CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE
By Judith Ashton
Due to the amount of attention it receives every year, one would be led to believe that the Leaving Certificate was the only game in town as, once again, the hype engulfs the nation. For some households I guess this is the case. Mothers and fathers throughout the land have stressed-out students swotting in their rooms, heads down, needing to be humoured, fed and watered on a regular basis.
I don’t know of any other country other than Ireland where school exams are reported with the same fervour as a Cup Final. The frenzied pressure endured by our young students is considerable. I have 50+yr-old adult friends who still have recurring dreams about the panic they experienced during their Leaving Cert. For an event to create a recurring panic dream, it must have been a truly horrendous experience.
University is certainly not the “be all and end all” and there are so many ways of “making it” in life these days. Higher education is not necessarily the right route for everyone.
Recently, I was looking at the Sunday Times Rich List and there was a section entitled: “40 under 40”. Interestingly, only five people had inherited their riches and the remaining 35 had made their own wealth. Eighteen out of the 35 did not have a university degree. A percentage of them had rejected university to concentrate on creating employment for themselves. I like the story of Ben Francis who started messing around on his granny’s sewing machine as he wanted something to wear in the gym. This kitchen-table entrepreneur went on to found “Gymshark”, which is now worth £800 million. Well done, Ben!
Reece Witherspoon went viral recently when she told a young woman, “You don’t chase your dreams, you chase your talents!” and she went on to say, “It’s your job in life to figure out what your unique talents are and go chase them!”
At school, I was good at French so was funnelled in that direction. I read all the French classics and spent a year in France. I came away with a degree and the ability to speak good French, but it wasn’t my real talent. The careers teacher in my school never mentioned “talent” or even “passion” for that matter. I found my talent, by chance, a couple of years later. I came across a course in London that combined psychology and massage. I embraced it with more enthusiasm than any French novel!
So many young people have not had time to explore their talents or passion. Creativity, sports and the arts are often not seen as “proper jobs” and those who doggedly follow their talent and work hard at developing their skills are often very successful. They never give up because they believe in themselves. Rory McIlroy, Niall Horan and Saoirse Ronan are good examples, and they had parents who encouraged their talents. Jessie Buckley was another determined kid who had a great acting talent and massive focus.
Of course, focus, hard work and clear goals matter. Yet many successful people will tell you that luck or timing often play a part too. It may be a chance meeting with someone inspiring, a lucky break or simply being in the right place at the right time. These people worked hard and made a huge effort, and then something happened that helped everything fall into place.
J.K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers, all of whom said, “Nobody is interested in a child wizard, spells and magic!” How wrong they were! Bloomsbury eventually accepted her, and the rest is history. Thankfully, she ignored the rejection, believed in herself and kept going. Undoubtedly, she has a great talent for both imagination and writing.
Young people need to ask themselves, “What am I good at and love doing?” The answer may lie in something that is not even taught in school. There are many worthwhile paths that are more practical than academic. I once worked with a person who was deeply unhappy in a well-paid, secure administrative job but had always had a special connection with dogs. He was afraid, to be true to himself, to take the step and open a kennel. I encouraged him to take a chance, which he did, and in the process met another dog owner, found love and successfully built a happier life.
Is it not time to rethink the Leaving Cert and make it less stressful? Covid could have been an ideal opportunity to introduce continuous assessment. It’s a fairer way to measure abilities and doesn’t depend on one highly stressful day.
