Junior Certificate Technical Graphics
Luke - Higher Level 
I have been studying for Technical Graphics all year long, doing a little bit here and there. I used to be quite slow at doing the actual drawing (I'm a perfectionist) so I have had to speed up. I have a drawing board in my room so I have been able to practice. If you choose Tech Graph to take as an exam subject, you definitely need a good quality drawing board at home.The best thing you can do to study is complete practice exam questions. There are also videos on YouTube which explain some of the different construction techniques used. I would recommend these two methods to revise leading up to the exam.Yesterday I revised Solids and Contact, because I was pretty confident with everything else.I wasn't that nervous this morning because I knew I had everything covered. Being prepared is a good feeling, although I was still a little bit jittery just because I wanted to do well.After looking through the exam paper, I was relieved to find that it was no more difficult than any other year. Solids and Contact came up!There were 15 short questions, you had to answer 10, and 6 long questions, and answer 4. You literally only have time to answer this amount of questions, if you get time to answer more than that, you're not taking enough time!Overall it was fine, I reckon I got an A or B!
Kate - Higher Level 
Tech graph is possibly my favourite subject so I had high hopes for this exam. I want into the exam well prepared and had enough materials for the whole exam centre. I started the exam and did the short questions first. These were great, I can confidently say I did well in these and scored a high mark. Next I moved on to the long questions. My tape did not work. My page would not stick to the desk. This was a disaster. I continued on, stressed but had to keep working or I would run out of time. I answered the orthographic question, the development question, the isometric scale question and the transformation geometry question.I felt like this exam was a lot easier than exams in previous years and I am optimistic about it! One more exam to go!
Philip - Higher Level 
I'm going to start by saying this: I'm finally done, hell is over. I cannot wait until TY, its going to be great. Anyway, Technical Graphics. I started with the short questions. I didn't think these were too hard compared to other years and I'm pretty confident I got at least ten. Then I started the long questions. First I did question 1, when I first looked at this question I thought it looked pretty hard but as I did it I think it wasn't too hard and I think I got most of the marks. Then I moved onto question 2, the rotations. Usually I don't find these questions too hard but I thought this question was particularly difficult. Drawing out the plan went fine, it was the rotation part that was the problem. I did the left side of the gate easily enough, the side with the star. My problem was with the other side. Any time I tried to bring it over it went to the same place as the left gate.Anyway, before I had time to do anything else (I probably would have brought it up to the other side) the time for that question was over so I had to move on. I moved to question 3. I'm usually pretty good at these questions and I think I got most of the marks from it. I got this done in more or less the half hour. Finally I did question 4, solids in contact. I'm pretty sure this went well and I got it done with time to spare. After this I went back to question two but I didn't have time to do anything,really.So that was Technical Graphics, my last exam. good luck to everyone still doing exams!!
Shane - Higher Level 
It actually pains me to write this (sob).So. I was dreading this exam. However, to my surprise, it went worse than I possibly thought it could of. I started out on a high note. The short questions were fantastic and I did 12 (I think it was 12, but I am not sure). Then I did Q1 on orthographic projections. This was a nice question and I flew through it, finishing just on time. However, things took a bad turn for question 2. I spent so much time trying to draw the pentagon, and when I did, I moved on to rotating it. This was a nightmare. I had never seen a question like this before and I could not make it work. When I saw points going onto the wrong side of the gate, and starting the rotation after about 40 minutes, I jumped ship and said I would go back if I had time. Sadly, I didn’t.Moving straight to Q5, I had my hopes lifted when I saw that this question was one that I could manage just fine and surprisingly finish on time (I always go over time on this). Then I got to the ellipse. I had thought Q2 was bad for me. If that was bad, this was apocalyptic. Sadly for me, we had not done the method to finding the major axis when given the minor auxiliary circle (we did do how to find the minor when given the major auxiliary circle and a point) so I was scratching my head in dismay. Then I just gave up hope and guessed my way through it in the hope of getting random marks.Honestly, I could be overreacting but I think this could have gone A LOT better. I am hoping for a B, like what I got in the mocks but I can’t tell if that is feasible. Anywho, I am delighted to be finished the exam and subject I personally found was created by Satan himself to make people (by people I mean me) cry. I have one exam left and I wish anyone and everyone the best tomorrow in Spanish and Metalwork!
Joe - Higher Level 
I knew timing would be my biggest opponent for the exam as in the mocks I had struggled with the time restrictions. Despite this, I enjoy the subject and have a fairly good knowledge of it.I started on question six aka the pig, it was an interesting question on circles, parabolas and ellipses. I was pleased with how it turned out. I then moved onto question five, it was a transformation question. I had scored well on similar questions in the past and thought I did well.Then I did question four, where you had to draw the plan and elevation of a strimmer guard then draw two surface developments. I was unsure how well I answered it.Then I moved onto question three on axonometric projection. I used the axonometric scale method and it was going well until I noticed I was running out of time and still had the shirt questions left. I got most the question done and then had to move on.I rushed through the short question and got 10 done just before the exam finished!
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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate German
Kate - Higher Level
German is a subject that I thoroughly enjoy. Going into the exam I was incredibly stressed. This was my third last exam and I'm so exhausted I did not put the proper study time into it. I was most stressed about letter topics and possibly listening comprehensions. The exam started and everything was fine until I got to the final listening comprehension. This focused on some sort of class election and I used my knowledge of class elections to fill in some space that I missed. I moved onto reading which I found easier than some of the past years. The reading was quite easy but had some strange tenses. Finally I moved onto the letter. I wrote 4 pages for my letter. The letter focused on pets, summer plans, internet shopping, school trip and school uniform. I found this somewhat tricky as the topics were so specific that you could hardly vary (ie. When pocketmoney comes up you can write about jobs, housework, etc. But you can't write too much about a new pet cat). Finally I wrote my postcard. This was a lovely postcard about a school exchange. I found this easier than previous postcards and was overjoyed that it wasn't a note. Overall I'm pretty happy with how that went and am going into my final two exams on a positive note!
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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Home Economics
Olivia - Higher Level
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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Religion
Kate - Higher Level
Over the last few days my study has been focused on History, German and Science so I had not put any effort into Religion. This was a mistake and I knew it was but to me science, history and German require more work and matter more. After science, I spent two hours cramming the religion curriculum into my head. Entering the exam I was very stressed. Once I opened the paper it was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible.I flicked through the paper and circled the questions I would do and wrote some small bullet points for each question. I started the paper; short questions - easy, picture question - okay, document question - impossible. I had to forget about that and leave it to the end. I was so confused about stewardship, was it the CSPE stewardship or a different kind? I moved on and did questions 3,4,5 and 6. I thought that these questions were a lot easier than 1 and 2 (plus they were questions that you could waffle you way through). I then answered the essay question on how faith influences the lives of believers. I thought this was a wonderful question and produced a five page essay about Islam and it's impact on the lives of Muslims. Finally I returned to the document and painfully went through it. I tried my best and think I produced a good exam considering the study I did.
Philip - Higher Level
Now this is an exam everyone did a lot of study for! (sarcasm, so, so much sarcasm) Anyway I got short questions done quickly and I think I got at least ten. Next I did section two and I did every part so I had a spare. This was mostly total bullology but that's what the examiners want! Then I moved on to section 3. This went ok and I think I did some pretty good answers. Next I did section 4 question 1, 4, 5 and 6. These are usually the hardest questions in the paper and although this was still true I think all in all I did well enough.Finally I did section 5 and I did question 2 on Jesus and the type of Messiah that was expected. I did just under a page and a half. Then I had about five minutes to spare and I went back and started question 2 on section 4 but I didn't get that finished.Good look everyone whose doing home ec or German tomorrow, my next(and last) exam is tg so good luck to everyone doing TG and woodwork on Monday.!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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate Science
Chloe - Higher Level 
So science was my second last exam and I was really dreading it. There is so much information to retain and I was nervous that I hadn't studied some of the chapters as well as I should have.To begin I went through the exam question by question and I came across a few that at first I wasn't quite sure of but then the answers dawned on me when I checked over it again. The question on germination was a disaster for me, as honestly I hadn't revised it and so I just took a complete guess. Other than that I feel I was comfortable enough with most of the questions and I'm happy with how it went.It definitely feels brill to have the exams almost done and dusted with just one more to go for me which is woodwork! See ye on Monday for that!!
Shane - Higher Level
Ok. I was dreading this exam, which sounds ridiculous because I had put A LOT of study time and effort into it. I made sure I did a really good coursework B and spent hours checking my lab manual, writing experiments, re-writing experiments and making sure I had them all. So I was a little bit (a huge bit) on edge. However, when that exam paper was put in front of me, I rejoiced at how it was a very nice paper. I was convinced after the beauty that was Business and History, the SEC would want to wipe the smile off of my face. Yet, they only made it bigger.The biology section was a little harder than previous years but was very manageable and all students who studied should have done well. I was in my element (insert wink emoji) doing the Chemistry section because that is my stand out favourite part of the course. Physics was also a great section but they put the weirdest experiment on it! I cannot wait to do Chemistry and Physics next year after how that went:) I’m just insanely happy with Science and I am looking forward to recovering from this week now that I’m off until Monday!!! Best of luck to you all doing exams tomorrow!
Kate - Higher Level
I am generally an A student in science so I felt quite prepared for this exam. I spent hours last night learning chemical formulas, balanced chemical equations, formulas and units. To my shock horror not one question on chemical formulas or equations came up and only one question on physic formulas. Other than that the exam was a lot better than anticipated.
I looked over the exam first and then I answered chemistry, physics and finally my least favourite - biology. I answered every question without much trouble. Overall I thought that this was a lovely exam and I am quite happy with how I did.
Philip - Higher Level
So I didn't find this paper too hard, a lot of pretty tough questions but I think I managed to get an answer out for most of them. I worked through the paper in the order it was given and didn't find much trouble throughout. I had went through past papers last night and the marking schemes to check my answers. There I made a lot of mistakes but I knew them today and I was lucky enough that a good few of them came up. I did struggle with the questions on circuits but apart from that I think it went well all in all.It went better than I expected, I was really dreading this exam yesterday!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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie
Junior Certificate French
Chloe - Higher Level
Wow. This was such a nice paper in my eyes!So firstly we tackled the listening, there wasn’t any really challenging vocab here although I honestly haven’t a clue what collided with that truck and I also wasn’t sure where Christopher was being collected, but other than that I thought it went well for me!Next was the reading comprehensions. For the mock I remember spending a ridiculous amount of time trying to find the answers but today I was relieved when I was finding answers quite easily. I thought the back to school comprehension was the trickiest and I also didn’t know what the guys mother worked as for the very last comprehension, I honestly have never seen the word ‘usine’ before and I actually thought it was a typo of the word ‘cuisine’ so I wrote down that her mother worked in a kitchen (I know, I know). Other than they were quite simple I thought!Then came the postcard and letter. My postcard went really well but my letter was a bit dodgy in places just with stringing a few of the sentences together but other than that it was okay and I think I used a good range of phrases and vocab here!Overall French went so well, I was expecting a more difficult paper but thankfully this was definitely a kinder year.All the best for science tomorrow guys!
Philip - Higher Level
As I said french is my worst subject but I don't think I did too badly on this paper. The listening was pretty much the same level as others I've done. For the most part the same goes for the comprehension, except for the one about the people who had their house broken into, which I struggled with. In the postcard and letter it's difficult to know how you did and despite not knowing some words that were needed I think I twisted it in well enough, like putting church in instead of cathedral.Finally the letter. Luckily for me I hadn't been relying on an informal letter and this letter was also general enough. Overall I don't think I did badly in this paper but, especially in French, I don't like saying how I did before I get the results.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.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie