really do. But I have not an ounce of motivation inside me, to sit in a class and be told what to do.

To me the pre’s were of no benefit at all. I missed a day due to illness which affected two of my exams. I had not completed course work to be reviewed which affected a further 3 of my exams. And I got no result on one subject, as the school managed to lose my exam answer sheet. Doesn’t get any better than that.

So here I am. Laughing about the Mocks. Enjoying the weather and making the most of the last few weeks I will spend in school with my friends. Only thing left for me to do is, find the train I failed to jump aboard a while ago.

Ta me go hiontach. Why? I have finally finished the first step towards completing the leaving cert. I had been awaiting this day for weeks now. I’m not exactly one for preparing for exams but I think I am finally getting geared up and motivated. I didn’t realize it was possible to drink 18 cups of tea and 12 cups of coffee in the space of 3 days. And one heck of a caffeine fuelled study session it was.

Cramming. I didn’t think it would was effective until I was proven wrong. Some might argue that’s because its the first time I have tried to prove myself wrong.

11 hours sleep, excessive amounts of caffeine and a session at the local and I was ready. Although I certainly did not feel prepared, I felt a little more at ease knowing I had put in some effort. Sitting outside a in the sun, i sipped my tea. Before I could put the cup down my phone began to ring. I answered and was greeted with : “Kevin.. where the hell are you? You’re up next”. So I began to panic a little and headed towards the school.

I arrived shortly after, out of breath and frozen. Signing in late wasn’t an option at this stage so I made my way towards the prefabs where I was greeted by my teacher and the other students. So I grabbed a chair and joined my friends. I have never felt time going so slow in my life. We were practically counting down the seconds. A combination of bitter cold and my nerves caused the blood flow in my hands to divert and head elsewhere.

You could hear every footstep in the prefab. And then it began.. The examiner entered the room and called me in. I said goodbye to my friends as if I were going to war. Why was I so nervous? And so the fifteen minutes began. Sliocht a dó! And suddenly, the nerves disappeared. I was confident in what I was doing and so I began.

Walking out of there gave me a boost of motivation and satisfactory reward that I haven’t felt in a long time. Having spent the past few days cramming for this day, I was now a happy to know the bit I had learned. I enjoyed it and was proud of it. Irish. Our native language.

They’re over and done with! Out of the way. Now comes the bit where I deny how badly I’ve done. But of course, that can wait until Sunday. First we must go out and celebrate! Right? Isn’t that what we do here in Ireland. Any excuse for a night out.

So yeah, the past few days have been annoying with these exams going on. Finished up today with my final exam, LCVP. Which was rather easy I have to admit. The LCVP exam was rather funny tho.

You know those exams that are never done in the hall because they either require you to listen to a tape or watch a video. Well LCVP was one of those exams. As soon as we were moved out of the hall and into a normal classroom, the whole ‘exam’ effect walked right out with us, and out the front door. So everyone started talking as usual, and sharing answers. A friend of mine asked the teacher a question, which happened to be a question on the paper and she happily answered him before being told she had just given him the answer.

Teachers clearly also forget to take things seriously. Not long after (20 minute delay), the Audio/Visual exam began. Except without the visual part to it. So after another 5 or 10 minutes, the teacher finally managed to get it working. And then of course there is that high pitched tone that most people have on their phones now, which was going off on three phones simultaneously. These are all the things that take away from the seriousness of the whole idea of pres. So i ask myself, are they really worth it?

A friends mother asked her if anything expected came up in her exam. She replied “Yeah, i had to draw a venn diagram. The mother replied “Was it not English you had?”. So Louise turned around and said “Yeah…”. Sarcasm is the sugar in my tea, so i laughed for a solid ten minutes when she told me that.

I gotta go to the pub and socialize study, bye!

Kevin.

Ladies and Gentlemen, charge your engines. Finally the weekend has come. Where we all try put as much distance between us and the School. Where we light the fire, put our legs up and read a good book. Which of course means, hit the town, go for a few pints and enjoy a tasty burger from your towns finest fast food outlet.

Thinking back on the day i had yesterday… Doing my maths exam. Having gone through 3 packets of tissues while your nose tries to run a marathon. You look at the page and suddenly imagine how comfortable it would be to be back in bed. The constant sniffling irritates you as much as it annoys those within a 15 foot radius of you. Teachers constantly pacing up and down the hall. And then you have those teachers who enter the hall, wearing those high heel shoes. Now don’t get me wrong, It’s essential to wear uncomfortable shoes to work. You close your eyes and let your imagination flow. With the help of those high heel shoes, you suddenly feel you’re at the Galway races. And before you get a chance to back a teacher at 5:1, you open your eyes again.

Suddenly you feel the urge to stand up, but you can’t. Confined to your assigned space, you cannot move. Your back side has gone numb from sitting in those chairs for over 2 hours. Once you have completed your work, an hour ahead of schedule, your new goal is now to try and make eye contact with as many people as you can. Your eyes start scanning the room, and to your surprise there are only about 20% of the people still writing with 1 hour left to go. Which of course makes you feel better about yourself momentarily.

Now the cold sets in. Your hands begin to go numb and you have nothing to do. When you breath you can almost see the condensation and are almost afraid you’re going to be accused of smoking. And for no reason at all, you start laughing to yourself, quietly, but louder than expected when you notice several people turn around. A teacher asks you to stay quiet and to reread your paper. So you nod as if to agree with their amazing suggestion. So you check to see if you have spelled your name correctly and then resume your relaxed position. Which is almost impossible.

The smell of ‘freedom’ makes its way in through the door..a musty smell.. Oh no wait, thats the school. The papers are finally collected. Everyone turns around and nods at each other in shame assuming the worst of course. After all, its easier to do better than you did when you told someone you expected worse, than to do worse than you told someone you were you going to do. Now try say that last sentence really fast, 10 times in a row.

Enjoy your weekend.

Kevin.

The midterm break has come to an end and apparently the pre’s start on Thursday. While sitting in a cafe yesterday my friends and I debated what day our pres were starting. One of them figured it was Tuesday or Wednesday and I was almost sure it was Thursday. So we settled on Thursday. My friend then turned to me and said “I think i forgot my bag in school actually..“, and before I could say anything he said, “I’m actually raging! I think there was a fiver in the front of it“- Which cracked us all up.

Today I sit here in the comfort of home dossing working on my LCVP modules and Construction Studies folder. I figured it was important enough to require a day off school, don’t you? Keeping in mind that both of these projects were to have been completed before the midterm break for evaluation and marking for our pres. Due to unforeseen circumstances, naturally enough, I was unable to hand them up.

However, after a week of immense study, or should I say - lack thereof, I am facing the pre-leaving cert exams someday this coming week (by now word on the street is Thursday) and I am in no way prepared whatsoever. It will more than likely result in a complete disaster, like the US invading Iraq to borrow their oil rebuild their infrastructure. Such genuine people. Another friend of mine came up with an excellent suggestion the other day, “let’s see how well we can get on without studying” and he was right. I mean, we wouldn’t want to do too good in the Pres, that might make us think too highly of ourselves and result in a lower result in the actual leaving cert. And then there’s that issue, what’s it called.. oh yeah, stress. We wouldn’t want to suffer from such a horrible disease. I have a hunch it will spread like wildfire in the coming months.

Now if you don’t mind, I have some ‘Study’ to do. :-]

~Kevin.