The Amazing Balancing Act

When I was 15 I did a 3-week circus stint in which I learned basic juggling and acrobatics. I was useless at the acrobatics; having little to no upper body strength and lots of lower body weight isn’t the ideal combination for twirling through the air. Juggling and physical theatre on the other hand, I loved. I loved the way one of the workshop leaders could hold a suitcase stationary in the air and move around it as if it was stuck and wouldn’t budge from its fixed position in the air. I loved the way he could hold several objects stacked upon one another on his hand. For a year or two I had my mind made up to join the circus (I still get regular updates on auditions from Cirque du Soleil…) until somebody convinced me it was childish and unrealistic and I should focus on becoming whatever my next dream job was.

Well it’s three years later and in some perverse way my dream has come true. Two days before the Leaving Cert starts I find myself desperately trying to Juggle English, Irish and Maths study, and all the while other subjects are suddenly thrown in or taken out of this bizarre balancing act I have going on. At the moment it’s going alright. With lots of concentration I can keep going, but I know that if I get cocky, even for a moment, that I’ll drop a ball and the whole act will come tumbling down around me. Unlike Hollie from Britain’s Got Talent, I can’t just play the cute card and start all over again.

Over on the boards.ie Leaving Cert Forum a poster mentioned that they thought a blog might come up for paper 1. I only write this because I’ve half convinced myself it’s paper 1 study, but I confess I’m not exaclty writing this with PCLM in mind. Honestly, if a marker were to correct this, it would probably be hovering around the low to mid C range. That said, maybe this would sound a bit contrived if it were written according to Leaving Cert guidelines.

Another topic that seems pretty popular over on the LC forum is the weather. From Friday afternoon to earlier this evening I have done all my study outside basking in the sun’s glorious rays. Like every Irish person, I too snapped to attention and thought “Sun? SUN??? Better get outside!”. Three days and two burnt shoulders later, I have much less to show for it than if it had been a suitably Irish summer outside.

You might remember the horrible nightmare I wrote about during the orals. The one in which I went into the French exam and instead of my Document, had folders of pictures of me as a tubby little child. Well on Saturday night I had a dream to top even that; I dreamed I slept through English papers 1 and 2 and had a huge panic attack when I realised. Unfortunately the old cliché “then I woke up and it was all a dream” saved me once again. I really don’t see why examiners dislike us using that line, it really is the perfect ending. Unfortunately I’m told that Leaving Cert dreams are recurring and will happen every so often well into adulthood.

My next post will probably be about English paper 1, let’s hope it’s an “I don’t think this went too badly!” post as opposed to “oh got I wrote a discursive essay when I was meant to write a short story!”

Good luck to everyone else doing their Leaving Certs, I hope we all get fair papers!