"You'll be ok, it's just an exam, it means nothing really" or "You only get one shot at this, you need to give it your all"....Which is worse, which evokes more panic, more urgency, more stress? Because no matter what way you look at it, anyone weighing in on your exam results is an invasion of sorts and can affect everything from your physical to your mental health. One student has spoken out in an effort to make others aware and his words really made me stop and think about the whole system in general and how utterly fucked it all is.
Kenneth Browne, a student of DCU, has spoken about how his final school year almost broke him and turned him from a former 'Student of the Year' into a shell of his former self when depression took hold and the stress of the impending Leaving Cert doom began to kick in.
Kenneth's day were spent cramming furiously until one in the morning and just trying to get through the day. It would sometimes get to be too much and the days would end with tears.
“The Leaving Cert was the final nail in the coffin that pushed me over the edge. It broke me.”
It was only after a couple of trips to the doctor and after the exams had passed by, that the dust began to settle. After sitting his exams with not much focus or love, Kenneth didn't receive what he had originally set out to, but where there's a will, there's a way. After taking a much needed year out to relax his overworked mind, Kenneth found an alternative route to college and is now a communications graduate and was last year given the title of SU President.
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“If the front door isn’t open go around the back or come back later and ring the bell.
If there's one thing you should take from this story, it's that you must never give up. Yes, there will be times when things hit rock bottom. When you have to force yourself up in the morning and plaster a faux smile on your face when really, it's the last thing on Earth that you feel like doing. But just know that this too shall pass. We all hit rocky patches and dark corners, but you as a person are worth everything and more than a stupid bit of paper. Silence the teachers that are breaking you out in stress spots. Ignore the naysayers and the times when your parents say that they're 'not mad, just disappointed' because it's your fucking life and you must live it and get over the cracks in whatever way that YOU see fit.
I believe in you.
