Aaron Donohoe

To answer the question that I’ve been asked countless times already — yes I did well in the Leaving Cert. My plight is over, and I celebrated (overly celebrated) that fact last night (and this morning ).

No I didn’t get all A’s, but I surpassed my expectations and predicted outcome. I achieved my potential and I am thrilled.

Yesterday it was quite a lonely experience opening my results, as for a few minutes I didn’t care what my friends had gotten as I was too engrossed in my own results and totting up my points. It took a good few minutes for everything to ring home. Others were like myself jumping for joy, others were less than pleased. Some were delighted with their A’s and some were delighted with their D3′s. Either was it was cause for celebration. I hit the Captain Morgan & Coke (spiced rum) with Purple Haze (Double shot of Red & Blue Aftershock mixed) last night. Never again

Well it’s official — that in about 8 hours time, I should be tearing open an envelope enclosing my eagerly awaited Leaving Cert results. 14 years of formal schooling will be justified as I have my attempt at the Leaving Cert course broken down in what will be enclosed in that envelope.

Surprisingly I’m not at all nervous, partially because I have been kept occupied with work and I forgot about the results — I just returned from Cork on Monday and the news of the results being this week caught me by surprise. But mainly because I know that I gave it my all. Once I submitted my scripts everything was beyond my control. I couldn’t ask any more from myself other than to do my best — if I do badly then it’s my own fault.

So here’s to Leaving Cert students presently gnawing their finger nails in anticipation. I can just say don’t be so worried, what’s done is done, whether you do good or bad you should celebrate the fact that you have completed the Leaving Cert. I hope to be doing so well into the early hours of Thursday morning

Excuse my blog tardiness. If it weren’t for Steos gentle persuasion I wouldn’t have bothered. So here’s my exams to date:

English Paper One: Went quite well. Interesting theme of Decisions, but the questions could have been better laid out as they were a bit vague in places. Text 1 was two arguments for or against the closure of zoos, Text 2 was an extract about , and Text 3 was of course photos – which I duly ignored. Did Text 1 Question A (Question B was a script for two animated zoo animals having a conversation wtf?), Text 2 Question B (Speech to a group of parents stating that Older Teenagers should be given the freedom to make their own decisions). Creative writing was a bit all over the place, I didn’t particularly like any of the titles so I just wrote about the first one – my experience in the past few years of Education. Overall I feel it went okay. Paper Two will be a royal cunt though.

English Paper Two: Massive fuck up. Was postponed until Saturday because some 30 English Paper Two’s were handed out instead of Paper One. Today was officially everybody hate Louth day – even though it wasn’t the students fault they spared no delay in dishing out what was coming up . So alternative papers have been arranged for Saturday morning – there goes some Maths Paper Two & Irish Paper One study. A lot of students have been going mental, but myself I see it as an opportunity to cram some more and re-assess my poetry choices and Macbeth themes. Discussion over on boards.ie. Update: The dopey superintendent has been named and shamed. He is now in hiding to avoid media attention.

Okay, had it on Saturday, despite my reservations about it, and my Que Sera, Sera attitude towards it going in, I feel I did okay on it overall – despite having to cut my prescribed poetry section short. Did approximately 15 pages, which includes 3 pages for unseen poetry (overkill!), 5 pages on the Comparative, 4 pages on Macbeth and 2 1/2 pages on Walcott (had to cut it short).

Maths Paper One: Surprisingly went quite well, answered 7 out of 8 (only supposed to answer 6 – but was unsure about one of them), left exam centre around 11ish after going over my answers with a fine tooth comb for about 10 minutes. Had to wait until 11:30 to get the exam papers back, so pissed off the attendant for 20 minutes! Was a nice exam, not too difficult but no overly easy. Paper Two will be a challenge!

Maths Paper Two: Went okay for the most part. Some bits I was a bit stumped on, but forged through them nonetheless. There was no avoiding Trigonometry though – did Q1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 in case you were wondering. Q6 & Q7 were lovely questions, however the last part of Q1 was a bit iffy and anyone I’ve talked to left that one out too.

Irish Paper One: Was a decent enough exam, even if it did include a comprehension about Des Bishop. If I ever have to read another Irish comprehension about him again I will go insane. In the Name of the Fada…FUCK OFF! Personal writing section was easy enough, apparently I was in Australia having a fine old time with the fine looking Austrailian girls who attatched themselves to me

Aural went well, even if we had a massive gap between it and the written section. Spent some time relaxing in the sun out in the massive courtyard smack bang in the middle of the school. It wasn’t a great thing to do as I couldn’t focus for the Aural!

Irish Paper Two: I was more pessimistic than optimistic about this one, considering it’s only worth 18.3% overall. I gave it my all, and did well in the poetry section – Gealt & Jack, and got through a bit about An Bhean Óg, but as far as Lig Sinn i gCathú is concerned…no comment.

Business: My hand is still aching me. I just couldn’t stop writing. That’s a good thing right? Go through 16 pages, answered all questions on Section 1, 2 on Section 2 and 2 on Section 3. Was writing right up until 4:30 when I said enough was enough and called it a day – mainly because I was dying for a piss and was falling asleep.

French: As predicted, it was a fairly straight forward easy exam. Four comprehensions, CV & Filling in Blanks, Postcard, Diary Entry, Message & Letter buttoned up in under an hour. All those years of slogging through HL French before moving to OL paid off. The Aural was a little tricky, but I’m confident that I did really well in it. Had a massive gap between the written and aural so chilled out outside in the courtyard and caught some rays.

History: I was dreading this exam, the only exam I was worried about – aside from English Paper 2. I prepared well enough in my opinion for it, and last night focused on the GAA, Anti-Semitism in Germany, Killing Home Rule with Kindness and Bus Boycott, unfortunately the only one that came up was the Bus Boycott for the Document question which was a safe bet to be honest. I adapted what I studied for the European course with the “How Dictators used propaganda/terror to maintain power” – there was a lot about anti-Semitism in there! The de Valera question was nice as it was quite broad, make what you want of it with regards to his management of the economy & Anglo-Irish relations between 1932 & 1945! The 1913 Lockout wasn’t great for me as I hadn’t prepared it in great detail so I left it until last and got most way through it when my pen ran out of ink – so I called it a day as my hand had taken on a claw like status. Overall, I don’t feel I excelled really well in it, but I did better than I thought

Accounting: My final exam, and one I wasn’t particularly looking forward to, but I thought it went surprisingly well – Section 2: Interpretation of Accounts was a lovely question, couldn’t see much wrong with it, checked ratios when I got home so I’m sure it’s near to full marks for that question. Cash Flow Statement was another nice question, considering I only got to learning how to complete a full Cash Flow Statement on the morning of the exam I felt it went very well, got hung-up on the final section of the statement, but got through it. Absorption Costing came up on Section 3, was a nice question, costing is a fail safe question which doesn’t need much to get it right. And finally, Section 1, I was hoping and praying for a Departmental or Manufacturing account, as I hadn’t prepared Sole Trader. What came up? A Sole Trader! Got through it, did my workings fine, my Trading & Profit & Loss Account was okay, and my Balance sheet for the most part was grand…even it if didn’t balance!

Friday 5th: Maths Paper One

Saturday 6th: English Paper Two

Monday 8th: Maths Paper Two, Irish Paper One & Aural

Tuesday 9th: Irish Paper Two, Business

Wednesday 10th: French, History

Monday 15th: Accounting

LIBERATION!

Well I’ve broken my voluntary silence, but another milestone has just been accomplished. I’ve graduated from secondary school – I am no longer a Leaving Cert student per se – although the Leaving Cert is truly upon me, breathing down my neck like a pervert with bad sinus problems.

I’ve truly enjoyed my 6 years at The Donahies. It’s been six years of mixed emotions: mostly happiness, nostalgia, & craic! At times I loved my time there, and other times I just had enough of the place. I’d be lying if I said I won’t miss the place. I will miss it’s corridors, where your shoes would squeak on the polished flooring, I will miss the banter between everyone at the lunch table, I will miss the teachers and how most would go above and beyond to bail you out, I will miss counting the minutes for the bell to null the final class on a Friday to a close, I will miss the craic we would get out of the simplest things, I will miss meeting and greeting everyone in the mornings, & I will miss the cozyness of the school enviroment – as now I’m out on my own

It would be true to say, that this years Leaving Cert year were the laziest in the schools 32 year history, although I would tend to say laid back and relaxed more so than lazy! Although when it comes to the crunch we get things done, we seldom disappoint. The writing will be on the wall in August when we’re opening our results! That moment when I open that gummed envelope will be one of anticipation, anxiety, worry, & relief! Whatever the outcome I’ll know that I’ve done my best. Even though I haven’t prepared as much as I’d liked, I have a feeling that I’ve a fair grasp on things. I react well under pressure, so I should be able to pull some half decent results out of the bag in August and ensure my six years at The Donahies have not gone by in vain.

The six years have flown. First to Third year was filled with getting my bearings, keeping my head down and having a massive culture shock – coming from a Catholic National School into a diverse Secondary School of all Nationalities & Religions, having to manage my own timetable and change classes multiple times per day! Third year seen the Junior Cert – and when I first started blogging on my own domain (!), Transition & Fifth Year seen my lazy streak become apparent, and Sixth year was filled full of worry, nostalgia, work, craic, drinking, driving, exams, maturity & relief!

Suscipere et Finire.

Basically everything is going into lockdown for a few weeks until the exams are over and done with — although as usual I will document all exams as they happen, just there’ll be no other postings in the mean time.

So the blog will remain quiet for a few weeks, and all comments will be moderated manually (unless you’re a known commenter).

I will also be staying pretty quiet over on Twitter too.

See you all shortly.

The past week has been absolutely exhausting, easily the busiest week I’ve had this year — tonight is the only night this week I’ve had to relax and not have to worry about anything due or incomplete!

My first hurdle of the week was getting my LCVP portfolio completed, as I actually worked this year I was able to complete it in ample time and focus on some of the finer details such as presentation. Others who had a lackadaisical approach to their portfolio, have been running frantically around trying to meet the deadline which was 4pm this evening. I also had the privilege (!) of being the first one to take my LCVP recorded interview on Thursday morning, which went quite well and only took one take — although it took a while to setup the camera.

I was also granted the privilege of being the 3rd candidate for my French orals which took place on Wednesday. I got through it well, although I thought the examiner was a bit too into it. Instead of giving me a question like “Decrivez vous” (Describe yourself), he asked very specific questions and was a bit sarcastic too. Either way, it’s done and dusted now, no point dwelling on the past. I’ve now got my Irish Oral, French Oral & LCVP portfolio complete, so I’m just about ready for D-day in June. However, I’ve yet to complete my History project

Luckily, I’ve two weeks to get the remainder of my History project done, as well as the mountain of study I’ve to wade through. But for now, I’m relaxing with the laptop, and the Empire of the Sun’s album catching up on my RSS feeds and emails.

I’m a little stressed at the moment, hence why my usual noise on Twitter has been quenched for a while, as my patience is nil and I’m even more irritable then usual. I usually get like this around exam time, it’s natural, everyone handles stress differently. I haven’t snapped at anybody yet, people understand the stress myself and every other students are under. Understandably I’m becoming a bit of a hermit for the next two months – just to put the remaining effort in required to get me through the exams and due to the fact that I’ve so much stuff due in the next week, such as LCVP portfolio due next Friday, LCVP interview on Tuesday, French orals on Wednesday, History project to be submitted for review next Friday, and the jostling of levels to ensure that I can obtain the points required for college. It’s all quite stressful, and it all comes at once.

I’m getting through my study, I’m not doing as much as some. I haven’t the concentration levels to put in 4 hours per night. On a good night I’ll put in 2 good hours – 3 if I have a half day. I’m just reviewing my mock results at the moment, they’re here on the desk beside me. I failed HL Accounting, miserably. I did excellent in English, French, Business & History. I got through Irish okay, and Maths needs work. 7 weeks to pull up my socks. If I don’t it’ll be a lonely day in August when I open that envelope.

Thinking about it, I’ve only got 3 weeks of classes left. Considering next week I finish up this term on Friday evening, and don’t return until the 21st of April means that there is only a month until I graduate on the 21st of May -  discount a week for preparations for the graduation and it leaves just 3 weeks of formal classes left. When things are put into that perspective — time is definitely on the line.

What I wouldn’t give to be in Transition Year again.

Excuse the lowsy title, strewn together with my basic knowledge of the Irish language!

Well at last the eagerly anticipated Irish orals are over and done with, and to be honest, it wasn’t half as bad as some people let on. As I said last night, I was 16th to be in, turned out to be 15th on the final list — so I was due to go in more or less an hour after lunch.

My Irish teacher had second class after lunch free so she agreed to take me and Shay for a dry run just  before the real deal. I managed to get the first class off to allow for some final studying before the dry run. Mock oral went okay,  I was asked to read Sliocht a Trí — I have a bit of a stammer so found this one harder than say Sliocht a hAon or Sliocht a Dó. It went well as it definitely improved my confidence when going in.

By no means was I nervous, I tend not to get nervous easily which can be a plus. There was one person ahead of me just about to go in, so I went over some notes just for the sake of it.

When it was my time to step up to the plate I was confident that I had enough Irish to get me past. So in I went and said nothing for a minute as she was checking my details and getting me to sign my name on the register etc. I was told to read Sliocht a Trí to myself for a minute and then read it allowed. I got through it — I had some difficulty with it just 20 minutes prior to this, however in the exam itself I flew through it and just kept going it anything threw me off course.

Once the reading was done, the usuals came up:

• Mé Féin
• Mo chlann – which led onto my dog: what type, how old, what he eats, etc.
• Inis dom faoi do chonaí – area, born and raised, facilities — I said sports club and she immediately jumped into to ask the name and as soon as I heard that I predicted the next question…to which the answer was Ní Imrím aon spoirt…
• Caitheamh Aimsire – rambled on about music, concerts, films – she then dropped a bomb on me and asked me to explain what happens in In Bruges. I crawled through it, but go through it – gach duine bás…
• Ceol – for some reason I was asked about music again and my favourite band. I just mentioned concerts again..
• Bliana seo caite – college, what course, what I needed for that course, when I mentioned computers I was asked what I use them for, how many hours a day, and what websites I use. She then asked me my opinion on Bebo & YouTube.

Overall I think it went well. The important thing was I kept talking. There were a few questions I hadn’t a clue about, although once they were rephrased I got through them.

Just some advice to people with upcoming Irish orals — they aren’t as bad as they’re made out to be. The examiner doesn’t want to trip you up, they want to give you the best chance for you to succeed. If they see you’re struggling they’ll move one, but the key is to keep talking — once you keep talking Irish they usually let you run with it within reason. So I’d advise you to at least know the basics before going in, as well as some wildcards and fillers.

French next Wednesday which should see my oral exams buttoned up for good. I’ve a History & LCVP project due before the Easter break — so lots of work still ahead for the next 2-3 weeks!

Yes, the dreaded orals are looming, and will be ongoing over the next two weeks for Irish, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Hebrew, Arabic, Hungarian and various other languages available on the Leaving Cert course. The blog has been ignored for the past two weeks in light of this.

I myself have Irish tomorrow afternoon, I’m 16th to go in, which could be a good and bad thing. Good by the fact I can find what reoccurring themes the examiner asks and how in-depth into a topic she gets. It will also give me the chance to adjust my notes accordingly and go over the stuff I haven’t gotten a chance to go over. It can also be a bad thing — I’d prefer to get it over and done with as soon as possible, because the sooner you get it done the less likely the examiner will be bored and thus they won’t start to ask over exuberant questions to quench their boredom.

I’ve spent a large part of the weekend revising some topics, however, unlike French, me and these phrases are not getting along and I can’t seem to get them to roll off my tongue with fluency. I’ll take it all as it comes, and pray for the life of me that she doesn’t deviate from my prepared topics.

A great bit of advice I received was to keep talking, if they have to interrupt it can only be a good thing unless you answer so woeful that they want to save you from putting your foot into your mouth. Such things like if they ask you how many are in your family – give how many, names, siblings, their names & ages, pets etc. If they ask about your school include some fillers like “mar is eol duit” (as you know) — Name the school, location, no. students/teachers, facilities, subjects and lead into what you study, dislikes/likes etc.

I’m preaching all of this now, but come tomorrow afternoon if I get taken I’ll remember none of it! And being number 16 on the list I’ll either be one of the last on Monday or the first on Tuesday. If anything I’d prefer to be in on the Tuesday morning!

I’ve got French next week, however it’s been slightly infringed by the planned strike on Monday 30th March, so they’ve been put back to the next day. I’m not too pissed about that – gives me an extra day to cram!

Best of luck to everyone, I’m certain that I’ll need it.

Finally the Mocks are done and dusted, they went quite well, much better than expected. It’s good to get a dry run in before the main event, sort of like a driving test – you always have a pre-test before going into the real thing, every other exam is no different, if you can’t do what’s required outside exam conditions with no pressure, how should you expect yourself to do it in the stressful situation which an exam centre entails.

I’m sick of comparing opinions with regards the mocks, for the past two weeks, all I did talk about was Mocks, Mocks, Mocks. Well no more, I promise. Normal Services, and the Friday Feeling will return NEXT week – that’ll gimme some time to recuperate! There may be some posting on the Orals exams, and how my driving test might clash with them – it’s something I’ve to enquire further about it.

Other than that, I’m eagerly anticipating the results, to compare how I thought I did, to how I actually did. Some subjects I’ve just to keep drumming away with, whilst others require some further study and others might require level dropping. All will be revealed next week.

It’s good to make a post on a proper computer – using that WordPress iPhone app was a real pain in the arse, as I can barely text on the iPhone, let alone publish or edit blog posts!

On a final note, as per usual, I’m fidling with the blog theme again. Developments with the sidebar are Work in Progress, so excuse any crazy happenings going on over there ->