Having gone through a pile of research papers and books, the best definition for this rare and elusive concept is below, as is a very approximate formula to show what it is made up of.
It doesn’t take a lot of reflection to realise that both of the components of the above formula are entirely decided by the person in question. In and of themselves, they aren’t necessarily dependent on external factors. However, we all know that in practice, a string of repeated failures or negative feedback can leave a real dent in one’s motivation.
- “Bad events aren’t my fault”. You can’t hold yourself responsible for things you have no control over. This is also called changing your explanatory style form internal to external,
- “This one narrow thing is wrong; this does not mean a global catastrophe”, i.e. go from global to specific
- “This is not a completely fixed situation, I can do something to change it”, i.e. go from permanent to impermanent.
The Leaving Cert is important in some ways. But there is a life outside of it: you don’t need to do so well in it to succeed. As a group of people with straight A1s we have no incentive to convince anyone that the Leaving Cert doesn’t matter, it is a memory test, etc.
Naturally, the more options are open to you the better. The more points you get in your Leaving Cert, the more options you have. But what option are you potentially closing off while chasing Leaving Cert points?
A huge number of our friends who did phenomenally well in school, got into their desired college course… then dropped out. Because it is not an end in itself. Numerous people dropped out of medicine, not at all because they weren’t good enough for it, but because it wasn’t for them and did very well in their careers.
We know a few architecture students who realised it wasn’t for them and moved on to other carreers; a computer science dropout as well as guys who never even went to college who subsequently developed one of the most successful startups in the world.
Even at graduate level, some of these highly accomplished people end up doing things they never thought they would, like a pair of travel-loving doctors setting up a successful jewellery business selling high quality pearl necklaces from the tropics.
The possibilities are endless and they most certainly aren’t determined by the Leaving Cert, unless you decide that they should be. The Leaving Cert is there to help you achieve your goals, not take over your life. If you would like, read more on how to do well in the Leaving Cert.
