I'm one of the rare creatures who the exams didn't really faze. In fairness I was going through alot that year so it was the least of my worries.
I lost my Nana in February of 2003 after years of watching her suffer thanks to the scourge that is Parkinson's. I was incredibly close to her and my Granda who I would also lose the same year on New Year's Eve. It took me a very long time to learn to live my life without them. I lived with my grandparents for the first 2 years of my life and we became inseparable spending all my weekends and school holidays with them on thier farm. I had lots of cousins whom they loved very much but I was the only one with my own room. Our relationship was just different and it didn't always sit well with others for obvious reasons. It was hard when they died because I didn't just lose my grandparents but I lost my best friends and my support system.
It's safe to say I was in hell that year and didn't really go to school all that much and I presume because I was 18 at the time the school didn't intervene. Sometimes I do wish that somebody had because I was very clearly in self destruct mode and it's a miracle I made it through the other side. Despite my issues I did surprisingly well in my Leaving and I always really loved my English and Art classes. I soaked information on those subjects up like a sponge and was the weirdo who read my poetry book to my little sister at night and knew all the poems back to front. It all came very easily to me.
My daughter is due to start Senior Cycle in September and being an overthinker and the sickeningly prepared person of the family that I am I of course searched for the syllabus for Leaving Certificate 2023. The list was very easy to find and before I knew it I was admiring all the books, plays, poetry and films that the students get to explore over the next two school years. The list varies from year to year but some things are a given like for example Shakespeare is always in there.
The list is quite interesting and Im ashamed to say avid reader as I am I haven't read all of them. I have read some of them for example The Picture Of Dorian Gray happens to be one of my favourites. I have also read Frankenstein, The Handmaid's Tale, Where The Crawdads Sing and Wuthering Heights. Now I know at Leaving Certificate level no student reads all the books and no teacher has time to teach them all nor are they required to.
However my daughter is dyslexic and has managed to remain at higher level for most of her subject choices including English. She doesn't share my passion for reading because she really struggled with it during her primary school years. I figure if she has to read some of these and study thoroughly study them and do her grinds classes etc especially when she finds it difficult then I'm thinking that I the woman who has read 115 books and graphics so far this year can and will read every single book on that syllabus so that when my daughter comes home from school having studied some of them she can talk to me about it and I'll understand exactly what she's on about.
I also really like a challenge and this feels like it would be a good way to push myself out of my own comfort zone. After all if my daughter is pushing herself out of her comfort zone in order to get the points she wants for college then I should at least try to read them out of solidarity. So over the next two years I'm going to read every book, play, poem and watch every movie on the Leaving Certificate Higher And Ordinary 2023 syllabus and write about the experience here for you. You never know I might even make a Tik Tok or two if I'm feeling brave enough.
So watch this space for my Leaving Cert 2023 Challenge or follow the hashtag #LeavingCert2023Challenge on Instagram for more content.
I would love to hear your thoughts and views on the Leaving Certificate English Syllabus see the following screenshots of the PDF
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