The Times, They Are A Changin’

Today was quite possibly one of the most productive days of my Christmas holidays when it comes to the Leaving Cert. Oh yes, there were sweat, blood and tears and I didn’t open a single book, copy or folder. I did it,  I took the plunge and hauled my ass over to the CAO website to sort it out, once and for all. Well, figuratively speaking at least… Might as well bookmark the “Change of Mind” facility now.

You know it’s funny. I’d gone to pretty much all of the Open Days. I’d dragged my mates around the different stands, to the boring information lectures to the point where it was much better to split up, letting them check out the university “talent” while I checked out courses. “Pfffft,” they said, “loads of time.” So today it paid off: I got out all my prospectuseseses (prospecti??), happy that I had some grasp of what I want to do. Okay, Medicine down the five slots there… Then lost. I mean, I know that you need to have a back up, a back-up for your back-up and so on. I put down back-ups. I mean, I know now that I want to do Medicine and there’s really no other course that I’m interested in, especially after thinking it over the past few weeks, even months. It’s deciding where you might end up going  if things don’t go as planned,the complete uncertainty that’s so unnerving. They say change is good, but one that ties you down somewhere for 4 years? Yipes. Must be the Mother Theresa of the World of Change.I guess it’s good motivation to really knuckle down and get what you want to get.

I wasn’t even going to do the CAO for another few weeks until someone warned me about the Dublin HPAT test centre and the possibility of it filling up and then having to go to Galway or Cork. That would be one hell of a day. For anyone in a centre outside of Dublin in the event that Dublin does fill up… I think that you’ll be able to tell which candidates they are. The twitching ones that will cry tense tears of exhaustion as the time to put down the pencil draws ever closer. Then I saw myself in the situation. Not a chance I’d cope, I’m bad enough in exam situations without being sleep-deprived even further with travel time. Hence the CAO panic and now I have my number and HPAT registration all done and dusted. Figuratively speaking.

So what did I put down as my back-ups in the end? Human Health and Disease, Science, Physio and Occupational Therapy, roughly in that order and it’ll probably change after this post. After all that I nearly wish I really did go check out the talent because really I’m no more concrete on my “definitely maybes” than I was six months ago. Yet as 2010 draws closer and closer I can’t help but think where, in little over six months time, my CAO application will lead me and for my friends, their’s. I think today is the first day, the first big wake-up call I’ve had, of life beyond the Leaving and life beyond school.

30th December 2009 folks. A day for change.. now the 31st? Let’s hope it’s a positive change for study! 😉

Mister X.