Stuck in the Middle

 

My parents always tell me that your younger years are the best years of your life and maybe that's true if you're 8 years old and carefree.  Lately, I've been doing some deep thinking and I've realised that I am living through one of the most awkward and difficult times of my life which is late teens to early twenties.  When you reach this stage of your life, you are no longer a carefree child when everything is just handed to you but you are not yet a fully independent adult who can do everything for themselves.  You are smack bang in the middle!  You are expected to take on more responsibility and become more mature.  You need to learn to start doing things for yourself but you don't always have the means to do that.

 

For example:  I am an 18 year old Irish citizen.  I'm allowed to vote in elections, I can drive a car, I can drink alcohol and I can get paid minimum wage.  That's considered adult stuff, right?  That's because I'm considered an adult in the eyes of the state but I'm also a full time student.  I still need my parents to sign consent forms, I can't go to the bathroom without a teachers permission and I can't even study in a classroom without being supervised.  It's not like I'm going to set the place on fire!  If I'm considered an adult in society why am I treated like a baby in school?

 

Sticking with the topic of school, I'm currently facing a huge exam (The Leaving Cert).  At this moment in time the Leaving Cert is the be all and end all of my life and will determine my future (or so I'm told).  So, I spent my Easter holidays, not enjoying chocolate eggs, but stressing about the mountain of study I have to do, to ensure I get good results which will in turn allow me to go to college.  Just like with the Junior Cert, this exam will never be mentioned again once college begins but for now teachers are telling us it will be the end of your life if you fail.  Thank you, teachers, for easing the pressure!

 

As well as stressing about exams, we also have to choose our college courses and the college we would like to study in.  This is what really gets to me!  I'm sitting in class looking at my teacher like:

"Okay, you want me to choose the career that I'll be doing for the rest of my life and yet I can't go to the bathroom without asking you first?"

Honestly, teachers expect you to act like an adult by treating you like a child.

So those are just a few things that really push my buttons and why this is one of the most awkward and difficult times of my life and why I feel like I am really stuck in the middle.

PS. What's up with cinemas?  They offer children's tickets, adult's tickets, family tickets and student tickets but for college students only.  Last time I checked a secondary school student still counted as a student.  Instead I have to pay for an adult ticket because I'm too old to be a child and not quite old enough to be a student.  But of course I'm old enough to be an adult and pay the most for my ticket because secondary students all have jobs and can well afford it. (Sarcasm).

I promise my rant is over now.  Until next time I'll see ya when I see ya!

Blue-eyed Brunette.



Oral Exams are over!?

Yes, yes the Leaving Cert orals are over! (Well, for me anyway.)  I cannot even explain how relieved I am right now.  They are just one more obstacle out of the way.  I never have to speak a word of Irish or French ever again.  Saying that, is it odd that I'm slightly sad about all this?  I am definitely not sad that the orals are over but about the fact that I have no more opportunities to speak these languages in the near future.

On the run up to the exams I absolutely hated both languages and was so looking forward to seeing the back of them but now that they are over I appreciate them more.  To be honest it would be great if we had more opportunities to speak Irish.  It is our native language after all and it's what makes our country unique.  When I was in the middle of doing my oral exam with the examiner in front of me, I realised how much I actually love speaking other languages.  Now I'm a bit upset that it's over.  I suppose I could always go to France to speak French and maybe move to the Gaeltacht to speak Irish. (Not likely.)

Apart from wanting to speak all these languages, my head feels like it is about to explode because my thoughts are all jumbled together in a mixture of English, Irish and French and I don't know how long that will last.  If I had to go into another oral exam today it would probably go a little like this:

Examiner: "An raibh tú riamh sa Ghaeltacht?" ( Were you ever in the Ghaeltacht?)

Me: "Non Madame, ní raibh mé riabh sa Ghaeltacht.  Je préfére rester sa bhaile." 

(No Madame (French) I was never in the Ghaeltacht (Irish).  I prefer to stay (French) at home (Irish).)

Examiner: "?????" 

Well, those are my problems but I hope everyone else does well in all their languages.  We're on the home stretch now. (42 days until the Leaving Cert). I am literally crying inside right now.  I'll se ya when I see ya!

Blue-eyed Brunette.

My Favourite Music

 I am a huge music lover, music is my life!  Though I don't play an instrument I have still used my mother's saucepans as drums and tissue boxes as guitars.  I sing my heart out even when nobody wants to hear it and I am constantly listening to music on the radio or on my CDs.  (Yes people still listen to CDs.)  I thought in this blog post I would share my favourite musical artists with you and tell you why I love them so much! 

1) Ed Sheeran

Of course I have to mention this legend!  He will go down in history as a great talent and if he doesn't, then something has gone seriously wrong with the world.  I have lost count of the amount of times I have listened to X and everything he does just makes me love him even more.

2) Sam Smith

That one singer who will always bring you to tears.  His voice is so full of raw emotion that you feel everything he feels.  It's incredible!  Don't worry Sam, I will stay with you!

3) Ellie Goulding

I have to admit that I wasn't always a huge fan of Ellie Goulding.  To me, she was just one of those singers who was played on the radio and I didn't pay much attention to her.  That all changed when I went to see her in Dublin with my friends.  The energy and the atmosphere was electric.  She really knows how to work the stage.  I have become obsessed with Ellie Goulding since that concert.  All her songs are amazing!  And her voice is incredible!

4) Hozier

When I think of how much success Hozier has had in such a short space of time, it makes me so proud to be Irish.  He has such a unique voice that gives me goose bumps.  He is also the most genuine person and comes across as so polite and humble during interviews, you can't help but love him.  He definitely makes Ireland proud!

5) Kodaline

More Irish people!  They're just four lads from Dublin who know how to make good music.  High Hopes is definitely their most popular song and the cause of their rise to fame.  It almost brings me to tears when I listen to it.  I am just in love with this band and I will never tire of them.

6) Bastille

Where do I even begin?  When I first bought their album 'Bad Blood' I only knew a few of their songs.  They were very different to what I usually listened to so I was a bit sceptical but I needn't have been.  Each song on the album was better than the last.  They are all so unique and almost haunting.  And by the way, if you have never heard their cover of 'O Holy Night' then you have not lived!  Just saying!  Now I'm just waiting for them to come to Ireland.  When I imagine a Bastille concert I just... I can't even explain how amazing it would be!



7) Imagine Dragons

Again, these guys were so different to what I usually listened to.  Radioactive was played so much on the radio that I had to find out who they were and then when I heard Demons I knew I had found something else to add to my list of musical obsessions.  Amazing!

So those are my favourite musical artists at the moment.  If I discover any more I'll let you know but until then I'll see ya when I see ya!

Blue-eyed Brunette.



Je suis in trouble for my French orals

The Irish orals have come to an end and that means French orals are only around the corner.  I was nervous enough for the Irish oral but French is a different story altogether!  I can at least make up some half decent Irish in my head but when it comes to French I have to learn everything off by heart and if I forget one word it messes the whole thing up.  It's at times like this when you really wish you were multilingual. (Why couldn't I have been born French?).  Not only am I terrible at speaking French but my head is still thinking in Irish which complicates the situation even more.

What I don't understand is why we're not taught how to speak French that will actually be useful in the future.  Take for example if I went on holiday to France and went to a nice restaurant, I wouldn't be able to tell the waiter what I want to eat! 

     'Sorry, I can't pronounce anything on the menu but I could tell you my life story instead if you'd like or maybe my opinion on gender equality?'.  (Life skills.)

Anyway, that's my rant over but it looks like I have a long week ahead. ;(  Best of luck to everyone doing oral exams.

Blue-eyed Brunette.

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my blog! I am currently facing the dreaded Leaving Cert and I know this is probably an awkward time to start a blog with exams just weeks away but it is something I've wanted to do for ages.  I feel like writing this blog will be a good stress reliever and maybe it will be a help to you, if you are in the same boat.  I thought it might be interesting to blog about my life and other random things since I am going through a period of immense change.  I will be leaving school forever, moving out and starting college, all of which is overwhelming, exciting and scary.  If you are going through similar changes in your life you might be able to relate or maybe you'll just read it for fun.  Whatever the reason, enjoy!

 

Blue-eyed Brunette.



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