On Tuesday's Takeover with Debbie Ridgard, Jack Collier was announced as the Tipperary representative for Life After The L.C.
Jack, a student at Rockwell College spoke to Debbie about his decision to opt-in for predictive grades as well as his plans for over the summer.
Getting to know your Tipperary representative
Name: Jack Collier
Age: 19
County: Tipperary
School: Rockwell College
Leaving Cert Subjects: English, Maths, Chemistry, Leaving Cert PE, Chemistry, German, Irish
Interests: I love the gym and resistance training. In the summer I work in an Outdoor Adventure Centre, everything in there is fun but surfing is by far the best. Since lockdown started, I've had to “adapt” to keep up my fitness, by attempting to start running, I suffer from a mild coffee addiction. Listening to music is my favourite by a long shot, the thing I miss the most is having no concerts or festivals on the horizon.
Do you/ did you have a part-time job? Since TY I would work in a Coffee House during the school year. Balancing school work and a job, it sounds stressful but it was a lot of fun, the start of sixth year stopped all of that. During the summer months I work in an outdoor Adventure Centre where we do Kayaking, Surfing, Rock Climbing etc. Working there is by far the best part of my year, I’d take that over any holiday.
Your typical day during Covid-19: By the time I get out of bed my family are usually eating lunch, I have a coffee and spend about an hour throwing shapes in the kitchen to get some energy before a strength session. A friend of mine lives within my 5km, I spend my afternoon annoying her and eating her food. Then spend the rest of the night watching something on Now TV or Netflix, fall asleep and rinse and repeat.
Your plan after secondary school: With a stroke of luck I’d love to go to DCU to study Multimedia. While I'm up there I’d like to try to find myself a job, and spend a bit of time away from home (I’ve had enough of family after lockdown).
Your thoughts on predictive grades: Honestly I am all for the idea, but at the same time I know for some people it's their “worst case scenario”. I feel like it was the best solution to a bad situation. For me personally, it reflects my ability much better than an exam style setting, during exams I crumble under the pressure and I never get what I want across onto the paper, my mind draws a blank and I walk out every time thinking I could have done more.
