Words of comfort for those who failed

fryup

Today is the day that the high achievers get all the acclaim, whilst those who didn't get enough points or who failed the leaving sob quietly in the corner.

I always feel for those one's ......so any words of comfort/encouragement for them, instead of the clichéd "its not the end of the world"

I would tell them to forget about college its full of pretentious types anyway, instead get a trade...mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter etc there's plenty of opportunities out there

and just on a footnote..Alan Sugar left school at 14 and look at him

iDave

You tried and you failed miserably...the lesson is, never try.

jester77

You can always repeat

lkionm

It's easier to claim the dole and live off the state.

apollo8

It's the end of the world.

Zebra3

We expected you to do shyte anyway.

notnumber

fryup wrote: »

I would tell them to forget about college its full of pretentious types anyway, instead get a trade...mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter etc there's plenty of opportunities out there

Thats the sort of advice that ensures a career in Australia when the next recession comes around.

Sir Humphrey Appleby

lkionm wrote: »

It's easier to claim the dole and live off the state.

Except of course they dont qualify for the dole.

Fr_Dougal

If you didn't get enough points this time around; repeat. Even the crappier jobs require a degree now.

CruelCoin

fryup wrote: »

and just on a footnote..Alan Sugar left school at 14 and look at him

He is a shining example that's true.

But the more education you have, the more likely you are to earn more and be employed.

You can't take one example and slap it across everything.

Porkchop McGee

You've always been a disappointment your parents, at least now you have finally lived up to expectations.

lazygal

College is way better than school. Loads of LC high achievers are burnt out by the time college rolls around and can't cope with non rote learning. So the average student usually does just fine once they're studying something they like. I can't tell you what I got in the LC, but I can tell you I had a blast in college and in the real world ever since.

BeerWolf

It ain't the end of the world, there's always the option of repeating - there's no shame in that.

I've got friends who had 500+ points that missed out by a few points for their Medicine courses and what have you, and got it the following year.

Frank Black

I'd tell them that some of the happiest people I know are also the stupidest.

I mean we can't all be super smart or ridiculously good looking like me - the world needs dumb-uglies too.

Zen65

fryup wrote: »

I would tell them to forget about college its full of pretentious types anyway, instead get a trade...mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter etc there's plenty of opportunities out there

There are as many pretentious people in college as there are outside it; it has nothing to do with the college. Your opinion seems to be heavily influenced by fiction on TV & in the movies?

Getting a trade (if the person did not get enough points to get to college) is good advice. There are plenty of pretentious tradespeople of course, but that should not put anyone off. Moreover, people who do not get into college when they are young (because they lack the skill or opportunity of studying) will often excel in college if they enter as mature students, especially after doing a trade qualification.

Z

I Heart Internet

fryup wrote: »

and just on a footnote..Alan Sugar left school at 14 and look at him

I'm sure he'd tell kids, in general, to stay in school and get the best education possible.

In general, the better educated you are the more immunity you have from recession. Although there's a huge amount to be said for getting a good trade or profession such as hotel management, electrician, mechanic, etc

bazza1

Shoulda turned up to school, dude!

Cianos

If you failed there's a good chance you went to a sh!t school. Unfortunately I went to a sh!t school and saw plenty of lads who at the start were quite intelligent and capable come out of the school with a very mediocre LC (like myself) after years of complete apathy from the majority of the teachers and near zero guidance from the school as a whole.

It was only later I realised that not all schools were like mine and if I had have gone to a better school I would have done far far better.

So my point is that if you fail or if you didn't do as well as you wished, repeating will probably be a much different and much better experience than your first time around, and much more rewarding.

Mr Benevolent

Porkchop McGee wrote: »

You've always been a disappointment your parents, at least now you have finally lived up to expectations.

...and because of that, they sent you to Tehran for re-education.

fryup

Zen65 wrote: »

There are as many pretentious people in college as there are outside it; it has nothing to do with the college. Your opinion seems to be heavily influenced by fiction on TV & in the movies?

no its based on real life experience

BeerWolf

O'Connell School for repeats would be a good option, if you don't want to feel that 'stigma' of repeating again in your [current] school.

kunst nugget

fryup wrote: »

no its based on real life experience

Is that you, Will Hunting? Did you like those apples in the end because the other fella didn't look like he enjoyed them at all.

Andersonisgod

fryup wrote: »

and just on a footnote..Alan Sugar left school at 14 and look at him

So one day, if you work hard enough, you may be able to tell terrible jokes on national television written by your own personal joke writer.....that could be you.

Guill

3 people in my year got 600 points. Two of them are working in off licences and 1 of them is working in the bookies.

notnumber

Cianos wrote: »

If you failed there's a good chance you went to a sh!t school. Unfortunately I went to a sh!t school and saw plenty of lads who at the start were quite intelligent and capable come out of the school with a very mediocre LC (like myself) after years of complete apathy from the majority of the teachers and near zero guidance from the school as a whole.

It was only later I realised that not all schools were like mine and if I had have gone to a better school I would have done far far better.

So my point is that if you fail or if you didn't do as well as you wished, repeating will probably be a much different and much better experience than your first time around, and much more rewarding.

What a load of cock,its the school,its the teacher..No Its up to you how well you do in LC and in Life..Got lemons etc

the keen edge

fryup wrote: »

I would tell them to forget about college its full of pretentious types anyway, instead get a trade...mechanic, plumber, electrician, carpenter etc there's plenty of opportunities out there

True if by there you're referring to literally anywhere but here in Ireland.

I Heart Internet

Cianos wrote: »

If you failed there's a good chance you went to a sh!t school. Unfortunately I went to a sh!t school and saw plenty of lads who at the start were quite intelligent and capable come out of the school with a very mediocre LC (like myself) after years of complete apathy from the majority of the teachers and near zero guidance from the school as a whole.

It was only later I realised that not all schools were like mine and if I had have gone to a better school I would have done far far better.

So my point is that if you fail or if you didn't do as well as you wished, repeating will probably be a much different and much better experience than your first time around, and much more rewarding.

In my experience, it's more to do with parents who are really supportive and ambitious for their kids.

Good parental support can overcome even a poor enough school. But it's a hard slog.

I came out on the right side of that equation (got a good LC) but do remember very intelligent guys who knuckled under, some within sight of the finishing line.

DarkJager

Better luck next time.

Seridisand

Do you wants Fries with that?

spiderman1885

Do a plc course or something, everyone I know that's done one of them, then onto college has done very well.

Repeat - only if you think you can motivate yourself into working harder than last year, if not it's completely pointless.

Liamario

It really isn't the end of the world. Repeating is most definitely a viable option and shouldn't be dismissed straight away. You're still very young and you have many years ahead of you to have a great time in college. I understand it's very frustrating and disappointing, but nobody said it was going to be easy.
If you don't want to repeat, that's fine. There are courses you can do that will eventually lead you into and IT or a University.
Get over the disappointment- you can't change it now.

Whatsernamex33

The Leaving Cert doesn't determine what you do with your life - yes it helps get into college, but there is a wide range of options out there. Don't give up on what you want to do.

johnny_knoxvile

There is a shortage of drug mules in Peru...it's always an option. And if you're good looking and get caught you get to be on tv (without having to audition for Big Brother).

Amirani

Ireland is not a country where doing badly in your Leaving Cert will completely ruin your life. Sure, it makes things a bit more difficult but there's many avenues into college and good careers. Repeating the leaving cert isn't enjoyable, but it's always an option you can consider. Alternatively there's PLCs and apprentice types schemes that can provide direct pathways into college.

Some of the most successful people in the world of business and technology were abject failure in school or college. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg all failed in their formal academic careers and overcame these failures to become arguably the most successful entrepreneurs of the past 50 years. What you do after failure says far more about you as a person than what you do after success. Joyce said: "A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery." Mistakes are failures are probably the most important ingredient of success. On the grand scale of things, leaving cert failure is pretty insignificant on the failure scale.

Funk It

lazygal wrote: »

College is way better than school. Loads of LC high achievers are burnt out by the time college rolls around and can't cope with non rote learning. So the average student usually does just fine once they're studying something they like. I can't tell you what I got in the LC, but I can tell you I had a blast in college and in the real world ever since.

The brightest bulbs burn out the fastest is the way I like to think of it. I certainly didn't have a great leaving cert, and it didn't hold me back thereafter alike yourself.

anncoates

"We can't all be clever like your brother".

"The world will always need street sweepers".

joe316

Well i Was 15 points short of the course I wanted to do back when I did mine 13 years ago, could have done a different course but went back and repeated (in a different school), met some of the nicest friends I could have asked for, grew up immensely. 3 dropped subjects that I wasnt strong at, picked up 2 new ones. Sailed through exams, got the course I wanted, went on to do a masters, been working since the day after I left college and now planning to do an MBA in the next year and close to 6 figure salary.

Its not end of the world and I genuinely mean that, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Getting the knock down first time around made sure it never happened again.

tin79

There is always the priesthood. Easy to get in these days.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^^

but not enough altar boys

seamus

After a year, nobody will ever ask you again how you did in your leaving cert.

After five years, you won't even remember.

That's how unimportant it is.

Andersonisgod

     
“Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.” - Voltaire

Exams are really only about regurgitating, mostly useless, information and only judges what you were able to remember in a given 3 hour time period, personally I don't think it's a great indicator of knowledge.

OU812

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary.

~ Steve Jobs

Frank Black

**** the results. The whole testing process is racially biased so I wouldn't really...

Oh wait, you're white.

Sorry, never mind.

Jaxxy

seamus wrote: »

After a year, nobody will ever ask you again how you did in your leaving cert.

After five years, you won't even remember.

That's how unimportant it is.

This.

My LC results aren't even on my CV, I've no room for them after all of the qualifications I've received as a mature student.

I will also say that as young adults sometimes we're not all suited for further education. This was the case with me and many others I know. It's not a big deal if you can't go to college straight away, some of us perform better and have a greater interest in education when we get older and have more real life experience.

Don't sweat it, at your age the world is still very much your lobster.

Mary28

That's a good point, you'd want to be some knob to put your LC results on your CV after a few yrs of working. College results and work exp are important. Only thing LC results are good for is getting into college. And there are plenty of roundabout ways of getting into careers these days. I've recently met a lot of student doctors who are mature students and got into the course cos they had a relevant related degree and they also skipped a year because of the other degree.

My advice is to try to get into something you think you will enjoy rather than be motivated by money or even employment chances alone. The working life is a long one.

Mary28

We are obviously just talking to ourselves here.
Anyone getting their LC results today is highly unlikely to be reading this thread today.

Jester252

Good luck finding a trade today you'll need it. Also Sugar enter the working world where you don't need a third level degree and three years experience to get an entrance level job.

Get on the dole until 22 and enter third level as a mature student.

Dante

I think this is only necessary.

Jaxxy

Mary28 wrote: »

We are obviously just talking to ourselves here.
Anyone getting their LC results today is highly unlikely to be reading this thread today.

Probably not, but a few parents of disappointed LCers might be!

Clandestine

Mary28 wrote: »

We are obviously just talking to ourselves here.
Anyone getting their LC results today is highly unlikely to be reading this thread today.

Hello!

Amirani

Mary28 wrote: »

We are obviously just talking to ourselves here.
Anyone getting their LC results today is highly unlikely to be reading this thread today.

Why not? You think many of them are going on the piss at 10am?