Tomorrow is a big day for 55,000 leaving certificate hopefuls as they wait anxiously for their results which will go some way to determining their future career path.
In the 1960s only 50% of the population sat the exam - now it’s over 90%. There will be 79,000 CAO applications processed this year, which is well up on last year.
They say that tomorrow's exam results will affect one in 80 of our population and most households are affected by it in some way.
The Kerr household is one of these - Daughter No. 3 has already decided, “I’m not repeating Dad. If things don’t go well I have alternative routes to what I want to do on my CAO form."
I repeated and ended up doing worse the second time around in 1979.
I cast my mind back to my own results in 1978 where I achieved what could best be described as a 'Pass Leaving' - indeed I repeated and ended up doing worse the second time around in 1979.
But I had enough to get into DIT Cathal Brugha Street to study catering and business which is what I wanted to do.
A key point at this point in your life is that you have to try to choose something that you enjoy, or that interests you. There are no guarantees but there are various routes to achieving your goal, and it is much easier to apply yourself when you love (or at least like) what you are doing.
This might seem obvious - but it's easy to lose sight of these goals at such a stressful juncture.
Going back to Daughter No.3, she like so many others, struggled with the Pass Maths Paper 1 in June.
She's now concerned that a bad result in this subject could severely restrict her ability to get a lot of her preferred courses.
To counter this uncertainty, she applied to Bray Institute of Further Education and has been accepted to do a course that will allow her to enter into nursing next year, if the more direct route is not available.
A checkpoint on the great highway that is life
I have always tried not to be overly prescriptive in relation to whatever career path any of my daughters have taken (3 down 1 to go) and tried to advise them to:
- Do something: Regardless of how many points you get you need to qualify in something. In the old days the leaving cert was the bar now you need a third level qualification or a trade qualification to get on to the employment ladder. Even if you are working full time you should get a night course qualification in some discipline.
- Do something you will enjoy: This is crucial. If you hate it get out fast and find an alternative course that you will enjoy. If you are academically brilliant it doesn’t mean that you should study medicine. Often it’s the people with the highest number of points who end up studying something they don’t enjoy as they feel pressurised to take the high point courses and it may not be what they want to do.
- Work hard and pass your exams: If you don’t pass it’s no fun. Coming back from a J1 to do repeats is a nightmare. It used to be about passing. Now it’s about firsts and 2:1s. The bar continues to get higher and casually slacking-off can come back to bite you when you survey your opportunities after college.
- Get work experience in the best places: Make a particular effort early on to work in places that have a great reputation to enhance your CV. If you need to complete a placement, or do an internship make the most of it - experience in great companies and businesses will always stand to you.
- Travel and get life experience, but come back! Travel is essential - it really is the school of life. Cultural differences and international experience are invaluable in the game of life. Daughter No.2 has been in New York for six months as part of her DIT Erasmus programme. She is “living the dream” and getting wonderful experience but I can't wait to have her back home at the end of this month.
We all worry for our kids but let’s not overplay the Leaving Certificate. It’s an exam - and an important one - but if you work hard, gain experience in your chosen field, show ambition and take opportunity when it presents itself the Leaving Certificate is only a checkpoint on the great highway that is life.
Now let’s all take it easy on the celebrations!
Bobby
