MY LEAVING CERT: BERNARD BROGAN -Dublin inter-county footballer
THE 2002 World Cup was going on while I was doing my Leaving Cert. I remember sitting in the exam hall doing German or something like that and seeing someone running past the window shouting that Ireland were after scoring.
I was delighted, jumping up out of my seat, I couldn’t contain myself. The exam supervisor went ballistic telling me to sit down and be quiet.
That was an exciting World Cup but the timing was terrible. It was really difficult to study in the evenings. There was always a match or something going on.
I wasn’t overly studious anyway. I was more interested in playing sport and going out with my mates, meeting girls and all that.
My parents did try to sit me down and get me to do the hours but as it got closer to the exams I began to get the head down a bit more.
I wanted to do finance in Maynooth so that focused my mind.
I would never have been one for studying morning, noon and night – there were other things in my head – but I was an effective studier.
A lot of people give up sport and other activities for the Leaving Cert year. I think that’s a mistake. I always found I could study better after a training session or a match. I found it hugely beneficial. I suppose my studying was always about quality over quantity. I could never have moped about for seven hours trying to learn stuff.
Even now, I’m still sitting exams. I have my final accountancy exams this summer and I’m playing the football and going around coaching kids at the
VHI GAA Cúl Camps along with that. It helps not to have a huge amount of time so that you make use of the time you do have.
Apart from Irish, I wasn’t great with languages. I had a bit of a disaster in German in the Leaving. Basically when I was doing my oral, we had five short story things to learn – I learned three really well, one just a bit and one not at all.
Guess which two I was asked about?
So then in the written exam I panicked. I thought that I was going to fail and I decided to drop down to ordinary level on the day.
Big mistake. I ended up getting an A in ordinary level so I could have got a decent grade in the higher paper.
It just goes to show that often things aren’t as bad as you think they are.
Maths, business, accountancy – subjects like those were my strong points. I was never happier than when I held that results sheet in my hands and saw that I hadn’t failed anything and wouldn’t have to repeat.
I got about 460 points or something and I needed about 385 so I had more than enough.
I always saw the Leaving as important but I wanted to live my life as well. After the exams I went to Ibiza for two weeks with 10 of my mates.
We were way out of our depth, but we had some craic. It was the best holiday of my life.
That’s the thing about the Leaving. You finish it and then you’re at the point where you’re making decisions about life and college.
You’re becoming your own person. It’s a really exciting time.
Bernard Brogan is an ambassador for the VHI GAA Cúl Camps
SONGS TO GET YOU THROUGH
LINKIN PARK AND JAY-Z
Numb/Encore
DAVID GUETTA
Just a Little More Love
EDWARD MAYA AND VIKA JIGULINA
Stereo Love
GLADIATOR FEATURING IZZY
Now We Are Free
GIGI D’AGOSTINO
L’Amour Toujours
