Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Parenting 'I can still vividly remember the stress, tears and dread of my Leaving Cert'

Margaret Lynch shudders when she thinks of her own Leaving Cert experience.

I FEEL LIKE I re-live the Leaving Cert trauma all over again, every June. I saw a group of students nervously huddled together outside their school on my way to work yesterday morning, they had one textbook open between them, in what I imagine was a last-ditch attempt to absorb the words.

I can still vividly remember the stress, tears and absolute dread I had in the weeks leading up to my own exams.

Likewise, I had been dreading it since I first heard about it, and that wasn’t an accident. This exam is going to decide your future, this is where you set your path!

It’s a lot to put on the kids, isn’t it? To not only pick their entire career at this point but also put in the effort to get there. I was so overwhelmed by the stress of it all when I was in that phase that I found it hard to even think straight. By the time we got to the exam week, I was so exhausted and burned out that I worked myself into a state of not being able to do, or retain, anything.

I spent hours the night before the start of the exams with a box of cereal, separating the fruit from the fibre in a desperate effort to regulate my nervous system. Haven’t touched the stuff since.

Managing exam stress

If I was doing the exams again (and just to be clear, I would never put myself through that again), I would spend this time, at this point now where the exams have started, trying to manage stress and keep a level head. All the hard work is done, and now the goal is to just get through it. It is an exercise in stress management.

If I could go back and speak to my younger self, I would try to persuade her to stay calm (and put down the cereal box). I would tell her that she is about to take the scenic route for a couple of years, but that the end destination is going to be the same, because although right now she only has fragments of what she wants the big picture to look like, that she will eventually piece it all together.

And for all the students sitting the Leaving Cert this week, your resourcefulness and determination will ultimately be the deciders of your future, not an exam.

Some of my friends had been set on the one career option for years, without ever having any flicker of doubt, and others had applied for the Basket Weaving course on the Aran Islands for the sheer comedy factor. And over the past 20 years, we have all finished degrees, abandoned degrees, travelled, switched careers, re-trained, found love, lost love, grieved people close to us, made terrible decisions, worked jobs that we loved and jobs that we hated. (As a side note, I am absolutely horrified to realise it is 20 years since I did the Leaving Cert).

I know I got an A1 in Higher Level English, and a D3 in Ordinary Level Maths – this was the first maths exam I passed in my entire secondary school career. I couldn’t tell you what I got in any of my other subjects, but I didn’t get any of my CAO options. In hindsight, I didn’t actually want any of the courses, I just felt I had to go to college, but I was really overwhelmed by the thoughts of picking one thing, right now, to do every single day for the rest of my life.

The scenic route

I used the CAO Vacant Places to find a course and signed up for a Degree in Psychology, which I felt was a sufficiently vague and open topic. By the time I graduated, I was set on being a Counsellor, but was only 21 and needed to be 25 to start the Masters in that particular area. So I decided to go into Human Resources while I waited, as I had done a few modules as part of my degree and really enjoyed it.

After a year or so in HR, I decided to do a Masters in Human Resource Management. I missed the atmosphere of college. The Masters course was part-time over two years, two evenings a week. And then somewhere around here I lost the run of myself entirely and accidentally switched things to ‘ Extra Hard Mode’. I was 8.5 months pregnant handing in my final dissertation and the next few years were a little unhinged. My dad called it my ‘Terrible 22’s’.

Anyway, when I went back to work, I kind of fell into Hospitality, working within the HR Department. I wasn’t expecting to stay long-term in this sector, or even to like it as much as I did. When I was in school, Hospitality was never mentioned as a career option, which is a bit mad for a country famous for its warm welcomes!

When I thought about Hospitality, I would have just thought of the Front Reception Desk, or the Fawlty Towers-style Hotel Manager. I didn’t know about the variety of other roles within the sector, from Chefs to Events, Marketing, Accounts, Gym Instructors or Spa Therapists. I have seen so many students start work while they are still in school, work part-time through college and then join us in the department of their field of study.

I have seen other students decide not to go to college, and work through set career paths all the way from Kitchen Porter to Head Chef, or Waiting Staff to General Manager.

Working in Hospitality means working alongside individuals from a lot of other countries and backgrounds and across all age groups. It is such a diverse area, and I can honestly say that no two days are the same.

And because hotels are a 24/7 operation, I have found great flexibility and ability to manage a work/life balance.

Finding that career

One thing I always remind our younger staff about is that the hotel star rating system is a Global award. If they have two years of waitressing or receptionist experience in a 4- or 5-star hotel, they can transfer this skill with relative ease, to other 4 or 5 star properties across the world. There aren’t many other part-time jobs that can offer the same transitional skills.

So, what I say to my own kids, even though we are nowhere near Leaving Cert years (and please don’t remind me of this when I am in the thick of it) is to do your absolute very best in the lead up to the exams, because at this point in your life, you want to keep as many doors open as you can.

But if you don’t get your points, or your course, or your career, it will all be OK. You need to know how to fail in life just as much as you need to know how to succeed. You might end up in an area that you haven’t even heard of, or one that doesn’t exist yet. You can change jobs at any point in your future, you can switch careers and re-sit exams. And your future career might be the least interesting thing about you!

There are multiple paths through all of this, and the scenic route is far more interesting anyway.

Margaret Lynch is a working mum of two in Kildare. 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
26 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute 087 bed
    Favourite 087 bed
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 10:42 AM

    So democracy in Ireland is now having the same party in power and opposition at the same time.

    172
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sector? seems to be a shocking culture? incompetent management? is it at the direction of the ministers/Dept of finance?
    Favourite another one? what's going on is the semi state sector? seems to be a shocking culture? incompetent management? is it at the direction of the ministers/Dept of finance?
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:33 AM

    @james rowan: Independent TDs aren’t the same as Independent Ireland (the party)….. It’s literally in the title. So the same party are not in govt and in the opposition

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute smatrix mantra
    Favourite smatrix mantra
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:34 PM

    Opposition should automatically be part of government. No elections needed!

    39
    See 5 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Steve McGarrett
    Favourite Steve McGarrett
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:42 PM

    @james rowan: I think you’ll find that the independents are not a party…

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Cauldhame
    Favourite Frank Cauldhame
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 5:42 PM

    @smatrix mantra: I truly hope that the real opposition go to the courts to overturn this undemocratic scenario that has been thrust upon the electorate who have been fooled yet again by Fianna Fail.

    I’d love it if the Gardai properly investigated Michael Lowry, because there is evidence out there proving he took a bung from Dobrien. It disgusts me that a crook has so much power over his peers in FF & FG.

    37
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Murray
    Favourite David Murray
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 6:59 PM

    @Steve McGarrett: That’s right they are FFG Proxies

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute another one? what's going on is the semi state sector? seems to be a shocking culture? incompetent management? is it at the direction of the ministers/Dept of finance?
    Favourite another one? what's going on is the semi state sector? seems to be a shocking culture? incompetent management? is it at the direction of the ministers/Dept of finance?
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 7:38 PM

    @james rowan: Independents isn’t a political party. It’s literally in the name. They are independent TDs and not affiliated!….. So if the INDEPENDENT TDs aren’t part of a political party how are the same parties in govt and the opposition!?!?!?

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 7:43 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: It is in the rules. They are rat cute and they won’t have made an error like that.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kevin O Brien
    Favourite Kevin O Brien
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:22 AM

    Fine Gael only came 3rd in the General Election

    91
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jack Hayes
    Favourite Jack Hayes
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:49 AM

    @Kevin O Brien: Cool. Thanks.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Vincent Alexander
    Favourite Vincent Alexander
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:24 PM

    @Kevin O Brien: So what? SF came 2nd. The majority of voted ABSF so no government places for SF.

    12
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Kennedy
    Favourite Philip Kennedy
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:27 PM

    @Kevin O Brien: your point?

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brian
    Favourite Brian
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:38 PM

    @Vincent Alexander: Complete claptrap.. by that logic the majority voted ABFF and ABFG .. or every other political party in the country. Mind your back ya auld codger.. you’ll do damage with all that contorting you’re doing.

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 7:43 PM

    @Kevin O Brien: And?

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Newell
    Favourite Patrick Newell
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 10:43 AM

    Get in extra vaseline and lube folks, cos the next 5 years are gonna be as painful for many as the last was, only this time with a severe chance of a recession hanging over the country head, only this time we cant tell people to leave cos they are a burden etc due to ya know the whole immigration for profit scam thats been happening. Gonna be fun to watch FFG and the independents trying to get along when things go wrong or off script

    113
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Kennedy
    Favourite Philip Kennedy
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:10 AM

    @Patrick Newell: never try and predict anything, especially the future. Know all.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Byrne
    Favourite Peter Byrne
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:21 PM

    @Patrick Newell: country doing fantastic. I was on a plane to Lanzarote, one of five yesterday, packed with old age pensioners and families off for a holiday, out last night, only accents you hear are Irish

    6
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Kennedy
    Favourite Philip Kennedy
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:24 PM

    @Dave f Doe: he also ran for president. Ha ha. How did that work out.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute reg morrisey
    Favourite reg morrisey
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:01 AM

    What drives me crazy is the people who say “ahhhhh why don’t you get out and vote if you want change”
    What a load of bollox.
    i did vote
    Nothing has changed.

    95
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Kennedy
    Favourite Philip Kennedy
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:25 PM

    @reg morrisey: don’t vote again. It’s simple.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The Firestarter
    Favourite The Firestarter
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:02 AM

    Every one of them including Fianna Fail & the Independents, are money grabbing parasites, only interested in what they can get from the public purse. Public Service in this country is no longer about serving the people and is more about feathering their own nests.

    85
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lei tatt
    Favourite Lei tatt
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:39 PM

    @The Firestarter: increasing their super inflated wages , appointing their friends and family members to the made up positions and posts to waste hard earned tax payers money without a single though of making peoples lifes easier.
    Parasites is indeed a term you should describe them.

    59
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny Wilson
    Favourite Johnny Wilson
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 6:07 PM

    @The Firestarter: leave so if you actually believe your own BS

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Louis Jacob
    Favourite Louis Jacob
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:34 PM

    FFG with their combined pluracy telling the country that that they own the place and they always have. The reality is that they’ve built a Titanic and all they’ve done is left Cobh.

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Louis Jacob
    Favourite Louis Jacob
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:37 PM

    @Louis Jacob: *plurality even… lol.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute N D K
    Favourite N D K
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:12 PM

    Puke party

    57
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Kennedy
    Favourite Philip Kennedy
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:31 PM

    @N D K: sinn fein?

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute N D K
    Favourite N D K
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:44 PM

    @Philip Kennedy: sinn fein never squandered our money or caused our youth to immigrate by the thousands because of the cost of them trying to begin there lives here, sinn fein never agreed to give an own door house to the world upon arrival here, plus a million more reasons I could give you, but you know yourself already

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Áine F
    Favourite Áine F
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:28 PM

    Knife found in kitchen drawer

    37
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Leonard Barry
    Favourite Leonard Barry
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:12 AM

    Another week and more of this “Programme For Government” nonsense, our politicians and media love this “Programme For Government” thingy after every election as if it means something or for that matter implemented, another favourite word of theirs and the media is “Context” neither can compete a sentence without including it a least once or twice.

    36
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ray Grogan
    Favourite Ray Grogan
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:39 PM

    Dirty deeds and they’re done dirt cheap.

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Niall Binéad
    Favourite Niall Binéad
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 1:33 PM

    Oh great! But did the other side of their arse not already agree to that? More of the same…… chancers!

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Johnny Wilson
    Favourite Johnny Wilson
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 10:31 AM

    Good to see there will be stable Government for the next five years.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan Moloney
    Favourite Alan Moloney
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 10:40 AM

    @Johnny Wilson: won’t last 6 months

    67
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Newell
    Favourite Patrick Newell
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 10:44 AM

    @Johnny Wilson: FFG and the independents sticking it out for 5 years?? Ya ill take ur stable bet and say if this lasts 18 months before something big happens and the independents turn on FFG or vice versa id be shocked.

    63
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Kennedy
    Favourite Philip Kennedy
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 12:27 PM

    @Alan Moloney: another soothsayer.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
    Favourite FoxyBoiiYT
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:33 AM

    So many here were doing cartwheels celebrating when the Greens lost, now they’re complaining bitterly that their favourite facist party aren’t in charge. Clear indication that the right think the only votes that count are theirs

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chop Chop
    Favourite Chop Chop
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:38 AM

    @FoxyBoiiYT: Muh fascism… YAWN!

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jack Hayes
    Favourite Jack Hayes
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 11:52 AM

    @Chop Chop: Yep. Fascists are truly tiresome.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony
    Favourite Tony
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 4:53 PM

    Of course they did. Hardly going to turn down all the pay rises.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Jennings
    Favourite William Jennings
    Report
    Jan 20th 2025, 8:05 PM

    Well of course they were going to. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are identical parties with identical policies and they might as well merge at this point. It’s so annoying that no good options ever pop up for the Irish people in the general elections that are held and the cosmopolitan progressive establishment takes change once again for the next five years. I’m so disappointed in our country that we keep enabling the same failed tax and spend policies that continually fail and drive up our national debt every year.

    5
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds