The Sound of Settling

The theme of the week seems to be the simple realisation that ultimately the leaving cert is just an exam. Of course it’s easy to see why many view the leaving cert as the be all and end all of life “It’s the most important exam/thing you will ever do in your life” cue ominous tones of doom. It will spell the beginning for a lot of (hopefully) good things for us, and it does bring to an end some eighteen years of routine, but in reality it’s a series of papers we’ll sit with the hope of doing well enough to start the next theoretical chapter in our lives.

In ten days (yes, ten days) we will each trek into our respective ‘examination centers’, pick up a pen, and do the bloody thing. We studied for it for years, we each have a litany of books telling us not only what to study but how to study it, and the time has come to quit talking about it and just get it over and done with. Unfortunately, it seems to have become most of our lives this past year which is fairly sad to be honest. I’m not exactly a dedicated student, but even I can’t wait to reclaim life as it should be (roll on June 17th). It’s all over in 24 short days…

Having graduated, I seemed to have reclaimed at least some of the perspective I lost over the last few months. Digesting scores of negative, melodramatic crap fed to me by under-achieving teachers is fairly detrimental to any sense of well being or confidence. Not having to deal with that everyday is definitely a plus. Graduation itself was beyond hilarious, the mass/ceremony consisted of numerous inept attempts at oratory (I could quote but it may induce nausea) luckily the night itself gave me reason to look forward to the over-priced fiasco known as a debs/grad ball.

As for study itself, I’m with Marie on the study budget. I’ve already disposed of half of my notes and books…even if I started reading right now I couldn’t possibly even glance at every note before the third, and the relatively small pile of potential work beside me looks pleasantly manageable. I still have to figure out what the dickens Irish paper two is trying to tell me, and the comparative is still just a list of terms and references, but subjects such as biology and business are looking reassuringly familiar. For those who are lost in the somewhat broad biology course, forget about trying to learn it all unit by unit, memorize ecology and genetic theory and you should be a-okay. Well, C3 okay at least.

“Will I have learned so very little
When these bones are old and brittle?
I wait to talk when I should listen
And cloud mistakes with false revisions.”

The wise words of one Ben Gibbard. Perhaps I should take The Open Door EP off repeat.