*** LET'S GET REFLECTIVE! How has the Leaving Cert changed you? ***

plmko

Being the reflective person that I am I recently posed a question to myself; how has the Leaving Cert changed me?

The answer; I have put on a lot of weight to begin with. Yes those sympathy chocolate bars and late night toast feasts have caught up on me and due to my excuse "STUDY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EXERCISE" I am not a good deal heavier. *sigh*

As far as my personality is concerned, I would say that I put with with less sh*t from people. When you're confined to socialising to a short amount of time in sixth year I think you tend to realise who you really care about and with that, who you don't.

Also, I am even more messy than I used to be. My bedroom ressembles Nagasaki after the atomic bombs were dropped on it. (I wouldn't be surprised if it's as radioactive as that place too!) And I sweat more too, although that's probably to do with the weight. *sigh, sigh*

So, how have you changed? Physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually?

spurious

The weight thing is easily fixed, once the choccy toasty feasts stop.

The not putting up with crap attitude is a factor of growing up I think. Eventually you genuinely will not care what other people think - it's very freeing.

Messy room. Meh.

Whole new chapter starting. Enjoy it.

b3rnade11e

A bald patch,on a 18 year old girl.

Mario95

I am a bit angry because its 2 extra weeks in school.
And I wanted to get an A in Biology and Maths so I forced myself to start studying the day before. Very unpleasant. Very boring. Very tiring.

It didn't really change me much, like I said, for me it was just 2 lovely weeks of summer replaced by school.

bb1234567

Im now fatter
and mentally scarred by the experience
but apart from that
lc was awesome!

Kyro

I thought it was great fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year...

7jy

my hand kind of hurts

onethreefive

Thoughts before the exams started: Repeating wouldn't be too bad.

Thoughts after the exams ended: I am never doing this again.

Exo

Overall, my mentality of the Leaving Cert has changed moreso than anything else.. ended up spending a year repeating, which conceded in a career choice not involving the CAO system - not to mention spending money on a private school and the monetary setback. Could have been worse.. last thing I want to know about is my LC results, again.

A new life begins.

thelad95

7jy wrote: »

my hand kind of hurts

Whatever breaks up the monotony of the study.

nailforhammer

I learnt that it is actually very difficult to survive on just 6 hrs sleep for a long period of time.
I got my first two grey hairs as a result of this years stress.
I finished today and I'm not sure what to do with myself most of my friends aren't finished for another few days. So unless I want to celebrate alone I'll just have to be idle until they are done

RAnderson1995

I didn't think the experience was that bad...
I lost a bit of weight because i was too busy studying to eat xD
I do feel like it has really shown me who my real friends are and now I can focus on our relationships and not waste time on others!
My sleeping pattern is as messed up as ever... but i have all summer to fix that!
None of my friends are finished till Thursday with music (I'm the untalented friend) so now i just have to wait for them before I can really start to enjoy summer!

randylonghorn

nailforhammer wrote: »

I finished today and I'm not sure what to do with myself most of my friends aren't finished for another few days. So unless I want to celebrate alone I'll just have to be idle until they are done

Get out in the sun, go for a walk or a cycle or something, get some fresh air and exercise ... both physically and mentally you're drained, and you're on an adrenalin comedown after the last week or two ... the fresh air and exercise will help to combat that and get you feeling more energetic and yet relaxed on the one hand, and physically tire you and help you sleep properly on the other hand.

I know that sounds contradictory, but I'm just not explaining myself well!

iWin1010

I've gained about 5 pounds and developed carpal tunnel syndrome.
That's about it...

aleatorio

Everyone is saying they gained weight, and here's me after losing 1.5 stone from stress and literally forgetting to feed myself during all-day study marathons.. :pac:
Not healthy at all, 0/10 would not recommend.

Other than that I feel utterly unchanged

Saskatchewan

I've learned that walls are actually pretty interesting when your meant to be studying....

Sucette!

Has the Leaving Cert changed me?
.
I've learned, in the last few weeks of school, that the Leaving Cert which meant the world to me all year, will NOT define who I am, yes it would be great to get 500+ points, and many people will. But who you are as a person is not defined by those points in August. Who I am and what I will be remembered by, as one inspirational teacher put it, is not for all those A1s or A2's or so forth. It's you as a person's pleasant personality, sheer willingness to try their best, and general kindess and goodwill that defines who a person is. That is what we'll be remembered by.

The last thing in class this teacher said to us was, 'If you learn one thing from me, and I don't care if its not Photosynthesis, Respiration, Chemical Equilibrium or Volumetric Analysis (bio and Chem teacher), all those things wont matter after those exams, I want you to remember the important things in life, your family, friends, hobbies and never forget to put them first in life'. The last thing she said to me today as I left the school for the final time 'Your life is only begining, you'll have endless possibilities, make the most of them for me.' This is what I plan to live by, and tbh if I had realised this at the begining of 6th year it would probably have been better. The Leaving Cert is not the end of the world, there's more important things out there.

As previous posters have said, i've learned who my true friends are over the past year, and not to care in the slightest what John/Mary across the way thinks of me or my friends. Im accepted by my friends for being who I am, there's no reason to change yourself for anybody.

The Leaving Cert has been an eye opener, a glimpse (indirectly) into the real world, you have responsibilites and learn that there's more to an education that just English, Irish, Maths etc.

Badwulf

Sucette! wrote: »

Has the Leaving Cert changed me?
.
I've learned, in the last few weeks of school, that the Leaving Cert which meant the world to me all year, will NOT define who I am, yes it would be great to get 500+ points, and many people will. But who you are as a person is not defined by those points in August. Who I am and what I will be remembered by, as one inspirational teacher put it, is not for all those A1s or A2's or so forth. It's you as a person's pleasant personality, sheer willingness to try their best, and general kindess and goodwill that defines who a person is. That is what we'll be remembered by.

The last thing in class this teacher said to us was, 'If you learn one thing from me, and I don't care if its not Photosynthesis, Respiration, Chemical Equilibrium or Volumetric Analysis (bio and Chem teacher), all those things wont matter after those exams, I want you to remember the important things in life, your family, friends, hobbies and never forget to put them first in life'. The last thing she said to me today as I left the school for the final time 'Your life is only begining, you'll have endless possibilities, make the most of them for me.' This is what I plan to live by, and tbh if I had realised this at the begining of 6th year it would probably have been better. The Leaving Cert is not the end of the world, there's more important things out there.

As previous posters have said, i've learned who my true friends are over the past year, and not to care in the slightest what John/Mary across the way thinks of me or my friends. Im accepted by my friends for being who I am, there's no reason to change yourself for anybody.

The Leaving Cert has been an eye opener, a glimpse (indirectly) into the real world, you have responsibilites and learn that there's more to an education that just English, Irish, Maths etc.

Wish I had a teacher like that, its fookin beautiful, want some quotes from my teachers?

Biology: "If you havn't been studying since the start of september, I look forward to seeing you again here next year."
English: "*insert my name here*, You got a C2 in the mock, but that means nothing, my predicted grade for you in the real thing is a D3, I would advise droping to ordinary level"
Irish: "I don't care if any of ye fail or pass, cos at the end of the day I'm getting paid so it really won't bother me *fat laugh*

nailforhammer

Sucette! wrote: »

Has the Leaving Cert changed me?
.
I've learned, in the last few weeks of school, that the Leaving Cert which meant the world to me all year, will NOT define who I am, yes it would be great to get 500+ points, and many people will. But who you are as a person is not defined by those points in August. Who I am and what I will be remembered by, as one inspirational teacher put it, is not for all those A1s or A2's or so forth. It's you as a person's pleasant personality, sheer willingness to try their best, and general kindess and goodwill that defines who a person is. That is what we'll be remembered by.

The last thing in class this teacher said to us was, 'If you learn one thing from me, and I don't care if its not Photosynthesis, Respiration, Chemical Equilibrium or Volumetric Analysis (bio and Chem teacher), all those things wont matter after those exams, I want you to remember the important things in life, your family, friends, hobbies and never forget to put them first in life'. The last thing she said to me today as I left the school for the final time 'Your life is only begining, you'll have endless possibilities, make the most of them for me.' This is what I plan to live by, and tbh if I had realised this at the begining of 6th year it would probably have been better. The Leaving Cert is not the end of the world, there's more important things out there.

As previous posters have said, i've learned who my true friends are over the past year, and not to care in the slightest what John/Mary across the way thinks of me or my friends. Im accepted by my friends for being who I am, there's no reason to change yourself for anybody.

The Leaving Cert has been an eye opener, a glimpse (indirectly) into the real world, you have responsibilites and learn that there's more to an education that just English, Irish, Maths etc.

Not like in my school. My teachers compete to see if they can get the most A's in a particular subject.
Irish: *he lists out names of people he expects A's from* "If all of ye don't get an A you are dead to me. You had potential and you wasted it. You'll have let me down but most of all you'll have let yourselves down. Don't even speak to me on the street... If you don't get an A I don't want to here from you" *smiles pretending he was joking*

Business: the leaving cert is a game. You just have to play it! A's are got through game plan tactics. If you don't want to listen to my A1 teaching style, don't bother coming in.

English: It's such a shame when the teacher cares more about a student's success than they do them self. What a waste of my time!"

History: I know some guidance counselors like to say "Oh it's OK if you don't do well there are other paths grades don't really matter." LIES! *BANGS DESK* Grades matter to me and they matter to you. They bloody well matter when your future doesn't turn out as planned because you had a bad Leaving cert.

That is but a sample of the mentality at my school. So inspirational right?

onethreefive

Sucette! wrote: »

As previous posters have said, i've learned who my true friends are over the past year, and not to care in the slightest what John/Mary across the way thinks of me or my friends. Im accepted by my friends for being who I am, there's no reason to change yourself for anybody.

The Leaving Cert has been an eye opener, a glimpse (indirectly) into the real world, you have responsibilites and learn that there's more to an education that just English, Irish, Maths etc.

I completely agree about not caring about others opinions anymore. At the start of 6th year I was still in the mindset of keeping up with the Jones' and was a lot more careful in what I said and did around people however as the year progressed I became less and less bothered about what Mary and Joe might think.

chatterboxxx95

Like most people said, I honestly think I put up with a lot less crap these days... I think I appreciate my friends more than ever before, we've all been there for eachother (I'd like to think)
I also have gained about 5 pounds :pac:
I've also learned to enjoy what I love doing, when your leisure time is limited you appreciate the little things more
I've learned that going more than 2 days without listening to music makes me a very sad person (weird, I know)
Really the leaving cert is a means to an end, its to obtain a key to where you want to go. Sure, it's great to do really well, but who's going to give a ****e in 5 years time how many points you got in your leaving, as long as you can use it to make a path to where you want to go. As a competitive person academically, I used to always feel the need to do better than other people. If there's anything I learned this year is one of the most heartbreaking things can be watching friends struggle to do their best to get points they need, while all you can do is encourage and help. If I could I would rather see my friends get what they want and just get the grades I need for points, rather than competing for numerical value of 6 years of secondary education , from 0-625.

As our irish teacher said "Best of luck with life, and what I want for you all is to be happy. And your A's and B's by themselves won't bring you that."

bb1234567

I definitely feel more like an actual person since I finished the leaving. I feel like doing the leaving was really the last shred of 'childhood' we had, i know we arent children but like thats the last we'll ever have of constantly being minded and told what to do, most of us are 18 years old...technically adults but I definitely didnt feel like an adult this year being told to study and teachers telling me what to do etc but now I feel like an actual adult since its all over.

It feels nice..and scary too..but exciting kind of scary

richardh330

Just wait for this summer... That will change you.

Nick_1494

I didn't really learn anything. I haven't put up with peoples ****e since about Ty when I did a Stalin and purged my friends of the ones I didn't like or who didn't really like me. I haven't gained or lost weight and I'm so used to writing my hand has actually had a break over the last two weeks!

The only thing I've gotten from this experience, like the poster above, was some good advice from a teacher. My history teacher told us that even if we all failed history, once were happy and doing something we want to do, then he's succeeded. And that whether happy is in trinity or FAS once were there who cares. He had his inspirational hat on that day...

Oh and I learned to hold pee in for 3 hours more then I should!

HelenAnn

aleatorio wrote: »

Everyone is saying they gained weight, and here's me after losing 1.5 stone from stress and literally forgetting to feed myself during all-day study marathons.. :pac:
Not healthy at all, 0/10 would not recommend.

Other than that I feel utterly unchanged

Same here, I keep forgetting to eat! And then I wonder why I'm feeling irritable and getting constant headaches! I seem to completely lose my appetite when I'm under stress! Which is very unusual for me because I love food ...

I'm starting to feel pretty sad about leaving school ... I've a feeling life will never be quite so simple and carefree again (not counting the past few months of course!) ... but at the same time I'm excited about moving on and having the chance to re-invent myself a little!

What has the Leaving Cert thought me?
I've learned I'm a lot stronger than I thought! I think this year has been so testing for me in a lot of ways and I've gotten somewhat better at dealing with stress and disappointments in general. I feel that even if my results aren't as good I was naievly hoping for at the start of the year, I'll be able to deal with it.

xLisaBx

What has the leaving cert taught me? That I'm stronger than I give myself credit for.
How have I changed? I've put on weight- gone up a dress size. But this has allowed me to become a more balanced individual and showed me that a little extra weight is but a superficial factor. I'm no longer vein and I eat without guilt and problems (something I've stuggled with for a while).
It's also taught me that I'm not intelligent whatsoever.

aleatorio

HelenAnn wrote: »

Same here, I keep forgetting to eat! And then I wonder why I'm feeling irritable and getting constant headaches! I seem to completely lose my appetite when I'm under stress! Which is very unusual for me because I love food ...

I was the same, it seems people become either compulsive eaters or lose the will to eat during the LC, no middle ground hahahaha