The mock exams are over. The mock exams are over.

Here comes the sun. And here comes the orals and practicals. 4 weeks. 4weeks.

But not to worry 4 weeks to learn off by heart, every possible answer to every possible question we can be asked and to learn off all music pieces to the point of an exceptional ace. Not to worry. 4 weeks.

I got thinking, time is resourceful and of the essence; 672 hours in 4 weeks. IF I spend this time wisely, I can take the strain of the government’s educational programme off my shoulders. 4 weeks.

19th of June; Free from the system. Just 100 days. I will be open to the world, free to do as I please, almost free… for a while. But now, I have 4 weeks.

Colin.

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.

You’re such a… you’re such.. such a TEENAGER!
As I have made you well aware of, I am doing my pres. Today is Monday and I have just done art history and it was alright, I particularly enjoyed the appreciation of art section.  I got to design a website for a local club or school,

I was in my element.

This exam comes the day after a weekend of normalness- going out with friends and no study. What I thought to be normal has raised a few questions, is it normal to go out on a weekend of exams, after all they are only pres. What is normal? How many of you out there can relate to me or am I just foolish and throwing away a very important chance on our road to final year exams. And in the end, I do know that for the real exams I will not be going out at all. I will be cramping my style with hours of study.

Colin.

The Pres have always been a hot topic up for debate. As many of you noticed, the debating has already begun. Many people argue that cheating for the pres is morally wrong, whereas others will be for it, depending on how you look at it. Although cheating has been frowned upon, it has been looked at in a different way recently. Focused learning being the positive one, and using information for bad intention being the negative.

Various formats of the the pre leaving cert exam papers from DEB and examcraft have been floating around the internet lately. Various discussions have been going on over at boards.ie about it, until the moderators stepped up and banned users for posting links to copyrighted material. Which was a step in the right direction, but there was always google cache. And various other sources.

It seems that many people all over the country obtained copies of the papers before they sat their exams. Which raised a little more awareness about the pres and how effective they really are. The fact that schools choose the date that the pres are held doesn’t help either. You have friends sharing copies also. However, sharing information wont stop. But perhaps the approach to the pres needs to be looked into.

Let us know what you think!

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.

Depression mode initiated, code blue alert. Week one of the pre-exams is finally out the window and it has been a demoralizing task. I don’t get how ‘mock’ exams can get me so worked up… They mean nothing, but I want to ‘win’, I am a competitor. I am a student of fluid manoeuvres, patiently observing the intermittent pattern of examinations. My specialisation is deciphering the past papers, precisely predicting what will be on the paper and with this I enter the mind of an examiner swotting-up on previous marking schemes and only then can one can gain full control of their nameless assessor.

This was my method up to this week, yes I had a good idea of what questions would come up in each paper but I have entered a whole new realm of problems- Study. I can fabricate half a strategy, but it’s useless without a second half of genuine revision. My slothful behaviour has been induced by hundreds of hours of nonstop TV and gaming. Sinful.

Male, 17, seeking antidote to laziness.

How can I be upset about something I’m not willing to put effort in… Why am I pissed off about pres? I want answers, answers to life!

Over and out,

Colin.