Pens, ruler, batteries, mnemonics

By the end of today, I will have written in or around 5,000 words on topics ranging from Hamlet to whatever essay title I choose. It almost makes this article seem short. Like Christmas Day or Judgment Day, depending on your attitude, Leaving Cert Day has arrived. By 5 p.m. this evening, I will have written a small Amazonian forest of criticism, opinion and quotes. Yes, quotes. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." "Felix Randal the farrier, oh is he dead then." "Oh, Willy!" Who wrote what? I wonder if it's possible to put in a quote from Hamlet that never existed. Since my appearance last week as the centrefold star of the EL supplement, I have changed my study habits yet again. The appropriate facts and definitions from all subjects have been marked off, highlighted, read aloud and (hopefully) committed to memory. As with all learning by rote, it's not pleasant, but it has to be done some time. An interesting strategy that and some of my friends and I have employed is creating unusual and complicated acronyms, mnemonics and memory aids. The theory is simple: the more obscure the logic, the greater the chance of remembering it.

The media have been paying a lot of attention to the exams, as usual. Personally, I find a lot of it tends to add to the pressure instead of alleviating it (with the honourable exception of the dignified and appropriate approach of this newspaper, of course). An interesting aside has been the story of Laura Spence, the English student denied entry to medicine at Oxford after an interview. It has reminded me that we are lucky to have a system that cuts out the petty prejudices of some admissions officers. Today, I will sit an exam, and over the next few weeks I will sit six more. My college place will depend on my results only, not my accent or place of birth. The system may be crude, but it's fair and virtually incorruptible. Not that the Irish would go in for anything else anyway.

Time to climb down from the soapbox. To tell the truth, I think I'm actually quite relaxed as I write this. I thought that I would be under more pressure, but the pressure was actually higher around the orals, when I hadn't done half as much work as I have done now. We've also had a graduation to cope with. The night went really well, notwithstanding a rather frantic few days beforehand. My own humble role included providing drums for a very appropriate performance of Alice Cooper's School's Out. The singer was a little hoarse, which made it sound even more realistic. The highlight, however, was the song written and sung by my music classmate, Eoin. His songs consisted of an all-out attack on the teachers, which seemed to go down quite well. The following morning (or maybe afternoon), the study effort recommenced.

Knowing my tendency to lose, break or otherwise damage essential items, I've invested in new calculator batteries, pens and rulers. I'm going to be giving my thoughts on the exams over the next few days, so if anything unusual does happen, it will be marked right here.

Now I'm going to go and check my bag one more time - and chant passages from the poems of Eliot in my sleep. The Leaving Cert - it's never been so much fun!

Daithi Mac Sithigh a student at Colaiste Rathin, Bray, Co Wicklow