Geography - #JC2017 - Maria Hayes

Maria Hayes - Scoil Ruáin Killenaule

The geography exam today was a tricky paper because I wasn't expecting some of the questions to come up! However I was pleased with the turn out!

I began with section 1. I got through that with little difficulty except when we were asked what kind of settlement a "ecclesiastical settlement" was. I guessed "religious". It turned out to be correct! That was 3 marks gained!

Then moving onto Section 2 I spent 10 mins going through the questions and seeing which questions I wanted to do. I chose Q2, Q4 & Q5. Question 2 was all to-do with rivers!! I was delighted because I love rivers! Question 4 was all about Climate! Another favourite of mine! Finally Question 5 was the Map question. We had to draw an aerial photograph of Macroom, followed by why a certain area is perfect for building a hotel! Followed by 3 points on the map which showed evidence of historic settlements. It was tricky as I only had 10 minutes left in the exam so I was racing through the question!

I think that it was a successful paper and I'm happy with how it went.

#StateExams2017

Geography - #JC2017 - Diego Brule

Diego Brule - Colaiste Einde Salthill GalwayHigher Level

Geography, geography. Geography has always been a gamble for me, partly because I've lived everywhere at this stage and have a fair amount of general geographic knowledge, and partly because I only study my favourite parts and hope they come up. And very luckily, Today's short questions were all of the simple things that I knew and section II was precisely the topics I loved (or that I've done so many times that I don't even have to think about it).And so at 9:30 am, I open the exam. I flew through the first few questions, and I come across this typical developed/developing world map, which I never liked because it basically portrayed every country outside Europe and Asia as messed up, poor and evil. I come from Chile (South America), so I was always against how geography class made 'developing' countries look like.But in this map, for the first time ever, Chile was in blue, or 'developed'. I celebrated this in silent glory for a few seconds and then got back to my exam.Then, the feared, the Section 'wrist-breaker' II, came around. I flicked through the 6 questions and picked three to answer, which were ones that I'd prepared essays on: Rivers and humans, Economic activities, and the OS map and aerial photograph.I finished all of this with about 10 minutes to spare (including some Van-Gogh quality diagrams) and was about to hand it up when I realised I forgot to answer a part of a question (throwback to CSPE), so, naturally, I rush this last part and finish just in time, and walk out of the exam hall feeling triumphant, having conquered one of the tests that I feared the most.Next up was Maths, but first, a burrito break at Boojum.#JC2017 #StateExams #ISSU17

NATIONAL STUDENT BODIES & TRADE UNIONS JOIN FORCES TO TACKLE YOUTH JOBS CRISIS

NATIONAL STUDENT BODIES & TRADE UNIONS JOIN FORCES TO TACKLE YOUTH JOBS CRISIS Three national student and trade union bodies today (Sept. 5) issued a joint call for immediate government action to address the youth jobs crisis and have proposed the adoption of a new National Jobs Strategy for Young People to tackle the problem. Together, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and the Irish Second Level Students’ Union (ISSU), have called for an end to the ‘lock-out’ of young people from the jobs market and proposed a range of measures to improve access to the workplace and enhance employment skills. The three organisations are seeking joint meetings with “all relevant government ministers and departments” on foot of the proposals. The measures are contained in a new, joint publication - Locked out? Investing in a Future for Youth. 

The document is the result of a collaborative process between all three organisations, collectively representing more than one million people and includes a number of key demands: 

National Jobs Strategy for Young PeopleJobs StimulusMajor investment in the Youth GuaranteeA legal framework for work placementsThe creation of a new Career Information ServiceCreating a new National skills map  Speaking on behalf of the Congress Youth Committee, Lorraine Mulligan said: “We cannot afford to lose a generation to precarious work, joblessness or emigration. We need a clear strategy to tackle the problems facing young people, including investment in a Youth Guarantee, offering employment or training opportunities and ensuring decent pay and working conditions for those in the labour force.” USI President Joe O’Connor said: “Some 35,000 young people left Ireland in the last year, as a direct result of policies that didn’t offer them genuine opportunities, while a further 65,000 young people remain unemployed here. “Many are highly-qualified graduates who benefited from huge state investment through their education and would prefer to stay and contribute to our national recovery. But the opportunities just aren’t there. That has to change,” Mr O’Connor said. Mr. Mark Caffrey, ISSU President said: "The issue of youth unemployment and underemployment has not gone away. It is crucial that major steps are taken to ensure that opportunities are created for young people so their employment prospects improve. We need to end this 21^st Century Lockout of young people from work and opportunity.” 

Junior Cert Geography

Clara - Higher Level

This paper was a huge relief if I'm being perfectly honest! After being stressed to the maximum about it last night, ("Oh no-there's too much to study!"), I was so happy when I opened this paper.Short questions: These were fairly simple and it was the usual format - ie 20 questions with choices between two for 3 of the questions. There were only 4 short questions on the map/aerial photograph and they were easy. No curved line distance or anything!Long answer questions: When I first look at these I almost cried and then had heart palpitations! BUT, after reading through all of them twice I calmed down and circled every section I knew I could do well then chose from that. I answered Q.1, Q.4 and Q.5 which was about rainfall, freeze-thaw action and volcanoes. The only part that threw me a little here was the question on rainfall as I wasn't expecting it to come up, and I had anticipated that if it did the question would be on relief rainfall. I used my common sense though and I could remember the basics of it.Q.4 was a nice little one with mostly opinion-based writing. It was on world cities, industrial activity and the north-south divide. I loved that it asked about the "changing role of women in industry" as I meant I could just have a rant! A very enjoyable question indeed.Q.5 was pretty much what I had expected for the aerial photography and maps question. The sketch map was basically OK, I knew what I was looking for when they were asking for evidence of historic settlement and I was pleasantly surprised that a question on the reasons for tourism in the area!Overall a pretty agreeable paper and I hope everyone feels they did quite well on it. Good luck with maths!

Lorraine - Higher Level

Hey guys! Lorraine here just talking about the Geography exam because I have the spare time and I'm actually happy with it! :) I actually found the Geography exam grand! I was a bit worried going in because I did want to do well in this and there is a lot to learn for it!I went over all my notes a lot last night! I got 63% for this in the Mocks which is good for me :D I'm hoping to get the same again if not more! The Short Questions?! These are the ones I'm always hopeless at! I'm used to getting zero on these and for once I am very happy with them! I could answer everything and I was delighted! I found them great this year- Thank the lord!The short answer questions took me 30 mins to do so I felt the pressure to get my 3 long questions done in an hour and a half. I made myself stick to 30 mins each for these, 10 mins for A, 10 for B and etc :) The Long Answer questions?! When I first opened them up I have to admit, I did panic. I could do bits of almost each question but not a full question if you get me? In the end I looked at each question and I ticked off the bits I could do on each and started. Question 1 was grand I could do the whole lot it was just like volcanoes and frost mechanical weathering! I was very happy with that! Then I skipped straight to Q5 and did my ordnance survey map - I had to sketch it and I am not great at that but I actually for once think I did a OK job on it! They asked us about 3 tourist attractions for Carrick on Shannon (that was the map we were given) and we could choose from the OS map and the aerial map which was grand! There was a lovely little port function! :D Then I did Q4 which was grand too! It was about the roles of women and overpopulation and 2 results of this and all!

 Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.