‘Tough’ but ‘worth it’ say Loreto students

‘Relieved’ and ‘happy’, were the two main sentiments expressed by Leaving Cert students at Loreto College on Friday. Many of the girls gathered later that same morning in the school hall, to discuss and hug their peers, and say farewell to their teachers.

“The excitement here today was just extraordinary,” said principal Olivia Callaghan. “It was lovely to see because they were all worried about different things, the orals, the mocks, the different subjects, but they worked hard and they achieved and deserved what they got.

One Loreto student, Alice McDonnell achieved 8 H1s, the highest grade, while three more students achieved 625 points, and 11 girls got more than 600 points.

With their debs dance taking place this evening, Tuesday, and CAO offers due out tomorrow morning, it has been a whirlwind of emotions for most. Many were pleased, and even pleasantly surprised, by their results. The consensus was that they had achieved better results than in their mock exams, while all were hopeful that they would attain places on their chosen third level course.

All were in agreement that it was an extraordinarily stressful year, given that it was their first time to sit a state examination, as they missed the Junior Cycle due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I was over the moon,” said Sophie Boyd on results day. “I’m doing care management at the moment, studying in Athlone. I logged on at 10 to 10 this morning and the results were already up. I didn’t expect to get as good results as I got, I was shocked, but happy shocked.

“Compared to my mock results, these are completely different. It just shows you how much you can achieve in three months when you knuckle down,” she said.

“It wasn’t a bad year compared to fifth year, but it was hard, to do the whole day at school and then to go home and study for four hours, I’m relieved it’s over.

Brianna Brophy was also “delighted”. “I already got accepted over to university in the UK, to become a paramedic. And I’ll be coming back to Ireland with my degree and a masters, so I’ll be working for the National Ambulance Service in Ireland (NASI). It’s what’s called a Transfer Degree, so I will be accredited to work both in the NHS and the NASI here.”

Hoping to study Home Ec Biology in Sligo was Rania Connell. “I’m really happy with my results, she says. “The year in general was stressful. I think the mocks were the most stressful part of the year, but then the Leaving Cert came along. I’m so glad to have it all done,” said Rania, who added that she had heard that the results were published a half an hour earlier than expected.

“So I went on at half nine and they were there, and I just slammed the laptop closed and almost started to cry I was so stressed out. And then I opened it back up and it was fine, I was delighted. I worked fairly hard, it was a long year, so I’m grateful it’s all done with now.”

Alison Cahill is hoping to do Biochemical and Chemical Engineering in UL. “I did way better than I did in my mocks, all of my grades went up. I thought all the papers were fairly marked, especially after maths paper I, that was really hard. Overall, the year was rough enough, but when you have your friends around you, it’s not as bad, you’re all in it together, you’re in the same boat.

“Even the fact that we didn’t do the Junior Cert because of the pandemic, I worried that would affect us, but thankfully it didn’t. I’m so relieved it’s all over, I’m over the moon, so relieved.”

Also hoping do Biochemical Engineering, in UCD, was Breege Maloney. “I’m happy but you can never be sure till the CAO offers come in. So I’m hopeful. The points for the course dropped last year, so I should get the course I want, fingers crossed,” she said, adding that she barely slept the night before. “I woke up this morning so early and went to the gym at half six, I couldn’t sit there waiting for all those hours. I would say the year, overall, was worth it. I put in a lot of effort but it paid off in the end.”

Admitting that she was “terrified” the morning of the results, Grainne Ryan is hoping to do physics in UCD. “I think I’ll be ok. I’m really happy with the results. The year was tough, I put a lot of work but you get through it. We all looking forward to celebrating tonight.”

Another ‘happy camper’, was Alice Dilo. “I’m hoping to do chemistry in UCD, and I’m hoping I’ve done enough to secure my place, but you never know. It was a lot of hard work, nothing came easily, so hopefully the work pays off.”

Carley McLoughlin was “very happy” with her results. “I’m hoping to do nursing. I’m doing a PLC at the moment in Moate, and then I’ll go up north to study,” she said, adding that even considering the difficulties frontline healthcare staff face, nothing would put her off nursing. “I like helping people. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, I like the idea of giving back.”