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Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue
1 (March 1999)
Issue
2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue
7 (May 2000)
Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)
Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)
Categories
Sport: 1
2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2
3
Commentary: 1 2
3
Review: 1 2
3
Writing: 1 2
3
Event: 1 2
3
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Jennifer Kavanagh and Elaine Mahon
St. Dominic's College (Ballyfermot)
Jennifer Kavanagh and Elaine Mahon of St. Dominic's
College (Ballyfermot) looking forward to Sixth Year!
September the 1st, 1999. It was like the opening scene from 'Grease 2'.
For the past five years we had watched our elders tease us, slag us, and
look down on us. But this year we were the 'sixth years'. We had become
the 'Head Honchos'. In the words of Rizzo "we were gonna rooole the
school". Those first few minutes before assembly were spent comparing
tans, showing photographs, and listening to stories from Slane to Spain.
We thought that being back in school didn't seem so bad, how comforting,
how reassuring, but..................how naive!! Just then the bell rang,
the Principal roared and reality kicked in. Sixth Year students across
the country were subjected to that infamous speech, which is etched in
the minds of every student who has sat the Leaving Cert. "The hard
work begins now; quit the jobs, dump the boyfriends, and start with at
least 4 hours at the books every night".
We knew just what they were up to, those teachers - it was payback time
for them. Any heartache that we had caused them in the past was about
to be avenged. They piled us with essays, exam questions, vocabulary,
fifth year revision, sixth year work, and those dreaded English quotations
(I know where Hamlet can shove his soliloquies and does anybody else wish
that W.B. Yeats' ship sunk on it's way to Byzantium?). We looked forward
to any moment away from this "Murder Machine" - to quote Padraig
Pearse.
Luckily we were informed of a Higher Options Career Conference in the
R.D.S. and we jumped at the chance of a day off. But, what had we gotten
ourselves into? We emerged downloaded with information sheets, prospectus',
magazines, books, forms, maps, and other college details. An abundance
of information that we could never get through until it was our kids'
turn to sit the Leaving Cert. However it was our hearts that were heavier
than our overweight info-packs. The organizers of this event were obviously
bitter teachers who felt the need to disillusion anyone with the hope
of a third level education.
I did manage to find a course that interested me, but it came with a
540 points price tag. My mother spent that whole evening trying to console
me; "Its not the end of the world", she said, "there's
something out there for everybody and if the worst comes to the worst...................(I
couldn't believe my ears)..............you can always try again"!
Does she mean for me to ....................R-E-P-E-A-T...........REPEAT????
Has the world gone mad? I can hardly get through September and she's suggesting
doing it twice?!?!?!?!? But before we all lose hope completely and give
up altogether there are a few things that should be remembered.
65,000 students do this exam every year. It's nothing new, we're not
the first, we won't be the last - next year it will be our turn to laugh
at those poor unfortunates.
It's only for the next nine months of our lives and then the world is
our oyster.
There is always the chance that we will actually do well and be offered
our first choice!
And all things considered, maybe we don't have it that bad. Let's look
objectively at the situation. Firstly, no family member would dare to
bother us, we're excused from housework, we have power over the volume
of TV's, radios, and screaming siblings. We also have tea and biscuits
at our beck and call day and night! We may be living but we're learning
to make the most of it.
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