Tomorrow we kick start the dreaded State exams (AKA the Leaving and Junior Cert). If you are not Irish then I will explain briefly what is involved.
The Junior Cert is a set of roughly 10-13 exams that you do following your first three years of secondary school. For my own JC I studied: English, maths, Irish, Spanish, Italian, geography, history, C.S.P.E, business, music, and science. Three whole years of your life are spent studying for a set of written, oral, and practical exams, that you are then told "are not worth the paper they are printed on!". Motivating right!
The Leaving Cert is the amplified version of the JC. This time you undertake roughly 8 exams for another three years. My LC subjects are: English, maths, Irish, Spanish, biology, business, music, and LCVP. We are then tested on 3-4 years of knowledge on the subjects in a series of exams that average at around three hours in length. Throughout the course of the LC we are trying to build up 'points'. The better the result in the exam, the higher the number of points that you receive. Colleges in Ireland are built up around these points. Each course sets out it's points value. If you do not get sufficient points for a course, it is unlikely that you will be able to do that course. However, the ultimate killer is that you have to wait almost two months to find out how you did in your exams! TWO WHOLE MONTHS!
Overall, I believe that there is too much emphasis put on the Leaving Cert exams and the points system. We, as students, are lead to believe that you are a failure if you do not succeed in the State exams. This is not only demoralizing for the student that is not strong academically, but it also allows them to believe that they will never amount to anything unless they walk away from the exam with 400-500 points in the bag!
The Leaving Cert is a stepping stone in life. It does not define you as a person! The most important thing is that you reach your own maximum potential, whether that is getting 100 or 600 points in August.
I am an average student myself! Music and Irish are my strong subjects, so I tend to do quite well in them. Maths and business are my weaker subjects, so I am lucky if I scrape a pass at times. However, I am not exerting an excess amount of pressure onto myself regarding these exams. Of course I want to do well. Don't we all! But I am not going to allow a set of exams set out my future. I will do the best that I can do!
After the exams are done and dusted we will all reflect on the time we wasted worrying and stressing and cringe at how pointless it all was. At the end of the day, if there is something you really want to do in life, nothing will stop you. Not even the Leaving Cert!
Finally, I would like to wish all of you doing the Junior Cert the best of luck! And to all of you fellow Leaving Cert students: It's not the end of the world! Here is to June 18th!!!
Ciara Mol :) xxx
Follow me on Twitter: @CiaraMoloney_97
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