S.C
Why is it so expensive to drive? and why is there so much effort involved? i wish it was just as simple as doing the theory test and then being able to buy a cheap car and go wherever i want, but no, insursance and tax has to be paid and a car itself is just so expensive. All i want is to be able to drive myself and not have to depend on other people to bring me places. life would be so much easier. I could go anywhere, anytime, whenever i want. It depresses me when i see in films, a group of teenagers going on roadtrips in the summer and all i can do is sit in the tree park all day doing nothing. basically all im saying is i want a car... really badly.
S.C
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ySummer tests are a form of torture, they generally are such a waste. The amount of pressure and stress we are put under to try get the highest grade we can is ridiculous. I wish teachers could realise that we're not robots.. We can't just eat paper and memorise all this information! Learning off and pages upon pages should not be what educations about because that is defiantly not for everyone. I know our parents and teachers might kill us, but at the end of the day they're tests we can't let a piece of paper with a grade on it define who we are or how intelligent we are and it certainly should not upset any one of us. No one is going to care about fifth year summer tests in a couple of years time well actually , they'll probably be forgotten about by the time we come back next year. I'm all for getting an education and everything but learning off pages of all this pointless information isn't for all of us!! It's too close to summer at this stage to even try and be serious about tests.... It's hard to believe that we will be sitting the leaving cert in fourteen months time. We already have to start making decisions about what courses we want to do and what collage to go to, that one decision will determine what future or job we will have. Everyone is constantly asking me what I want to do with my life, but really, im not 100% sure yet.. School days just fly by without us even realising, I dont remember one day from first year or second year, to be honest i dont even remember the first day of fifth year. I got so much done this year, from going on holidays, to celebrating birthdays and Christmas with friends and family, thinking back on it all makes it sound like the year went on forever, but yet it flew. Last year I was saying ''ah I'l have plenty of time to figure out what i want to do, the leaving cert is 2 years away.'' It seems like that was only yesterday, and now I'm going into 6th year in four months and I dont know what the hell happened. I feel like i havent caught up with time yet and I'm just not able to make all these 'right decisions' and choices. There does come a time where things will have to change, anything could get thrown at us in the future and we all want to know what it is, but I guess its something we have to work towards and hope for the best because there are always better and great things ahead of us. It's funny how half of the girls we hang with in school now, were not the ones we were friends with in first or second year, things changed and we met new people. Even some of the teachers I have now are more likable, and are the ones I hated with a passion in 3rd year. When we go to collage, change will play its role again, we'l meet new people, and the majority of the time most of our friends from secondary school will begin to drift away, and will become a memory. Over all my view is that time and change play a huge part in our lives, and we should be prepared to what hits us in the future, think positive and try make the most of everyday. J.M What a philosophical topic to write about, I know. Why did I decide to write about this? Well..
Yesterday evening, as I arrived home after a long day of 6th year, I was forced to put on my wellies as we had to go hunt cattle. Now this is a simple everyday task in our house. It consisted of my older brother, my father and I directing this herd of cattle out of the field. Everything was going fine, the cattle were all cooperating, heading towards the gate, until that one brazing cow decides to mix things up a little and sprint off the wrong way. I kept my distance and watched that cow, as if it was happening in slow motion. I saw how it casually detached from the herd, running back down the field with the wind in it's fur, my brother galloping along beside it, my father 'effing and blinding' at all three of us. And I stood there and asked 'why'. Why did this one flipping cow decide to be a rebel. Was it because I needed an insight into how unfit I was, seeing that I couldn't run after the cow without puncturing a lung? Was it that I needed to realise that there is, in fact, a scenario more stressful than the Leaving Cert? Did that happen for a reason? That incident was of course very minor to the things that are happening in the world today. We could dig very deep and ask why do people get diagnosed with cancer? Why do people drink and drive and kill innocent victims on our roads? Do these things happen for a reason? The statement ' All things happen for a reason' can be abused in our society. While some people believe that God has these things planned out for us, others are inclined to say it to smooth over bad decision making. 'I know I failed my exam and didn't get enough points for my course but, sure hey, everything happens for a reason'. Yes that did happen for a reason- you spent too long scrolling through twitter and having deep conversations with your dog instead of studying, that my friend is the reason. We tend to look for the deeper meaning to things when in fact, the real reason is obvious. We need to realise that sometimes terrible things happen, not because of God, or the universe, but because of our bad decision making. Then there is always the question 'what if'. Think about a big decision you made, and how it could have changed everything. 'What if I didn't do transition year?' Well then you wouldn't be in the same year as the amazing Anna Cuddihy. 'What if I didn't become an English teacher?' Well then you wouldn't have had the pleasure of having the amazing Anna Cuddihy as a student. ' What if I didn't eat my dinner before hunting them cattle?' Yes, I might have been able to make a better attempt at stopping that cow. So does everything happen for a reason? That is of your own personal opinion. I tend to make decisions and hope for the best. My mother doesn't totally agree with this way of living, but it has gotten me through six years of secondary school. Everything that has happened to us, shaped us. Besides, we started from the bottom now we' here *Drake voice A. Cudds Yet another week has passed me by, and the Leaving Cert is coming full pace at this stage. Hours and minutes seem to be passing by faster than ever before. I'm pretty sure we started sixth year last month, no? That dreaded two hours of study from four to six last all of five minutes nowadays. Time is literally passing before my eyes, and I can't slow it down. The countdown is really, and truly, underway, not only to our Graduation and the 4th of June, but to the time when I really need to grow up!
This week the CAO has opened up again. For those who didn't have, nor won't have, the need to open up your application and change things around, I envy you. You should all consider yourselves very fortunate. As for the indecisive people like myself, I feel your pain. I am incapable of ordering food at a restaurant without changing my mind ten times, so as you can imagine, the CAO is causing me a lot of hardship! Quite a few people have said it isn't that much of a big deal; but is that really the truth? In my opinion, it is probably the single most important decision I have had to make s far in my eighteen years. And it is certainly not an easy one! To me, CAO means college. Leaving school, leaving some friends, and moving away from home. Come September, most of us will no longer have the shelter of the post primary school environment. We won't have teachers reminding us when essays are due, or about upcoming tests. It will be time to stand, one hundred percent, on your own two feet. Is this a good thing? Or a bad thing? Personally, I find it a little bit daunting, but on the other hand, it's very exciting. A new pace, new faces, and a new experience overall. Of course it will be ever so slightly scary at first, like everything, but it can only get better! If I am being completely honest, the thing that worries me most is my disastrous culinary skills, meaning I have the ability to burn water! That takes real talent. As our last few weeks approach, it is becoming evident that things are slowly changing. There comes a time when things have to change, no doubt. This is the time it has to happen for us. Are we ready? In some ways, possibly. In others, maybe not. Who knows what will be thrown at us in the future, but I think no matter what it is, we are all prepared, in our own way, to get through it. Focus on building the new, not on fighting the old. "Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you re, for what you could become." A.M For many people Wednesday last week the 30th of april signified and end to april, the start of summer and the end to the excuses of not studying because the leaving cert was ‘ages away’ but for just a small few Wednesday april 30th was the most significant movie anniversary of the year: the mean girls 10th anniversary (and remember it was a Wednesday and ‘on Wednesdays we wear pink’) Now some of you might be unaware of the culturally significant movie phenomenon that is mean girls and if so ‘you can’t sit with us’(unless of course you are willing to convert to a mean girls fanatic like the rest of the civilised world) Now mean girls centres around a 16 year old Cady Heron who has been private schooled all her life by her parents in Africa but is then enroled in public school for the first time. There she struggles to understand the complicated world of people her age and fit in to a social group. She soon meets Janis Ian and Damien ‘who is too gay to function’ and they quickly become friends but they warn Cady to stay away from the exclusive socialite group ‘the plastics’. Later Janis following her vendetta encourages Cady to infiltrate the plastics and take down the Queen Bee Regina George and her pair of loyal ditzy henchmen Karen Smith and Gretchen Wieners. The plot of mean girls is ‘so fetch’ but it is the moral life lessons and quotable dialogue that makes this film better than even Glen Coco. ‘So how do I begin to explain mean girls? Mean girls is flawless, I hear its insured for $10,000, I hear it sponsors car commercials in Japan and one time it hit me in the face.....it was awesome’. Mean girls also taught us a lot of life lessons like how you shouldn’t ask people why they are white, not dating your friend’s ex-boyfriend is like a law of feminism and that even if everybody hates you, you are failing all your exams and you are personally victimised by Regina George you can still become Prom Queen if you push someone everyone hates even more in front of a bus. Mean girls also taught us important lessons about school like how ‘Brutus was just as pretty and smart as Caesar and we should totally just stab Caesar’ and ‘if the limit never approaches anything then the limit does not exist’. I think the reason I have watched mean girls like 5 times this week isn’t just because I am avoiding studying ( except for English of course) I think it is because soon we ‘won’t even go here’ and ,as the last days approach us and we become increasingly....well lets just say frustrated with one another, it is important to not let this comically exaggerated masterpiece of what teenage girls are really like come true. We should let each other wear hoopy earrings even if it is our thing because it is a pretty ‘grool’ thing to do and ‘I think my father the inventor of toaster strudel would be happy to hear about it’. N.L Summer is my favourite time of year. It is the warmest out of all the seasons. The days are longer during this time of year. It stays bright right into the night. Summer is a time to relax and be free, to have that break from school and have as little worries as possible. It is also a time to spend with family and friends and to do what you enjoy doing. If it is going to a foreign country or just staying in Ireland, there is no better feeling, to not have to get up for school and put on that uniform. I think everyone is in a better mood when summer comes, I know I am.
People will spend more time outdoors during summer with the amount of activities you have the opportunity to do. Not many people are stuck in watching television or on their phones 24/7, they are out making the most time of their time. Eating ice-cream everyday, or going to the b each to get that tan everybody wants, to seeing a smile on people faces because they are enjoying themselves makes summer. For me summer is eating as much ice cream as I can, doing new different things, adventures and exploring life, having the best time I can have with friends, relaxing and seeing my family stress free. If we don't get good weather then summer won't go as planned. C.H In my opinion student's are under so much pressure even if you realise it or not. Between being social with friends, getting good grades, doing exercise and having your own personal time to me there isn't enough hours in the day for everything.
We do 7 hours of school five days a week but no that not enough because we have about 3 hours of homework and study to be doing each night and sometime more on the weekend. In 3rd year I personally loved coming to school and I would look forward to it most days but now in fifth year it is completely different. They try to get all the information into you and expect you to know it all even do we have six other subjects to worry about as well. Parents have this idea of the 'perfect' teenager between getting 'straight A's' or the highest point possible in their mind while still they want us to be healthy. I know as a teenage that is very difficult to do because the stress just eats at you between mood swings and lack of sleep. Personally speaking everyone says school days are the best day of your life but to me they are not. S.K So we’ve reached this point, a crucial time whereby it’s so close to this tiny miniscule
exam in June which is so minor but for some reason plays this great importance in our lives. We now feel compelled to study and a break away from the books results in guilt, the enjoyment of the classic RTE mid-week movie has now morphed into an early night of sleep just so we can survive a further two days in school. Let’s think back to a few months ago or possibly a few years for those who LOVE to study, to the days when pressure to study was non-existent. I know it’s hard; did a time like that honestly exist? Well yes it did, remember when we were only required to do our homework and study for the ‘occasional’ test, we were all addicted to Home and Away as our evening lives revolved around half past six from Monday to Friday, yes indeed, that was great, life never seemed so easy. The problem with this lack of work resulted in extreme procrastination and panic when summer tests arose. My younger brother, 14 and a second year fits this category exactly. He won’t study because it bores him and he feels he shouldn’t subject himself to this lack of ‘fun’. Yes, Richard life as a second year is so challenging, where are the violins? I being my positive and school loving/promoting self soon started to preach him on the beauty of learning and how nothing in life is boring, and then I came across an article which proved my point exactly. The article describes the events of a boring festival. Yes you heard me correctly. This event ran consecutively for three years in London and surprisingly proved quiet popular. So you may ask what actually happened at this event, well sit firmly on your seats because this might just blow your mind. A wide range of topics were discussed from toast to letter boxes, the features of a keyboard to shop fronts and last but not least yellow lines. I know I nearly fell off my chair just there too. If this wasn’t thrilling enough, to conclude the festival the shipping forecast was read. Just when you think things can’t get anymore exciting! Of course refreshments were provided to excite and water all food palates. A range of dishes were on offer including cucumber chunks on sticks, piles of white sliced bread, dry crackers, undressed iceberg lettuce and to wash all that down label free bottles filled with tap water. Wow! I see a Michelin star on the way. So although I totally exaggerated my excitement within the last two paragraphs, I want to stress the point that even though toast and letter boxes may seem normal and boring, dull things really can shine. The letter box in fact has proven in the past to be a symbol of unification, identity and independence, Ireland being a prime example, when we gained independence in 1921 the first thing we did was paint our letter boxes green. Thus proving there is a unique and interesting story to everything, we should forget about glossing over the normal things and actually explore the normal things for without them where would we be today? So, moral of this blog post well firstly to my brother you should study more and secondly, we’ve come so far in our study and learned about ordinary and extraordinary things which we have spent hours learning and I have no doubt that these efforts will not go to waste in June. S.A.M |
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