November Leaving Cert Diary
Last year missy.ie writer, Sophie Coffey, kept us up to date in the run up to her Leaving Cert exams with her Leaving Cert Diary series…we all know how that turned out now.
This year another missy.ie writer, Sorcha Kennedy, will be documenting her experience in 6th Year. With a lot still going on due to the pandemic and uncertainty over the 2021 exams, it will definitely be an interesting one to follow every month.
November has definitely been the most hectic, chaotic and stressful month of leaving cert so far, and I don’t think it can get much worse than this (or so I hope).
Being in sixth year during a pandemic has brought its own set of difficulties, for example like many of other schools mine decided to do continuous assessment instead of Christmas exams. Not having big exams in December sounds good in theory, but I’ve had an average of 6 tests a week along with an abundance of homework every day. This means by study plan has been turned upside down and I barely have time to think about anything that isn’t calculus or comparative essays.
I’ve definitely had a few breakdowns, although I have been engaging in some well deserved online retail therapy to keep myself sane.
CAO Fun
On top of the new challenges the pandemic has introduced, I still have to deal with all the usually leaving cert issues, the main one being the CAO. It’s that time of the year when the CAO opens and you actually have to start contemplating your future.
In all honesty, I’ve been all over the place with my course choices for the last year or two. I wanted to do speech and language therapy, then Early Childhood Studies, I went through a phase of wanting to do Graphic Design, and then English was top of the list.
Now, my top choice is business, economics and social studies at Trinity College Dublin (which was a terrifying 543 points last year) with the rest of my application being made up of various Business or Economics courses.
That being said, Trinity is the dream (and I may or may not have included it three times). I’ve also put some consideration into taking a gap year next year if the world is still dealing with this chaotic situation.
Going to college online is definitely not appealing and I would much rather spend the year doing something else, especially if I end up studying in a different county or abroad.
The Holidays Are In Sight
Christmas is a bring light that I can see in the distance. Unfortunately, my school’s usual festivities have been cancelled, but we are making do with a mass over the intercom and a Christmas classroom decoration competition. Our sixth year council has also started planning our debs! The mocks are a looming presence, but honestly, I’m just going to try and enjoy my Christmas break before I even begin to think about them!
Catch up on all of Sophie’s Exam Diaries from last year and Sorcha’s 2020/21 series.