Irish Independent/Times Exam Diaries (Should be ashamed!)

MatthewGrehan · 14-06-2008 1:49pm

Especially you Bluecam.

(but thanks for the correction)

cHaTbOx · 14-06-2008 1:55pm

MatthewGrehan wrote: »

I, in fact, hav read every single post in this thread. I did so because when i found out that my girlfriend was being badmouthed i wanted to defend her. There really is no need to though i guess, as i know that she would never join a herd and express insults at an innocent individual en masse online, or through any medium, and is hence a person of better character than any1 who has been jumping on this ignorant, hate-bandwagon. I would ask that ppl please refrain from personal insults at some1 who really doesn't deserve them, just because they are different than you.

Did you read all my posts,if you did do you see the point in what i am trying to say .(Im not going to go through it becuase you have read them).
There is no doubt your girlfriend will get the points ,but it is the manner in which she is writing about the leaving cert.If you read those diaries with the frame of mind that you are going through a tough leaving cert and someone just happened to go watch SATC until two in the morning before a big exam,it makes what some of us are going through at the moment seem like a big walk in the park, which it isn't and you must know that being an engineer.

BlueCam · 14-06-2008 1:57pm

MatthewGrehan wrote: »

Hey man i don't know if thats sarcasm or not, but i was never trying to sound above any1. I went to a public school myself, and i'm going into work in tesco now at 2, so i am on no way trying to sound superior. I just think that ppl need to lay off laura just because they don't like where she goes to school or how she spends her time. Also a strong (and my final) point i'd like to make, is that laura wrote a lot for the times and the edited it as they pleased. She is mostly upset because she feels every1 hates her, when in fact every1 is discussing the person they wanted to portray. They felt there was sufficient demand and interest for it. Laura is an amazing person, has no real-life enemies, and is the love of my life. I have to go to work now, if any1 has any further problems, feel free to address them to me at the customer service desk in tesco maynooth, i'll be there till 11 tonight.

I think the idea that they edited it to their pleasing to create almost a caricature of her is BS. Just look at the girl they had last year; she was looking for medicine, like Laura, but she managed to stick to talking about the exams. Laura hasn't. That's why people are pissed off. Simple really.

Toto Wolfcastle · 14-06-2008 1:58pm

mac-1405 wrote: »

She was asked to write HER views on the Leaving Cert

Nail. Head.

So she was asked to write her shoes on the Leaving Cert. Based on her pieces I guess her views on the Leaving Cert are as follows:

1. Shoes for nearly 600 euro are a bargain.
2. Peig should be kept out of Brown Thomas.
3. Dante the snake shed his skin without an epidural.

And so on.

jennyq · 14-06-2008 2:08pm

If what you're saying is true & they edited her columns badly it would be interesting to see an unedited one. Not saying she should have to post one to defend herself or anything, but it's pretty disgraceful if the Times have really distorted her writing that much. If they've genuinely portrayed her unfairly then she shouldn't have to accept it, otherwise it's difficult to avoid with a public newspaper column. If you look at op-ed columns on any newspaper online there's almost always strongly-worded disagreeing comments. Admittedly it's probably different for a professional journalist but still, people will inevitably discuss opinions on something in a national newspaper.

Rosstafarian · 14-06-2008 2:24pm

Aha, Laura's Boyfriend. I was wondering why this person was defending her to the bitter end.
The way I see it, the people writing to this thread have nothing to apologise for. She has put herself into the public eye by choice and is supposed to be the representative for the leaving cert student. But instead she writes as if the leaving is just tiny part of her oh-so-exciting, €600 shoe-purchasing, going to the Champs-Elysees for her mid-term lifestyle. If she chooses to parade her personal life in a national newspaper than she deserves all the slating she gets because sensible people are, quite frankly, sickened by her behaviour. This is proved by the existence of this extremely long thread and also by letters of complaint in The Irish Times.

So yeah, Laura's Boyfriend, we are the ones who are wrong. We should take a long hard look at ourselves.

p.s. I'm sure her article was just a joy to read before the Irish Times edited it.:rolleyes:

The Walsho · 14-06-2008 2:27pm

I sympathise with Matthew and Laura, as it must be pretty hurtful for her to read some of the comments on here. As much as I don't like her articles, I think it's a bit harsh to wish that she doesn't get the points.
However, Matthew, we are judging Laura solely on her articles (no matter how much they have been edited), as that is all we see of her. You say she is "an amazing person, has no real-life enemies, and is the love of my life." - those are lovely sentiments and all, but we're not going to know of her personal qualities are we? And should we? No.
While I believe your girlfriend is lovely and all, the persona she portrays in her Times articles is pretty revolting, and infuriated the nation's youth, and understandably so. The job she was given is a functional job, and frankly she did not do that correctly. If Laura really did write like this for "a joke" (something I don't believe for a second) then that's even worse to be honest. The diarist job isn't something you go and take the piss with, simple as.
I notice you're really trying to play the "normal nice guy, just working in Tesco" card, which I can understand, but it's your girlfriend who seems snobby. You know her personally, meaning you don't see her this way. However, we're working our asses off, cramming late at night for these exams, and then reading your girlfriend tell us how she went off to watch Sex and the City before the exams, or purchased a $900 pair of shoes the morning before the exam. I think it's fair to say that well over 90% of the student population couldn't even dream of spending that amount on a pair of shoes on a whim, let alone the morning before a Leaving Cert exam. If she has the money and is confident for her exams, then fair enough, but to put this in her article was absolutely idiotic. Writing that kind of thing makes her vilification pretty inevitable.
The articles had so many complaints (not just on here, some in the paper I believe), and some people even stopped buying the paper because of them. That indicates that there is something terribly wrong with the way those articles are being written.
The argument that the Times created this persona for her is ludicrous. Come on, we're not that stupid, and neither are the Times folk (I hope).
We should lay off Laura because we don't know "where she goes to school or how she spends her time"? Ah now, that's a pretty poor argument. We were told she was going to the Institute, which is, again, an indication that her family are quite wealthy. I don't resent that, but naturally, some people are jealous, and they do. Regarding how she spends her time, well we know some things. We know she went to a film before her exams, and I think that alone turned people off her. Again, if she was confident enough to do this, then fine, but writing about it was only ever going to make her resented amongst the students reading it.
We're not attacking her because she's different, we're attacking her because she came across as extremely irritating, snobby, and full of herself. These kind of traits made others want her to fail. Perhaps through jealousy, perhaps simply for the lolz.

I didn't mean to attack you or Laura in this post, I just wanted to make it a bit clearer why she's gotten such a reaction.

BlueCam · 14-06-2008 2:31pm

Complaints on the letters page of yesterday's Times, under the headline ExamDiary hits a sore point.

Madam, – I am one of the 51,000 students currently sweating through the Leaving Cert exams. In previous years I have enjoyed reading a student’s Exam Diary in The Irish Times, but in the past few days I have grown increasingly frustrated with the diary of this year’s writer, Laura Brady.

Admittedly, her bravery in sitting the Leaving Cert for a third time arouses a certain admiration and there is no doubt she will wholly deserve her points. I wish, however, she would spare a thought for those of us undertaking these trying and testing examinations for the first time.

As you can imagine my satisfaction with my 12-page English paper was somewhat diminished on reading about the abundance of Laura’s 25-page submission. I had thought that in the Exam Diary I would find some sense of solidarity and consolation, but unfortunately Ms Brady seems all too keen to differentiate herself from her peers.

Maybe, in my panicked and stressful state, I am failing to pick up on the humour in her columns. However with little anecdotes such as “I felt like I had 200 points tucked under my pillow”, I suspect I’m not the only one to miss the joke. – Yours, etc, REBECCA CAHILL, Edmonstown, Ardee, Co Louth.

Madam, – While Laura Brady delights in trivialising the stress and pressure many Leaving Cert students are feeling at this time, maybe she should have approached the past week with more respect for the gravity of the state exams.

As a third-time candidate, striving for those all-important points to achieve her goal of studying medicine, Ms Brady shocks me with her devil-may-care attitude. Her references to her unbelievable self-assuredness (200 points are, apparently, already tucked under her pillow) combined with her love of Sex and the City and all things girly and light, make me wonder how dedicated she really is to pursuing this dream of saving lives and healing the sick. But that is personal and, therefore, none of my business. Nor is it any of my business that she sleeps in a baroque bed, or that she can afford to splurge close to €600 on shoes. Bring back Miroslawa Gorecka, or someone with her earnest nature and kind words.

Maybe Laura Brady is included in the Exam Times page to provide comic relief? If so, job well done. She has powerfully depicted the stereotype of a South Dublin princess. – Yours, etc, S. O’CARROLL, Tralee, Co Kerry.

Madam,- There’s a marked contrast between Laura Brady’s lifestyle and that of your columnist Kathryn Holmquist as depicted recently in your paper.

If Laura wants to continue having breakfast in posh places and paying €575 for one “divine” pair of shoes, she’d better consider a career outside newspapers, unless she has sights on your post and salary, Madam.

How did we survive in boarding school in the 1960s, when a treat during the exams was an HB choc ice, if the nuns opened the school shop? We had no newspaper articles and radio programmes with post-mortems on each day’s papers, and no Mammies about either. But we survived! – Yours, etc, SHEELAGH COYLE, Derryguile, Mountmellick, Co Laois.

lobsterstag · 14-06-2008 2:55pm

how can laura be shocked with the reaction she has gotten?!? declaring a pair of 500 euro shoes a bargain is obviolsy going to irk 99.9999999% of the population...just grow a pair and get on with it, most people are more dissapointed with the irish times for letting her write the column rather than personally attacking laura...seriosly loike, just build a bridge and loike get over it mon:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:

~nop~ · 14-06-2008 3:32pm

Can I just add that by her articles I feel she is giving a very bad name to the Institute. Not everyone there is like her at all! there are people whos families have loans out to send them there, and along with those hoping for medicine there are people struggling to just pass the lc. The institute gives a very good education and has some very hard workers, and frankly I am shocked and appalled by everything this girl represents. This money-driven life is not one that the times should be holding up in front of the youth of today.

cHaTbOx · 14-06-2008 3:34pm

~nop~ wrote: »

Can I just add that by her articles I feel she is giving a very bad name to the Institute. Not everyone there is like her at all! there are people whos families have loans out to send them there, and along with those hoping for medicine there are people struggling to just pass the lc. The institute gives a very good education and has some very hard workers, and frankly I am shocked and appalled by everything this girl represents. This money-driven life is not one that the times should be holding up in front of the youth of today.

Yes I agree and if she wants to redeem herself she should come onto this thread again and explain to us what she was thinking.

BarryDoodles · 14-06-2008 3:44pm

eoin2nc wrote: »

''I predict that I have between 480 and 500 points already' and is predicting an A1 in classics? I hope she fails, the cocky bitch

Also at the end it says she will be writing in the 'college life'' section of the Times in the Autumn, hopefully she has to be repeat again

She does classics and her name is Laura Brady? ? ?

blueepurple · 14-06-2008 3:46pm

In fairness the girl can write what she likes it's up to her, but if she ends up making enemies its pretty much her own fault.

I wouldnt like to be writing articles for a national newspaper straight after an exam, but again she put her own name forward and there are plenty of other people who would have done it instead.

Its just a bit frustrating for those of us who are going into these exams for the first time and dont come out of all of them thinking "it was so easy, thats another A1".

Especially when other leaving cert students need high points too. (or maybe thats just jealousy on my part....)

PrivateEye · 14-06-2008 3:55pm

1) She's not likely to be posting on boards.ie lads, in fairness.

2) The idea that "Ah it's not her fault, sure Madame Editor does a good job on it all..." is rubbish. If I was (god forbid :pac: ) somebody like Laura, and I picked the paper up the day after I'd written such a piece to see it had been edited to make me look like a pretentious yuppie snob....I'd probably stop writing for the Times there and then

3) The Times are to blame here more than the 'Southside Princess', who decided to give her the job. As they said of Steve Staunton, don't blame the gaffer- blame the man who threw him in the pool :rolleyes: That doesn't make her any less annoying, pretentious, yuppie-like, or egotistic- just that ideally she would have gotten a "Thanks, but ___________" letter from the Irish Times for the simple fact NOBODY who lives in modern Ireland can relate to this girl.

4) I'd still put a tenner on her being related to somebody over at the Times :rolleyes:

5) Fair play to everyone else who's been writing Exam Diaries, be it for the Independent or otherwise. I remember a guy on here who was writing one for the Echo down in Munster? Then there's the people on that leaving-cert.net blog (I hope I've got that right) and a few others too. I've enjoyed reading what normal students have made of the LC. It's big and scary when we have to walk in and do it, so it's nice to know you're not alone. Cheers. Can't help but feel they've been forgotten.

jennyq · 14-06-2008 4:47pm

PrivateEye wrote: »

1)
5) Fair play to everyone else who's been writing Exam Diaries, be it for the Independent or otherwise. I remember a guy on here who was writing one for the Echo down in Munster? Then there's the people on that leaving-cert.net blog (I hope I've got that right) and a few others too. I've enjoyed reading what normal students have made of the LC. It's big and scary when we have to walk in and do it, so it's nice to know you're not alone. Cheers. Can't help but feel they've been forgotten.

Yeah, personally the Independent one is interesting for me cos the guy writing it is doing most of my subjects, including physics & accounting which probably aren't gonna get much press otherwise. I was reassured I wasn't the only one too wrecked to do much study on Thursday after 2 & a half full days of exams

He generally used to say a bit about what his friends thought about a paper if he didn't do it himself too which is fair enough too. You don't want a diary that's giving a big in-depth analysis but at the same time the function is to get a reaction to the exams more than anything else about the person.

mac-1405 · 14-06-2008 5:07pm

Laura Brady is the girlfriend of my friend's brother and I just want to make you aware of a few things. Firstly Laura couldn't be a southside-princess because she is from Meath. Secondly (although I don't agree with it) she went to "Sex and The City" before English Paper 1 which is her strongest subject. Also the comment about the shoes being a bargain was most probably meant as a joke.
I understand why a lot of ppl are feeling angry because I am also doing the Leaving Cert for the first time but please don't mistake her confidence for arrogance and she didn't mean to try to belittle the pressure of the Leaving Cert but she has experienced this pressure before and so she is not as vulnerable to it.
Also for those of you who aren't aware she is a member of this forum as is her boyfriend so please keep that in mind when you consider saying things such as "i hope she doesn't get the points". i hope this will make less of you post hurtful things about her in the future.

Rosstafarian · 14-06-2008 5:34pm

mac-1405 wrote: »

Laura Brady is the girlfriend of my friend's brother and I just want to make you aware of a few things. Firstly Laura couldn't be a southside-princess because she is from Meath. Secondly (although I don't agree with it) she went to "Sex and The City" before English Paper 1 which is her strongest subject. Also the comment about the shoes being a bargain was most probably meant as a joke.
I understand why a lot of ppl are feeling angry because I am also doing the Leaving Cert for the first time but please don't mistake her confidence for arrogance and she didn't mean to try to belittle the pressure of the Leaving Cert but she has experienced this pressure before and so she is not as vulnerable to it.
Also for those of you who aren't aware she is a member of this forum as is her boyfriend so please keep that in mind when you consider saying things such as "i hope she doesn't get the points". i hope this will make less of you post hurtful things about her in the future.

That's all lovely, but what does it change exactly? The point of this thread is that Laura Brady, no matter what county she is from, is not a fair representative of the typical leaving cert student. Leaving out her personality completely this is still the case as she is doing it for the third time and is also, you could say, abusing the entire system by sitting it three times. A monkey could get the points for medicine by sitting the exam three years in a row.
Stop trying to play the "she was only joking" card because nobody buys it.
If I ever wished failure on her it is because it is tempting fate and just downright badness to claim that she had 200 points "tucked under her pillow" after 2 exams. How can you argue against that? Even if she is your brother's friend's girlfriend.

La0Fruitcake · 14-06-2008 5:42pm

Im sorry but i have no sympathy for her what so ever...:pac:

I mean the remarks she has made.....I would be ashamed to tell my best friend i bought shoes for that price or how wonderful im doing in my leaving never mind a national newspaper!!!!!

mac-1405 · 14-06-2008 5:51pm

I understand but Matthew (my friend's brother) was upset enough about what you said to come and defend her does that not show that what you're saying most be having an effect on her and if you don't have sympathy for her thats fine. Just try to stop insulting her is all I'm asking.

La0Fruitcake · 14-06-2008 5:56pm

I havnt insulted....simply said i have no sympathy.

mac-1405 · 14-06-2008 5:59pm

La0Fruitcake wrote: »

I havnt insulted....simply said i have no sympathy.

I wasn't speaking to you specifically just the ppl using this forum in general.

robck1 · 14-06-2008 6:00pm

Im just glad shes gone

Rosstafarian · 14-06-2008 6:03pm

I haven't insulted her either. I merely stated my opinion of her articles, and how she comes across in them.
The truth hurts....

La0Fruitcake · 14-06-2008 6:04pm

Ps. English is my best subject also yet I still got up at 6 to go over a few things. Just tought I would say that as I wouldnt have went to the cinema!!! madness..

Stevieo · 14-06-2008 6:11pm

mac-1405 wrote: »

I wasn't speaking to you specifically just the ppl using this forum in general.

YOU'RE using this forum, but that doesn't mean YOU'RE insulting her! May I let you know your rights, just like that of everybody using this forum. You have the right to an opinion, and you have the right to express your opinion (just as Laura did). This isn't a mass meeting place for people who are conspiring against Laura. It's a form of expression for A LOT of people who are pretty pissed off with her arrogance at a time that's pretty Goddamn stressful for them. I'm not saying it's right to insult her, but if you want to be any sort of public figure, then be prepared to accept at least SOME form of criticism.

mac-1405 · 14-06-2008 6:12pm

La0Fruitcake wrote: »

Ps. English is my best subject also yet I still got up at 6 to go over a few things. Just tought I would say that as I wouldnt have went to the cinema!!! madness..

Yeh but after sitting the Leaving Cert three times and doing brilliantly at English every time you could see why she might feel confident plus there is not much you can study for paper1 unless you learn off an essay which defeats the purpose of the whole paper.

cHaTbOx · 14-06-2008 6:15pm

Stevieo wrote: »

YOU'RE using this forum, but that doesn't mean YOU'RE insulting her! May I let you know your rights, just like that of everybody using this forum. You have the right to an opinion, and you have the right to express your opinion (just as Laura did). This isn't a mass meeting place for people who are conspiring against Laura. It's a form of expression for A LOT of people who are pretty pissed off with her arrogance at a time that's pretty Goddamn stressful for them. I'm not saying it's right to insult her, but if you want to be any sort of public figure, then be prepared to accept at least SOME form of criticism.

+1

And i have defended her agaisnt the torrent of abuse she has been getting.Go back 10 pages or so.It is not her it is her manner .
Don't you find it disheartening with someone painting the leaving cert as a walk in the park?

I do .I wish her well in life but unless she was taking the piss big time , I dont think she has the attitude cut out for being a doctor.

La0Fruitcake · 14-06-2008 6:17pm

Oh ok so if I do well in English it will be nothing to be proud of??

Ah well...at least it didnt take three times...

Oh and she will be "writing about her experiences of college life in The Irish Times in the autumn" ...haha she might want to change her name.

mac-1405 · 14-06-2008 6:27pm

Stevieo wrote: »

YOU'RE using this forum, but that doesn't mean YOU'RE insulting her! May I let you know your rights, just like that of everybody using this forum. You have the right to an opinion, and you have the right to express your opinion (just as Laura did). This isn't a mass meeting place for people who are conspiring against Laura. It's a form of expression for A LOT of people who are pretty pissed off with her arrogance at a time that's pretty Goddamn stressful for them. I'm not saying it's right to insult her, but if you want to be any sort of public figure, then be prepared to accept at least SOME form of criticism.

Look back and you'll see I asked that ppl wouldn't insult her I didn't tell them.

eoin2nc · 14-06-2008 6:31pm

If you cant take crictism dont write for a national newspaper

Irish Independent/Times Exam Diaries (Should be ashamed!)

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