I messed up my leaving cert.

whatcartoget

It is now 4am and I can't sleep. I am an 18 year old fella and I feel so depressed right now. I got really badly bullied in school and I lost interest. I put up with it all through my school life and it effected me every day and I carried on. I scope through tests even when I tried really hard. In some tests teachers passed me because I was a nice guy and never caused any trouble and they could see I tried. When I do an exam I put in a big effort. I was the the last to leave out of every exam. I think I only left early after french and I did ordinary level and even people who did higher level did better than me. So, I did try my best in a way but these people just get at me. On the first day of the exams the local paper took a photo of me with some one else. Nothing was said to him but of course I was made a laughing stock of before I went into an exam and that didn't help.
I Know it's my fault that I did so bad but I just couldn't focus properly and I skipped loads of school between jan-may.
I just know my exams went bad even my best subject went down hill badly. What also really bothers me is what people are going to think of me and my parents/siblings when they hear my results. My brother and sister both did brilliant leaving certs and as far as I know they both topped there classes. Now, my parents and brother and sister knows I am not going to achieve this but Neighbours/relatives/family friends expect a lot of me. They think I am going to get over 500 points or so and the best I can get is 450. In the pres I only got 230/240 and I dropped since this. I did put a big effort in before and I did speech therapy for the first few years of my life up until I was around 12. When I went into secondary school I could have got and exception from Irish and french but I didn't I tried and this was seeing as weird by people and I sort of got bullied over it. This on top of my speech every so often I might make a mistake pronouncing a word and this caused bulling as well. This on top of the way I looked and being a non sport person it all got two much over the years and I just found this year so hard and sort of gave up.
Any advice?

stacexD

The same thing happened to me last year, I got bullied and gave up even going to school then f*cked up the lc. I did better than I expected though and you probably will too.. school has been such a negative place for you that you're probably assuming the worst!
I'd stop worrying if i were you, what's done is done. In september when you go off to college nobody is gonna think twice about your leaving cert! Believe me college is gonna be the best year for you, theres very little of the usual bullying twats around and a LOT more decent people to make friends with. You will make loads of new friends who won't care or judge you on your speech, just be positive and give people a chance, don't assume they're all the same as the lads you went to school with.
Another thing, points aren't the end of the world theres lots of options in college and ways around things to get the course you want, if you don't get the points for the course you want you could consider doing a lower level and then continue to the one you want, or do a plc.

Keep your chin up and good luck on Wednesday!

Lollipops23

Hi OP,
Sorry to hear you've been stressing.
First off, as other posters have mentioned, you may well have done a lot better than you think you did. As for your mocks results- I don't think there was a single person in my year that did worse in the real thing than the mocks. Apart from anything esle, when you sit those you still haven't covered 10% of your curriculums in most subjects.
Even if you do come out with a poorer result than you were hoping for, it really isn't all that bad. I came out 15 points short of my 2nd choice, was completely gutted. But I did a PLC, excelled in it and ended up getting my BA Hons in 2009 (did my LC in 2005). There is ALWAYS a back door into the area you're interested in, it's just a matter of finding it.
Try not to worry what people "think" or "expect"-they may surprise you! I remember being in tears the day of my results and my aunt rang to see how it went. She couldn't understand why I was so upset, saying "But you passed!! That's more than I ever did!"
Chin up xxx

kisaragi

Hey OP,

First of all, sorry to hear you had such a horrible time in school. I used to get bullied all the time school for being gay - as well as just being different. I know it makes you feel horrible but I promise that it definitely gets better after school. Not even just in college but as people grow up a bit you'll find that - although there are still some people who will just always be assholes, the majority of people are understanding and friendly. I'm not going to say I'm glad I was bullied in school but it definitely made me a stronger person and gave me a much thicker skin. I guess my point is I know how it feels to have people make you feel worthless but eventually you will realise that even if you didn't do as well as people expected in the LC or whatever else it doesn't take away from the wealth of other positives I'm sure you have

Regarding not doing as well as you hoped in the LC, well, you can always repeat if you like, do a PLC course to get into the course you want, even do another course and transition into your desired area with a masters or postgraduate diploma You're only 18, you still have PLENTY of time to get to wherever you want to in life! So forget about anyone giving you grief and once you get your results if they're not what you hoped for you can start thinking about what you CAN do to get where you want

whatcartoget

I know repeating is an option but I just want to be out of secondary school I just simple want to be finished with it for good. My man is after getting loads of texts today wishing me the best of luck on Wednesday and I just don't know what I am going to tell them all. They will be calling all day asking how I got on and I am so ashamed of how badly I did.
Thanks

LegacyUser

Hey OP,
Firstly I'm very sorry to hear you were bullied. Exams/school are tough enough without that extra baggage on your shoulders. Whatever your results, you have done nothing wrong, just remember that. And while it would be great to get high marks, that's not always the case and it isn't the end of the world. There are options to repeat and lots of courses available no matter what the results are. I'm sure your family will support you in this. Best of luck.

How Many Users

My advice,

Come clean, repeat in a grind school, get into college and leave the past behind you. One year is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and you may end up doing brilliantly.

In this economy the most important thing you can have is a proper education, I know it may suck now but a good leaving cert and a good degree will stand to you for the rest of your life.

Tell you parents now that you don't think you did very well, explain everything to them. If you were my child I would help and support you, and 100% not judge you or try to compare you to your siblings.

Grind schools can actually be really fun, it normally consists of a big bunch of people who don't know each other and it's a great way to get a fresh start, but just make sure not to have too much fun and focus on your studies when you need to. It's also a good prep for college.

Hope it all works out for you, but remember honesty is the best policy.

LegacyUser

Hey man,

Just want to give you my insight into this.

I was on the exact same boat, I was bullied a lot in school, making me switch schools after the junior cert. When i moved into a new school I ther was also bullied a good bit coming into leaving cert, I lost my core group of friends and felt lonely and fed up with the world. I took it extremly hard, I lost intrest in the leaving cert and just didnt study/care about my exams and was down and despressed all the time. Come results, I failed 5 of my exams and my highest result was C3.

My parents were quite annoyed at me and got the usual bolloxing from them. They put me into a grind school which was extremly strict. I just kept to myself and studied away to get into college. A hard year, I went from failing 5 exams to geting 520 points in the leaving cert.

I moved on to college, joined clubs and societies in college, meet like minded people with simliar intrestes as myself, and really dont care about the secondary school or the people who bullied me. I have a great group of friends now and everything is going great with me, I just finished my final year getting a 1.1 and am starting a masters.

What im trying to say, life goes on. Everything will work out for you. Dont worry, cheer up and college will be better.

lace

Hi OP!

My best friend could have written that exact post! Word for word. He went through exactly the same thing in school right down to the smarty pants brother and sister.

He accepted his results and nobody thought badly of him. His family and friends were really understanding and supportive. He repeated the following year. Where he went to school anyone repeating (lots of people who went to other schools went to his one to repeat) the repeats were a class of their own and only mixed with the other leaving certs for certain classes (like lab classes) but had all their study periods together. They were really close and all supported each other.

His second leaving cert went well but still not good enough to get into his course (points were very high). He got his grant to do a PLC course and moved away to go to that. As part of that he did some work experience and the place liked him so much they offered him a job for the summer! The following year he got into the course he had originally wanted and, because he had prior experience from his PLC course, was way ahead in the course and did much better than any of the students who got all the points in the leaving cert and came straight into the course.

It took him a little longer than he would have wanted, but he got into his course in the end and gained a lot of experience along the way!

Of course, you may have done far better than you think you did! Sit your parents down and tell them you're really worried about the results and you really don't want to disappoint them but you don't think you've done well. If they know how worried you are and how hard the year has been on you they're not going to be too tough on you.

Plenty of people don't do as well as expected and if you acknowledge and take responsibility for the fact that you could have studied more etc, then people won't think badly of you. What's important isn't the results you get but what you do once you get them.

Good luck!

whatcartoget

Thanks guys for the advice. I just have to see how I get on tomorrow. I have no idea how I am going to do but I probably didn't do spectacular My parents won't give out to me but I know they will be disappointed. One thing that bugs me is people always says that bullies make nothing of themselves but the thing is most of the guys that bully me are smart guys and they will get very good results. If I meet them tomorrow I know they will be looking at me with big smiles and grins. Then I will be told I am a retard and made feel really uncomfortable.
I am going to leave so many people down and this bothers me so much I feel I am even going to leave down the teachers by doing bad. Out of my seven teacher there is only one teacher who wasn't that good but he tried his best.

Lollipops23

OP if you don't want to face the ássholes in your school, just get your results online

A few of my mates have done that.

LegacyUser

whatcartoget wrote: »

One thing that bugs me is people always says that bullies make nothing of themselves but the thing is most of the guys that bully me are smart guys and they will get very good results.

Even so if they are smart, it dosent mean they will make anything of themselves, and if they do fair enough let them be.

For my experiance, there were 2 groups of bullies against me. The first group, out of 5 of them, 3 have droped out of college, 1 is unemployed, and the other works in mcdonalds.

The other group, they all just finished arts and are unemployed and moving to Oz.

Whatever happens man, dont worry. If you repeat, you repeat, if you do badly, ther are PLC courses into college, in 2-3 years you will be looking back at this moment laughing, just like me. And hey in 2-3 years there might be some LC with the exact same probelm, and you give him your story.

Dont worry, have fun, and good luck with the results!

implausible

If your results are disappointing tomorrow, don't despair.

It sounds like you really want to get out of the secondary school environment, that leaves you with the options of repeating in another school or doing a PLC. In my opinion, a PLC would be good for you - a new start, a more mature college atmosphere and an area that you're interested in. You could repeat any entry requirements you failed e.g. Maths, spend a year figuring out what you want or use your FETAC course instead of your LC points to apply to ITs.

Tomorrow could surprise you in a good way;) Best of luck OP.

chicken fingers

Im 28, I got 250 points, I earn $100k+, I live a life worlds away from the wánkers who would beat me up in school, I'm smart on my game and I live a lifestyle that most would envy.
But it took me years of being beat down to wake up and realise that life does not start or end with school, LC, Ireland, or your parents perceived expectations.
Don't worry lad, I don't even consider the LC a point in my journey through life and after a few years you probably wont either.

good luck anyways.

LegacyUser

I messed up my leaving cert too - and ended up in a job I hated. Worked for a few years, saved up enough money to put myself through college and 25 years later I'm in a job that I absolutely love.

You will be disappointed if you don't get the results you want - especially after the hard time you've been having. But you'll get your head around it quickly enough and there's always another route to finding the life that you deserve.

Messing up your leaving cert DOES NOT mean messing up your life. I work in a university and have lost count of the number of straight A students who can't come to grips with college life, while a lot of people who were "average" in school just blossom at third level. It takes time to find your path in life - and time is on your side.

I hope today goes better than you seem to think that it will. If it doesn't, just remember that the last year has shown how resilient you are. You'll get through this. Good luck with everything.

whatcartoget

Well I passed every exam anyway but I didn't do that well! So, I am sort of happy but I am not delighted if you know what I mean!

Lollipops23

whatcartoget wrote: »

Well I passed every exam anyway but I didn't do that well! So, I am sort of happy but I am not delighted if you know what I mean!

well done!! and there was you thinking you'd failed the entire thing :rolleyes:

now go out and get wasted young man.

whatcartoget

Okay, I'll give a proper post now. I did better than I was expecting in some subject and worse in some but all in all I am happy. I just texted my mam friends and my relatives that I got on grand and I am happy. Some of the guys that gave me a hard time did well and some I think did place bad.
I left school today and hopefully I'm done with the school hopefully and I just
hope the points don't go up! Fingers crossed. Thanks

spinandscribble

whatcartoget wrote: »

Okay, I'll give a proper post now. I did better than I was expecting in some subject and worse in some but all in all I am happy. I just texted my mam friends and my relatives that I got on grand and I am happy. Some of the guys that gave me a hard time did well and some I think did place bad.
I left school today and hopefully I'm done with the school hopefully and I just
hope the points don't go up! Fingers crossed. Thanks

my only regret is how i handled my leaving cert results day. I did well but in my head it wasn't good enough so acted like a miserable git. don't be a fool like i was, enjoy the day and get a plan into action for what you'll do next! good luck

whatcartoget

spinandscribble wrote: »

my only regret is how i handled my leaving cert results day. I did well but in my head it wasn't good enough so acted like a miserable git. don't be a fool like i was, enjoy the day and get a plan into action for what you'll do next! good luck

I just have to see how the cao goes because there is a small chance I might get a course that I really want!

elbee

whatcartoget wrote: »

I just have to see how the cao goes because there is a small chance I might get a course that I really want!

OP, just read the whole thread and I'm glad you're pleased, I have my fingers crossed for your CAO offer!

You sound like a lovely guy who does his best and honestly, that will carry you very far in life. Take care and I hope your future brings great things. Bear in mind that life is what happens while you're making other plans.

I didn't get my first choice course but my second choice was brilliant, I made great friends and have ended up with a fairly good job (I don't love it, but then what I really love is something I do outside of work, and my current job is grand). So you never know what life will bring, just be open to it

Matthew23

whatcartoget wrote: »

Okay, I'll give a proper post now. I did better than I was expecting in some subject and worse in some but all in all I am happy. I just texted my mam friends and my relatives that I got on grand and I am happy. Some of the guys that gave me a hard time did well and some I think did place bad.
I left school today and hopefully I'm done with the school hopefully and I just
hope the points don't go up! Fingers crossed. Thanks

Glad your happy with some results. How many points did you end up getting?

Duggy747

whatcartoget wrote: »

I just have to see how the cao goes because there is a small chance I might get a course that I really want!

Even if you don't get the course you want through the CAO there are so many backdoors to get to the area you want. Nothing is carved in stone.

Congrats on passing the goddamn thing, I was the same as yourself fretting about the results when all I cared about was to pass it and close that chapter in my life which was fecking school. I got 270 points........didn't care.........still got to go off study Radio & Sound Engineering and got my degree in Systems & Networking. I've been in IT since 2004 and I love it

You went through enough shìt but now it's over. Now you have a clean slate and a new life for yourself...................stealing trolleys and traffic cones in the middle of the night like a typical college hooligan :pac:

whatcartoget

I got what I wanted!!:D

koxy

Excellent, congrats !

Lollipops23

whatcartoget wrote: »

I got what I wanted!!:D

Congratulations!! Welcome to the best few years of your life

Miaireland

whatcartoget wrote: »

I got what I wanted!!:D

Congratulations

Valentina

whatcartoget wrote: »

I got what I wanted!!:D

Congrats! Delighted for ya!

tallaghtmick

whatcartoget wrote: »

I got what I wanted!!:D

Congrats dude,you can now move forward and forget the past,always remember in college people will be a lot nicer and mature.

Dont party too hard OP but jaysus you deserve it:cool:

Plek Trum

Well done! Go enjoy your future and have a great time - delighted for you!