Leaving Cert diary: Calvin Choy

I blanked. It wasn’t in the plan, of course, but I sat there looking at Irish paper 1, and I blanked.

I came to Ireland from Hong Kong when I was 11, having previously lived here until I was two. They gave me the choice about whether or not to do Irish but, as a kid, I was always interested in learning and, as it turned out, I was good at the language.

So, exemption be damned, I did it. I really like the Irish language and have never found it that hard to learn.

I think it helps that I already speak Cantonese and a little Mandarin, so my mind seems to get the concepts of how other languages work.

Fractious state

I took the higher-level paper, and I wrote my essay on the biggest problems facing the world today. On an international level, that has to be the fractious state of the economy, and I do worry about it; in Ireland, homelessness is the biggest problem.

I’m not really happy with how I did, but at least I wrote something.

As for maths, it is my favourite subject. It always has been: numbers seem to speak to me in a way that letters don’t.

The higher level exams went well, particularly paper one, which our teacher had given us extra classes in and helped us prepare for.

Biology will be tougher: we have covered every chapter and learned all we can, but it is hard to predict what topics will arise so nothing can be overlooked, and there is a lot of detail. After that, it is on to French, followed by a five-day hiatus before my final exam, physics.

And what will I do in those five days? Why, study, of course; I really want to ace that exam. When it is all over, Magaluf beckons.

There is a gang of about 16 of us heading over at the end of July, and it will be my first holiday where there are no parents or teachers. I’ll be responsible for myself. I can’t wait.

On the other side of all of this, college beckons. My first choice is UCC but, if I’m honest, I’m nervous about it because I don’t know anyone going there and most of my friends are heading to CIT.

Maybe it could be good to feel like a total stranger on a big new campus. Right now, it feels a long way off.