‘All you can do is hug and cry, laugh at yourselves, and cry some more’

The final instalment in the exam diary of Jess MacSweeney, a Leaving Cert student from Cork

Yesterday morning, if you’d asked me how I was I probably would have been incapable of answering with anything but a series of head-shakes and mumbles.

Results Day, for an 18-year-old, is one of the most important experiences of life so far. But, it also makes an absolute eejit of the best of us. The majority of you know the feeling I’m on about, right?

It tugs at your belly, wrecks your appetite and your heart just goes ninety until it’s all over.

I’m a pretty big fan of the old Coco Pops, and I could only have the bowl-and-a-half this morning.

As I sit here typing this, being distracted by members of the Irish U20s Ultimate Frisbee team smacking each other and making “poo” jokes, I’m finding it kind of hard to recall my exact reaction to my results or compare it to what I was expecting.

It has to be said that getting them in a hostel in Ballymun wasn’t part of the plan. We’re competing at the World Junior Ultimate Championships this week, which justifies my being in Ballymun.

All morning, myself and the four other Leaving Certs on my team had been receiving news of results on the sideline of our match against Japan. To be perfectly honest, we were all delighted to have the distraction of the championships. During the week when anyone wished us luck for Wednesday, our first thought was always “Oh thanks, they’re a strong team”.

My mother went and collected my results for me before tackling the weather, a long drive to Dublin and least of all, my little brother yapping in the passenger seat, to get them to me by lunchtime.

I basically crawled into the nearest corner I could find and took out my lucky Buddha key ring, before ripping the envelope open. I must admit that they slapped me in the face and I struggled to add up my points. There’s no way that 1,785 points exists, like.

All in all, I was very relieved and surpassed my own expectations. After they settled in, my main concern was for my friends. I knew there’d be tears, but it’s really hard to tell if they’re happy, sad, or relieved.

And nobody wants to ask the question: “What did you get?” All you can do is hug and cry, then laugh at yourselves for crying, and cry some more. Mascara was a poor call this afternoon, lads.

Unlike most exam recipients, I was not falling down the streets in the early hours of this morning. I’m the coolest person in the world and I am on a drinking ban. We did get chocolate cake though (thumbs up to the Hobson family for the provision of the grub all week!).

So, it’s finally over. As I said the last time, I hope everyone’s happy with what they’ve achieved. As for me, I’m off to Glasgow to build rockets (or something).

* Jess MacSweeney was a Leaving Certificate student at Christ King Secondary School, Douglas, Cork.

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