Leaving cert stress driving me to cheat?

Mars619

Basically I'd had to deal with a lot in school. I never did perform well... Or improve... I've always worked hard but my highest result was a low C on my junior. And I'm quite sick of it. I really feel when I come to the leaving, I actually see no other option right now that's fair but to cheat... I guess I just need to be talked out of it somehow.

Canard

You'll get caught with cheat notes and they'll probably end up being irrelevant to the exam. You'll waste more time trying to look at them than if you were to just learn the stuff or think for yourself. It'll hit you when you get to college if you get into a course you're not able for.

Bears and Vodka

Also if you get caught you will be banned from any State examinations (including Driving tests) for quite some time, so its not worth it really.
Can't do HL? Do Ordinary Level, because bit by bit you will still get well enough points to go to a Level 6/7 Course.

PseudoFamous

A girl was kicked out of my French exam for cheating. Funnily enough, she was one of the best in the class at French, too, so she feels like a bit of a prat for it, and has been banned from resitting the Leaving cert for 3/4 years or something.

Mars619

See, the problem is that I struggled at OL... And I feel I'm gonna fail anyway, I may as well try to cheat or drop out while I still can. Because I know after trying so hard for so long and still getting nowhere I see no other way out

Storminateacup

Mars, seriously, take a step back and a big breath.
You're under an immense amount of pressure right now but what you need to remember is the leaving cert is not the be all and end all of life.

It's not worth cheating, being caught and being ridiculed. At the end of the day, all you can do is your best.

So, devise a study plan. Do your studying, And remember, this time next year nobody will even care about your leaving.

A lot of the time sheer pressure can make us irrational and make us do dumb things.

See how you get on with your mocks, you will probably surprise yourself. But there's definately no point in stressing out - as it will not help you remember anything useful!!!

Best of luck

13spanner

Storminateacup wrote: »

At the end of the day, all you can do is your best.

+1, solid bit of advise there.

Superbus

Don't mean to be harsh, but no amount of stress or concern validates cheating; it pretty much invalidates the entire process, gives the cheater an unjust advantage and can unfairly prevent an honest student out of the 3rd level course they deserve.

K_1

If you're thinking about cheating 5 months before the exams, why not just think more about studying for the next 5 months? I could understand a thread like this in the first week of June, but it seems a bit much in early January!

randylonghorn

Mars619 wrote: »

I actually see no other option right now that's fair but to cheat...

Fair to whom?

Yourself? No.

Your fellow students? No.

Apart from all the potential consequences list out above, wouldn't you like to be able to live with yourself after the Leaving?

Mars619 wrote: »

See, the problem is that I struggled at OL... And I feel I'm gonna fail anyway, I may as well try to cheat or drop out while I still can. Because I know after trying so hard for so long and still getting nowhere I see no other way out

You'd be surprised.

The next month or two are often when people feel most down.

Christmas is over, the mocks are looming, the Leaving itself close behind. There's no big milestone left in between really.

People are finishing courses, don't really have much time yet for study / revision, and it all seems to be getting too much.

The mocks often stress people out unduly; treat them as practice exams and a pointer to the areas which may most need revision rather than a true indicator of your LC results; they usually vary fairly widely.

This is the time when people often just give up, forgetting their Longfellow:
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

Don't. Instead, swim *with* the tide.

You have 5+ months before the exams, and the last couple of those will be dedicated mostly to revision / practising questions / going back over stuff.

Take deep breaths, and *swim* steadily but without getting into a panic.

You might really surprise yourself how much progress you make!