French exam diary: I won’t win a ‘Cesar’

This is the problem when two years worth of work is squeezed into two hours. French didn’t go well for me. It just wasn’t my day. I mean, I was happy enough with the essays but I ran out of time. I might have got a B but I was going for the A. Gutted.

But then, what do you expect? Three hours of Irish the day before, with biology straight after. I wasn’t even spelling properly towards the end of biology. It’s too much. Then you go to sleep, wake up wrecked and face into French. It’s crazy. I’m just so tired.

So I’m a bit deflated this afternoon. Sleep, though, plenty of sleep will fix me, and then I’ll get up early and cram for art history. After that, I have a six-day gap until economics.

No mini-celebrations after art for me. I’m just going to put the head down, work really hard and shoot for an A. That will set me back on course.

The exams have been okay. I’m not over the moon about them – English went well, maths was a disaster – but they’ve been fine.

I’m not someone who finds it all really easy, but I have my strengths and I know that when the going is good I can do really well.

I have UCD in my sights – English and drama. My mother would much rather I do something that would see me ending up as a bank manager or a lawyer, but I actually can’t imagine anything worse.

I’m afraid I’ve had to persuade her that it’s an actor’s life for me.

Yes, acting. Theatre or television – I’ll be happy to do any of it. I’m not even sure where the fascination came from. All I know is that I love the idea of creating characters and playing them for an audience.

As you might imagine, Wicklow is hardly the theatre capital of the world, I'm not exactly overwhelmed by opportunity here, but I have done some amateur dramatics.

I was involved in a local production in which we performed well-known songs from musicals.

It was a charity thing, to raise money for a church that had been damaged in a fire.

We did songs from Grease, Hairspray, you name it. It was a three-night show, performing for the town. It was just magic. I absolutely loved it.

I'm serious about giving it a go. After UCD, it'll have to be America: either New York for theatre or LA for film. I'm not sure. I'll have to work out which one during my degree. I'm pretty sure it won't be Paris after that French exam at any rate. My best-actor Cesar will have to wait.

Clinton Byrne is a student in Coláiste Chill Mhantáin, Wicklow.