Leaving Cert diary: ‘My short story was story set in interwar Italy when communists and fascists battled it out'
For the past few months, I have been all about 'the zone'.
The zone is a flow state that – if you're lucky – you get into when studying. It's a place where you think of nothing else but the task in front of you. You're barely conscious of anything going on around you, because you're so locked into what you're doing.
Some of my classmates have different techniques, including one where they study intensely for 20 minutes and break for five.
That doesn't work for me – I like to stay focused on one topic for longer. I find that it is more efficient and delivers better results. It's a space I have always been able to access, but I've only ever needed to be there for exams.
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It's now been over two weeks since our graduation and final day of school and, since then, I've had little mental bandwidth to do anything much besides study.
I've been putting in five or six hours a day, with the intensity ebbing and flowing.
English paper one finally gave me a chance to put some of this to use. Funny thing about English paper one, though: it's not really a paper you can study for like other subjects.
Instead, because the focus is on comprehension and writing, it is more of a skills test, and the only real way you can prepare is practice, read and plan.
The paper itself was fairly standard, and there was nothing off the wall. Every year, the format is the same, with a choice of three comprehension questions based on a text, and a written section B where we have to respond to a particular prompt, like 'give a talk' or 'write a speech.'
As for the personal writing, I always go for the short story, so I responded to the prompt about an ambitious but reckless character that causes a disaster, writing a story set in interwar Italy when communists and fascists battled it out.
Most professional writers would do several drafts of a story to make it perfect. But, for English paper one, I have long since realised that the story doesn't have to be perfect. We have about ten minutes maximum to plan it, and less than an hour altogether to write it, so I focused on keeping the plot simple and not overly complicated, and focusing on key aspects like descriptive language and characterisation.
The comprehensions were straightforward enough, while I also tackled a reflection about changing your mind and opinions on a topic.
As for the rest of the exams, I got lucky with the spacing, as I have a four-day gap before chemistry, and then another seven-day-gap before applied maths, which is one of the final exams on the timetable.
This will give me plenty of time to prepare. Then, just two days after I finally wrap up, I head to India on a family trip. I will barely have time to catch my breath. But, sure, I'll have plenty of time to sleep on the plane.
Shreyash Shukla is a Leaving Cert student at Athlone Community College
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‘I'm not even a bit stressed,' Honor goes, ‘I haven't done a focking tap for these exams'
Sorcha thinks we should maybe check on Honor and there's an air of definite excitement in her voice when she says it? Yeah, no, it's the night before the stort of the Leaving Cert and my wife is absolutely determined that this should be one of those mother-daughter moments. She goes, 'The Leaving Cert puts – oh my God – so much pressure on young people. But it's not the be-all and end-all. I read an orticle online about all the famous people who failed the Leaving Cert.' I'm there, ' I failed the Leaving Cert – in fairness to me.' She's like, 'I'm talking about people who went on to actually achieve things?' READ MORE And I'm there, 'Yeah, no, thanks for that, Sorcha.' 'I just remember that – oh my God – my Mom had this amazing, amazing talk with me the night before I storted mine ? She just said, you know, the importance of exams is, like, totally overblown and that the Leaving Cert shouldn't define you for the rest of your life.' 'That's easy for you to say. Didn't you get, like, maximum points?' 'Well, not quite maximum points? I got, like, a B in Honours English, remember?' How could I forget? Her old man spent years appealing it. I think the case was still trundling through the courts when she was pregnant with Honor. 'Come on,' she goes, 'let's go and talk to her,' and I follow her up the stairs to Honor's room. Sorcha knocks and she's like, 'Honor, dorling?' then she pushes the door and looks around it like she's sticking her head in a lion's mouth. Honor isn't studying. That's the first thing I notice. She's sorting through her wardrobe and taking photographs of herself in various outfits with one hand on her hip and her cheeks sucked in. Sorcha goes, 'We're sorry to bother you, Honor. We were just wondering how the study was going?' I don't know where she's getting this we from? Honor's like, 'It's going great – as you can probably see.' 'Well,' Sorcha goes, 'we just wanted to say that, even though it may seem like it now, the Leaving Certificate is not the be-all and end-all.' I'm there, 'I'm living proof of that, Honor.' But Sorcha's like, 'Why don't you leave the talking to me, Ross? What we're trying to say, Honor – and I'm echoing my own mother's words here – is that it doesn't define you as, like, a person ?' Honor's there, 'Why do I buy so many clothes in taupe? It looks so focking meh on me.' Sorcha goes, 'The important thing – as my mom famously said – is that you turn out a happy, well-adjusted girl with a fully functioning moral compass.' Honor's like, 'Does this top make my face look washed out? You can tell me.' 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The important thing is that she's a happy girl with a fully functioning whatever-you-said.' 'Yes, Ross – but within reason.' 'Within reason?' 'I mean, it's also important that she gets into a good college. And into a degree course that's, like, high points.' 'But I thought you said–' 'Never mind what I said. What the fock is she doing in there?' 'I think she was questioning some of her 2024 wardrobe choices.' She goes, 'Did she even have a book open?' and before I can answer no, she bursts into Honor's room again, with no knock this time, and she's like, 'Why aren't you studying?' Honor goes, 'Excuse me?' Sorcha's there, 'You have an exam tomorrow! Where are your books? Where are your cog notes?' [ 'That picture The Last Supper is weird. They're all sitting on the same side of the table' Opens in new window ] Honor's like, 'I thought you said the Leaving Cert doesn't matter.' Sorcha goes, 'I didn't mean it literally doesn't matter. 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Irish Times
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Carl O'Brien: ‘Take a deep breath - the weekend is a time to recharge'
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Leaving Cert maths: Some students left deflated by ‘off-putting' higher-level exam
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