Secret studiers

delikins

Hey guys, this one always baffles me!

So I just did my Leaving this year and did fine, 400, nothing amazing.
A lot my friends are secret studiers but I really didn't know to what extent until they got their results. One friend of mine did unbelievable with 565 points! Fair play and all that but my question is.. why?

Why do some people study in secret? Do they want to seem more naturally smarter than they really are or what? Like if you ask them what they did last night ect. they'd list off 'went out with friends, watched telly, went for a walk' ect but they'd never mention there's three hours of study thrown in there too?

What do you guys think? Are any of yous secret studiers and wish to tell us why! All thoughts welcome!

Sunny!!

why would other peoples results bother you, the leaving certs a competition of course people are going to lie

NegativeCreep

her: "I'm sooooooooooo unbelievably fucked for this test! I'm gonna fail so bad, I didn't even realise we had a test today"
Me: "oh God me too "
*She gets A+
Me: "Lying Cunt" :mad:

If you've studied fair enough but just don't go around pretending like you haven't.

Togepi

Sunny!! wrote: »

why would other peoples results bother you, the leaving certs a competition of course people are going to lie

I wouldn't lie to my friends though, I don't really get why people would lie about studying. I admire people who have the discipline to study, so I just think it's a bit silly when some people see it as shameful to be studying.

delikins

I completely agree, I mean lying does seem a bit.. extreeeeeeeeme? sure its only studying and your friends aren't going to judge you?

Canard

I'd find it weird if I asked someone what they did, and they told me every time how much they studied...it's not so much lying as leaving out mundane details. And maybe they are naturally smart - some people find maths, or languages, or learning things off really easy.

Generally I think a lot of them are really just worried about how they'll do...I mean, if someone came out saying they knew they got an A1 and didn't its a lot worse than getting a fluke B2 when you thought you'd fail like.

SureYWouldntYa

A secret studier is far more bareable than someone who studies 2 hours and brags about it

ceegee

Some people want to seem cool by preyemdimg they dont study, others dont want to let on they study in case they dont meet their target - afraid theyll look stupid if people know they worked hard and still failed.

Never pay any heed to what others say theyve done before exams, generally theyll eithet lie or else will overestimate the work theyve done ("I do 5 hours a night" - when 4 hours of this is spent looking at phone/pc/wall)

Sunny!!

Togepi wrote: »

I wouldn't lie to my friends though, I don't really get why people would lie about studying. I admire people who have the discipline to study, so I just think it's a bit silly when some people see it as shameful to be studying.

I wouldnt either i dont get it i thought this one person genuinely done nothing and i mean nothing at all last year, nothing in class and boom 440 points! Must say it was pretty annoying, some people want to protect their reputations id say:pac:

Eathrin

I found studying damn hard to do in school so when I actually did the work I was no stranger to bragging about it

Togepi

Sunny!! wrote: »

I wouldnt either i dont get it i thought this one person genuinely done nothing and i mean nothing at all last year, nothing in class and boom 440 points! Must say it was pretty annoying, some people want to protect their reputations id say:pac:

Ha I know one or two the exact same, bit of a shock when the ones who "never study" get great points like that. It's definitely more common for people to say they don't study or do homework when they're younger, because it's so uncool to actually do work ever. :P But you'd think we'd mature a bit over time and just admit when we do actually study! :rolleyes:

Namlub

I never pretended I wasn't studying, but I do have a tendency to predict the worst after exams then end up with a better grade than I expected, and I don't get why some people get annoyed by that tbh. I'd feel like an absolute twat if I was going on about how much I studied and how I was positive of getting an A during the post-mortem thing, especially if some of my friends weren't happy...

spurious

Sunny!! wrote: »

I wouldnt either i dont get it i thought this one person genuinely done nothing and i mean nothing at all last year, nothing in class and boom 440 points! Must say it was pretty annoying, some people want to protect their reputations id say:pac:

Maybe they listened properly in class? If they understood and learned things in class, they would have to do very little study. Some people truly can remember things having heard/seen them only once.

rainbowtrout

Would agree with spurious, but also you will meet these people in all walks of life.

When you are going for a promotion at work, and you tell someone doing the same job as you in your department about it, and discuss what your prospects are for getting the promotion, and then on the day of the interview you walk into the waiting room and you see them there also waiting for an interview.

Some people are just like that.

ChemHickey

spurious wrote: »

Maybe they listened properly in class? If they understood and learned things in class, they would have to do very little study. Some people truly can remember things having heard/seen them only once.

I completely agree with Spurious, seeing as I am one of those learners. I didn't really study much at home. I did do my homework, and looked over topics I was unsure of, but I did the majority of my work in school, in class, making an unconscious effort to be as productive as possible. It became second nature, and by X-mas tests of 5th year, I didn't have to study as much as I thought! I ended up doing very well and when people asked me how long do I study for and mention to others that i'm secretly "Bating the books" I completely disagreed with them, as I wasn't. People underestimate the power of effective listening. I barely had to study for the LC compared to the amount of my friends. If I did study more, which I probably should have, I probably would have burned myself out.

Moral is, do the work in school. It is the first step. Study is only a backup. Also, breaks are vital. I'm still recovering from the LC, and it has been 2 months! It really does take it out of you. For me anyway, it was more of a marathon, than a sprint seeing as I didn't leave all the work to the end, but in the end, it all paid off. Start early and lightly, and gradually build on it.

Best of luck to y'all in LC2013... ye have big boots to fill

mcpaddington

Sunny!! wrote: »

I wouldnt either i dont get it i thought this one person genuinely done nothing and i mean nothing at all last year, nothing in class and boom 440 points! Must say it was pretty annoying, some people want to protect their reputations id say:pac:

In fairness I genuinely tried hard to study during the year, but I just couldn't stick to it. Gave up with the studying and just did the school work(didn't even do all of it), when it came to the 2 week off break before the exams I started studying and it worked. I did a month of work and got 445. That guy could be telling the truth.

Canard

ChemHickey wrote: »

Best of luck to y'all in LC2013... ye have big boots to fill

And you know what they say about big boots...
(High results!)

ChemHickey

Patchy~ wrote: »

And you know what they say about big boots...
(High results!)

Large penises HIGH RESULTS

kingcobra

It's one thing being a secret studier but it's worse when someone accuses you of being a secret studier. Everytime you can give can give them a perfectly honest answer but they will never accept it, they'll always say "oh don't be trying to make feel better, we all know you put in hours of work." The c**ts! :pac:

2rkehij30qtza5

I'm a bit of an old fogey to be commenting on a Leaving Cert thread...it is 15 years since I sat mine....BUT I have a lot of experience of 'secret' studiers!...spent 9 years in college and there are loads of them.

I put it all down to competitiveness. They want to do better than everyone else. They don't want you to think they are studying because they want to come across as geniuses who 'do nothing' but yet know everything!

Every secret studier I have met from secondary school right through 3 university degrees is, as far as I am concerned, a knob. The reason for this description is because I find they don't like to assist others (how can they help when they don't study, right?!).

They are sneaky and underhand and I always feel they fudge the truth. I like people who are more open!

I usually did better than all the secret studiers anyway because I shared info with others and vice versa. You gain more from that at the end of the day.

HugsiePie

I have a friend who is a massive secret studier, it's definitely a competitive thing, I have another friend who openly admits she studies constantly and is nowhere near as competitive. The whole secrecy thing turns my stomach, it sickens me that one of my closest friends would lie and keep secrets from me, it's given me a whole different outlook on exams and school, some people will do anything to get ahead of the pack, I just wish I had known that sooner.

Peregrine

I get accused of it very often but it's far from the truth. I rarely study, I'm in 5th year now and to be honest last week was actually the first time I revised the night before an exam. I just listened in class and it got me far but obviously now I requires some revising before exams.

It's annoying though, being accused of spending hours studying every time you get good results, evening listening tests ffs :confusing:

Nicole.

I studied a lot for the leaving cert and there's a very fine balance between being a secret studier and someone who doesn't tell others how much they're studying because they don't want to worry them. Some people can study in the more traditional sense of sitting down and reading a book for longer than others and still get on fine.

I had friends that didn't study as much as me who were in many of my classes and I didn't tell them all of the time how much I studied. If there was a test coming up I didn't go around saying that I studied something, if they asked me what I studied/ if I did I told them what I did.

There were other people in my class who used to talk to me right before a test and say "I didn't do a tap", whereas I would have studied at least for an hour or two at some point, and I'd just reply, "Sure it'll be grandddd" because what else should I say?:pac: I'd never imply that I did nothing, I'd say that "I did a bit" because you can get labled as a nerd very easily and freak the other person out if you say you did lots of studying.

My friends appreciated the fact that I studied and the fact that I told them that I was studying as it motivated them to do more work. I have a really close friend who is now doing a level 8 nursing degree but who found it really hard to study so I used to sometimes go into a room and study with her sometimes during leaving cert. She still calls me up when she's doing a project from time to time if she's unsure about like referencing which I think is amazing Being honest about your studying can be a very positive thing for a friendship.

As a side note for leaving cert always remember quality not quantity of studying. One hour of productive studying is far beter than four hours of half assed studying.

mixery

Wow, going to an all boys school I don't see the problem. We all know each other, and it's easy to say who actually studies and who does f-all. One thing I don't understand though is going to late study at school and doing nothin in there, sometimes not even homework. What do those people have in their heads?..

For me being able to study is an achievement. I find it really hard to do, so when I hear that one of my good friends has eventually started to study I'm happy for them as well as being motivated to do some myself.

ManMade

Currently in fifth year. Anyone else hate those public studiers. Coming up to exams all the facebook status's on how they're such a swat followed by hundred ":P" because they spent a day chewing their pen, meanwhile your timeline is filled with memes they liked.