Fast forward 32 years and things are quite different. Eager Múinteoir Ma would find herself reflected as an underperformer in this new world. Parents have taken on the Leaving Cert as a whole full-time job for themselves at which we must excel. I met a mother shopping recently who told me she had taken a four-month leave of absence from work as she had a “Leaving”. A whole new phrase for me. The equivalent of a death or new baby. It was a noun all on its own.
My local pharmacy is packed with us. We are inquiring about hay fever, allergies, vitamins to boost energy, pillow sprays to induce calm and hence sleep. I even saw a dad of in the pharmacy the other day, urgently outlining that a “mouth ulcer” had arisen for his son who was studying for this most important State exam. Such was his level of upset, I felt the pharmacist should have given him a Xanax along with the Bonjela.
Life is about so much more than the Leaving Cert. We all did okay, regardless of how we did. Photograph: Alan Betson