WEDNESDAY was D-Day for almost 4,000 students here in Kerry as they nervously sat down to take the first exams of the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate.
TraleeToday.ie was out and about yesterday afternoon to talk to some of the students as they finished English Paper 1, the traditional opener of the exams.
Thankfully on the whole, there seemed to be a positive vibe amongst the students who were undoubtedly relieved to have have one less exam to worry about, if not a little stressed about the impending exams.
We talked to a few of the students to get a feel for how they got on.
Osaz Odiahi, a Junior Certificate student from Mercy Mounthawk was cautiously optimistic about how it went, and was certainly not looking forward to Thursday.
“It went grand, it was good. The first question, the comprehension, was a bit tricky, but it went grand really. For English I wasn’t too scared now, but from tomorrow on, I’ll be very scared,” he said.
The boys from CBS, The Green were full of confidence after their first Leaving Certificate paper.
“It was easy really, there was no nerves. I was more tired than anything this morning, we’re not used to getting up this early,” said Leaving Certificate student Brendan Power, who was with Baylie Walsh and Anthony Lonergan, all from CBS, The Green.
“Yeah, it was grand, it was fine really. The paper was good. It was only Paper 1 so we didn’t have to learn much for it. I’ve a lot to learn for Paper 2 tomorrow,” said Presentation LC student Aneta Gaxha.
“It was just English today, so it was okay. It’s [English Paper 2] going to be alright. There was a little bit of nerves this morning,” were the words of Junior Certificate student Ania Drawc from Presentation as she relaxed in the Square after the first English paper.
So it all begins again today and for many it’ll be a long couple of weeks before they can enjoy the summer.
Scroll down for photos by Aislinn Whelan…