Teens coping with the Leaving Cert in the time of Covid-19

Three young people tell Helen O’Callaghan about the highs and lows of their lives during the current crisis.

Jack Nolan (above) is sad he might not get to say goodbye.

Eighteen-years-old and in Leaving Cert at Scoil Chonglais, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, he has been missing the school halls, the classroom and the canteen, where a teacher “might come up to you for an informal chat and there was always a smile – it was always a great boost”.

School is a journey, he says, and it needs to finish somewhere and ideally in a way that lets you say thank you and show appreciation. “I’d love to be able to finish out in the traditional way. It’s terrible, not being able to say goodbye properly to the teachers. I’d love to have a graduation night….but maybe next year we could have a formal goodbye.”

Back in March when schools shut with a suggestion they’d open again in three weeks, Jack thought “oh, this could be quite long”. And then he put a study plan in place and found he didn’t notice the days flying by.

But right from the start it was “mentally tough” to prepare for a Leaving Cert that might never happen. And when news broke that Leaving Cert 2020 was cancelled, Jack – who wants to study Physics at Maynooth University – felt a bit shocked. “It’s a lot of pressure off, so it’s a relief that way, but I kinda would have liked to do it, to be able to say I did it and I got my results.”

Jack has missed kicking a ball around with his friends in the local pitch or down by the river. He has also missed his grandparents – all four live quite close to his home and he’d usually see them two to three times a week. And he has been longing to drive since lockdown started. “It’s the first thing I’ll do, go for a drive and see everywhere again. I love looking out and driving. We have lovely views here – of Mount Leinster and Baltinglass Hill.”

What’s kept him going through the crisis is his close relationship with his parents and 13-year-old sister, Shauna, as well as the vegetable patch in the garden and the family’s two chickens – and youth organisation Foróige. “Foróige’s social media has been amazing, with workouts to keep you active. From the first week, it kept popping up everywhere on my screen. It’s like a big family.”

Mitchella Lacuesta never thought she’d miss the long flight of stairs leading to the fifth-year building in St Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina, Co Mayo.

“We all complained about those stairs – we had to do them three times a day, going up to the locker-room where my friends and I would all gather around. I really miss those stairs now – I’d never again complain.”

For Mitchella, 17, losing the school routine was tough, and hour-long virtual classes with each of her teachers took getting used to. “Definitely at the start we were getting loaded with homework. Then the teachers pulled back – they communicated together and it evened out.”

She has enjoyed spending lots more time with family, with brother Marcus, 13 and sister Moyea, 10. “We’ve been cooking a lot. Mum has made all sorts of breads and I’ve been making lemon drizzle cakes. I have a passion for them. And we’ve finally busted out this 2,000-piece puzzle we’ve had for ages – we’re more than halfway through.”

She admits it’s “sort of natural when you’re all in the one space 24/7” for things to occasionally get a bit hot-headed. “It’s just silly little arguments, like ‘who ate that?’ nothing too crazy.”

Like older children countrywide, she’s been helping her siblings with schoolwork. “Sometimes they get a bit frustrated. My brother found out he was having summer tests and he had to sort of teach himself, which required lots of motivation. And my sister has project work that needs independent research, so she needs a good bit of help with that.”

But Mitchella has been enjoying getting more down-time – having space for her own interests. “I’m reading Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. I enjoy music, singing, playing the guitar. I’ve pushed myself to make this music page on Instagram – it’s just for friends at the moment.”

It was the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to do Transition Year at Coláiste Naomh Éinne, Inishmore Island. And lockdown interrupted it.

“It was like moving out of home at 15,” recalls Eoghan Flood from North Monaghan, who “definitely” misses school on the Aran Islands. “In a [typical] mainland school, a first year wouldn’t talk to a sixth year, but with only 54 pupils in the school, you talk to everybody.”

Eoghan misses his host family. “I stayed with them Monday to Friday and some weekends. They’ve children in second year, TY and sixth year. I miss the music in the house at night, the jokes, even the dinners.”

Recalling how – no matter what time each evening he’d return to his island ‘home’ – the “wind was always against you”, Eoghan says he intends to continue secondary school on Inishmore.

Like him, nine of his 15 TY classmates hail from beyond Inishmore. “Next year, there’ll be eight in the class and only two from the mainland – me and another boy. To think I might never see my other classmates again. I’m also annoyed we’re missing events – we were supposed to have a week in an adventure centre.”

On the plus side, Eoghan’s enjoying spending time with mum Wendy, dad Paddy and siblings Fergal, 19, Amelia, 13, and Joe, 10. “Sometimes on the island I miss them. Spending every day of the last few months together, I’m getting to know them better, getting on better with them. Every few nights we play Monopoly or Cluedo or have a movie night and pizza – stuff we wouldn’t be used to.”

Another interest is his Foróige involvement. A member of the organisation’s 2019-’20 national council, he has been keeping in touch via Zoom.