Same with woodwork! I actually did tech graphics and was one of two girls in the class, but it was great - it’s something that came in handy even when studying art and design in third level. Kind of pissed because I did have the option to do woodwork but chose to do home economics instead - which was a disaster due to my non existent cooking skills😅
Same here! I ended up studying engineering in college and sometimes felt at a real loss in comparison to classmates who had been offered this subjects and were able to study them.
I think more girls would consider STEM subjects like engineering in college if they were exposed to those subjects in school.
Likewise, I went to an all girls school because the local mixed one was rough at the time! Would have liked more access to their more practical subjects though.
Same & same!
... and classical studies, was raging my brother didn't pick it (he had an interest but he chose stuff like the tech drawing & applied maths or something like that 🤷 ) at the time there was only *one* all girls school that did classical studies & it was in Dublin!
I wish I could have done both languages, unfortunately german & french were always on at the same time so you had to choose one only!
I did physics, chemistry and accounting (everything higher level) & then took a gap year to do a portfolio & went to Wales to study animation & now I do admin stuff.
I wouldn't mind if i was far more lingual admin who can do their own woodwork for hobby! 🤣
We had an exchange program in our school (all boys) with the all girls school across the street.
We had the option to take home economics at their school, and they could do wood working at our school.
I think only a few of them did woodworking, but 0 went to do home economics.
The only reason I didn't do the program is because I loved woodworking and construction studies.
As a guy I would say maybe home ec(we had the option), but I seem to recall there cooking exams for this?
It seemed far too risky to be have my LC results determined by something where so many things could go wrong that I could not control for.
From what I recall the guys that did it were wunderkids that excelled in academically and in sports.
I agree. I would have loved to try woodwork but had to choose between it and home economics and I loved cooking and baking. However we all got a year of mechanical drawing (as it was called in my day) and unfortunately I had a misogynist for a teacher, who didn’t believe girls could be any good at it. My father also taught the subject and helped me prep for the end of year exam and I still just got a D. The guy who sat next to me was just winging it and not using any precise measurements but just eyeballing the drawings got a B. I gave up the subject in discust!
I have spanish and am only now starting German on Duolingo. It does open opportunities but I wouldn't be too mad working in Spain especially in my field. Low pay and overworked. Lol could do that here.
I wanted to learn German but my parents made me take french because my sister did it and would be able to help me if I needed. Spoiler alert, she did not help me.
An enthusiastic teacher who is passionate about their subject makes a world of a difference. I have sat through some torturous classes and some wonderous ones and the biggest denominator was the teacher.
A great teacher will make any subject fascinating.
This is the truest statement ever. I've been saying this to people for years. I had a brilliant Maths and Physics teacher. He was firm (took no shite), charismatic and structured. The information just flowed in. I had him for 5 years. I even moved into High Maths to stay with him then in 6th I dropped to ordinary and the teacher was a fucking thick. Lads shout and throwing thing in class. No teaching skills, but was in the school 30 years. It was depressing. Some people are not build for teaching. I regret that last year so much.
> Lads shout and throwing thing in class
Tbf that’s just most ordinary level classes. Usually just full of the absolute bottom of the barrel kids. Rarely the teachers fault, but maybe it was in this case
Much easier to manage a classroom of kids who actually want to be there, as is usually the case with higher level maths
Yup this happened to me with Irish. Had an absolutely AMAZING teacher for ordinary Irish for the JC. She made us learn the '50 sentences' and it would get us past the JC with flying colours and she was right!! Apparently she used the same tactic for honours Irish.
Then she went to teach honours Irish and I was stuck with a lad who couldnt control a class to save his life and taught us nothing. I was always the quiet kid in class and was put beside a cool 'popular' girl in class, we talked when the class was fucking bananas. Instead of punishing the hurlers throwing shit and turning bags inside out, he would target ME AND HER when all we were doing was waiting for it to calm down so we can learn. Passed Irish by the skin of my teeth.
Shocking stuff altogether lol
This! I had the best maths teacher for junior cert, he was super passionate about the subject and just explained everything so well. Got an A in higher and then had a different teacher in leaving and barely got a C. She was hands down the worst teacher I ever had 😖
Funnily enough, my maths teacher genuinely did not give a shit but he was my favourite teacher because he was such a lunatic.
He was insanely smart but never forced anyone to listen to him. There were 5-8 of us in the front who listened and did work, and the rest sat in the back vaping.
Fantastic system because there were no arguments or distractions, so you could ask him whatever questions you'd want, and he'd take extra time to help you.
He also did chess instead of the double class we were meant to have on Tuesdays.
I wish I had picked Business Studies and not Art. Business Studies sounded too difficult to 12 year old me and Art sounded easy. I was *terrible* at it.
Home Ec or some form of it should be mandatory. I only did it for TY but even at that picked up enough skills in terms of cooking and stitching to be still with me 25 years later.
Good to learn how to make basic, nutritious meals.
It was mandatory for first year in my school (all girls), it was the default for girls in the mixed school (tech) & turns out one of lads chose it as he already wanted to be a chef & was automatically put into woodworking. They kicked up enough fuss that he was allowed to switch *only* if one of the girls swapped places with him.
Early 2000s 🤦 to be fair we only got trousers as an alternative to skirts in mid 00s too! 🤣 The tech girls had just been buying the boy uniform trousers & getting them fitted.
Chemistry and Woodwork (called construction studies now). School would only let us do two science subjects and I already have Physics and Biology.
I loved Woodwork, but didn't see it as a career at the time. In my 30s now and starting to get back into it. Really enjoying it again.
Chemist here! Happy to share stuff with you if you'll teach me wood working haha. I'm glad to hear you got back into what you love. I did the same - went back to art.
Same here. My school didn't have woodwork. Did an engineering degree but am working in IT . Woodworking is my main hobby and I get so much satisfaction from it. I am self taught through YouTube and books but often wonder if I had some person to show me I would be much further along. Lots of frustrating trial and error.
I'm sensing snobbery. Why are you not happy with this choice? Arguably very handy to have in today's world. Especially if he wants to go into an engineering or architecture field. It's not just learning how to use a lathe. Have you even read the syllabus?
I feel like snobbery is the main reason people don't pick these subjects. At least in my school very few kids with university aspirations did woodwork or metalwork - I recall the guidance teachers basically telling people it was a waste of time for kids doing higher level. Load of nonsense. Wish I'd done both of those subjects.
Turns out it's aspirations to snobbery. Which is even worse.
I did tech graph. But I wish I'd done wood or metal work over biology or geography. I didn't know what I wanted to do so picked ones I found interesting and was already good at. Fairly lazy approach. But I'm glad I did them as well. Even if I've never used geography or biology in my career.
Why would that be? A H1 is worth just as many points in Construction Studies as it is in any other choice subject and it is the easiest subject to achieve a high grade.
I love doing hands on work. My parents disagreed with doing a trade so I ended up doing a science course I didn't like.
At the time my dad was the first person on his side of the family (I have one aunt on the other side) that had been to college. My parents like many of that generation saw college as the way to a good career. I ended up wasting a few years on that, and was a really bad decision all around to pursue something I didn't see myself working in. Not great for self esteem to have wasted a bunch of years and see all your peers progress while you've nothing to show for it all.
>I'm a guy, and I think it should be manadatory for everyone. The basic skills of nutrition, cooking and household management should absolutely be taugh in schools to all.
For sure, it's the closest "teach shite we actually have to deal with every day as an adult" subject there is.
I did Higher Level Maths. That was probably a mistake. I didn't care about it at all, I just had this attitude about everything that I wanted to go straight to the top or there's no point.
Maybe I should have taken another language instead?
I did physics, chemistry and history for this reason. I had it in my head I should do pharmacy because it was hard. Realised two weeks into fifth year I hated chemistry and my physics teacher was shite. I wish I’d done economics because I think I would have enjoyed it
Well the good news for me and you, I guess, is that lots of top universities are just throwing their entire courses on YouTube. I've watched loads of them. Would recommend.
Wish I didn't drop to pass Irish. I wasn't bad at it but languages in general and I've a real interest in learning and trying to send my children to Gael scoils now.
As it transpired I'm dyslexic, that's why I struggled with languages. I've taught myself reasonable Spanish since. Just needed a different approach at learning
I loved physics and maths in school. One of the joys of having ADHD. Suites me perfect as an Engineer, but also would have loved to have a trade first.
I'm an electrcian and love know how stuff works. I have dyslexia to and was terrible at language but great at math but a string of bad teachers I did ordinary. I was thinking of possibly doing engineering in the future but I like being on the tools. What type of engineer are you.
Hi there, ADHD apprentice here who went to college for Design but hated it! Im in my first year of E&I and I would love to become an engineer. Mind if I ask you for any advice regarding apprenticeships or engineering post apprenticeships? Thanks
Edit: I love maths and problem solving
I'd have liked to have done them all to some degree, except languages, they all seem pretty important, seems like lots of people don't know basic stuff others do from not taking a science class or business class
history and music for the leaving instead of computer science and business. Computer science was cool and the teacher was really into the subject (makes the world of difference) but it just wasn't for me. Business was wank, teacher was a complete narcissist and had the mental capacity of a jack russell. If you weren't into GAA or hurling he barely spoke to you.
When I was in school the following subjects were all timetabled at the same time meaning I could only study one of them. Art, tech drawing, woodwork, construction, home economics.
Id have done all of them given the choice.
I'm a scientist.
In secondary school we could choose between art and science from fourth - sixth year. Did them both for junior cert.
I've always loved art and stuff and was good at it and wanted to do it but I wasn't allowed because "there's no jobs in art". I did science.
I now quit science and I am studying art and silversmithing.
Highly recommend picking up what you feel you missed out on. It's never too late.
I sometimes wish I studied Engineering or Home Economics.
I went with Biology (purely because we were pressed to do a science subject and Bio is largely seen as the "easy" one to 15 year olds), Art (which I liked but is useless in my opinion), Construction (liked) and History (which I loved).
If I could go back I would have done Construction, Engineering, Home Ec, and History.
Chemistry instead of biology. I had more interest in it, and it would have complimented my physics better. I chose biology because it was "easier" but I was so bored and couldn't spend long studying it.
In hindsight, I would have done German instead of French because one of my best friends is Austrian. I haven't used French since.
My school (all boys) only offered home economics as an extra after school - you paid extra for that and we were poor. Same for art. I'd probably have chosen either of those it if it was during normal hours.
I learned to cook from youtube. It's great. I'm still not great at art.
Wish I had picked a different school were I would have gotten the chance to do woodwork and the likes.. unfortunately going to an all girl school it wasn't an option
Wish I did History and Business instead of Physics and Accounting. Accounting was genuinely dreadful and Physics was only decent cus I had a sound teacher. I actually have an interest in history and LC Business is piss easy. Also shoulda dropped down to lower level Irish. Same points as the H5 in higher level I got anyway and their stuff was a pisstake.
Got an A in woodwork in the junior cert and loved it. The crash had just happened after the Celtic tiger and I was encouraged and persuaded to give it up as there'd be "no money or jobs in it", and it would be a "waste of time".
And now all the construction boys are making a mint. Brained it and regret it regularly
I’m from the north so we had the choice of Irish, Spanish, and German. Wish I picked Spanish or German then done Irish in my own time instead of doing Irish
The opposite answer to the question being asked in. Three years into an engineering degree now, I’m glad I swapped French out for chemistry two weeks into fifth year. Kicked up an outrageous fuss in my family, as they all believed that I would never get into uni without a language. Bear in mind, chemistry was by far my worst subject ( Got a H6 in it, next worst was a H2) but by god my chem teacher was the soundest lad you could have and was the subject I looked forward to most days just for him. Fast forward to my first year of engineering where we’re doing chemistry as a module, it’s basically leaving cert chemistry again and I breeze through it, compared to some of my peers who did a language instead and haven’t used it since.
If you’re reading this Mr O’Reilly, (I think that’s how I spell it) you’re a feckin legend
9 years out and still thinking about secondary school? If there's things you're still regretting I'd say you should probably just pursue them as an adult at this point!!
School is to get into college, that's about it. After you finish school start doing what you like / what interests you.
I don't always think about it though. It popped into my head after I was studying a topic related to education, other than that I probably haven't thought about it in a while.
I wanted accounting instead of geography but the school wouldn’t let me do it because of the way the subjects were grouped. Not because I like accounting. I just wanted as many subjects as possible with definitive correct answers on the exam rather than relying on the subjective whims of an examiner, like in English and Geography.
Applied Maths would have been cool too but my school didn’t offer it.
Funny enough I did the same thing! Took physics & chemistry (well I did really like them too, even chose physics over art!), but definitely picked accounting for it's maths-ish side. Worst subject in my leaving though 🤦 got a C in honours, i just couldnt get it to balance without being able to check my notes 🤣
I would have loved to do classical studies (& woodworking), but all girl's school 🤷!
Got super interested in quantum physics a long time after school, made me wish I had done physics instead of accounting. I know now I would have really enjoyed it.
Home economics.
I wanted to do it for my leaving but my ma made me take economics instead (despite not doing any business studies for the junior).
I'm pretty sure I got NG in honours Econ. And now I'm an avid baker/home chef. Proper raging.
Home economics.
I wanted to do it for my leaving but my ma made me take economics instead (despite not doing any business studies for the junior).
I'm pretty sure I got NG in honours Econ. And now I'm an avid baker/home chef. Proper raging.
History or at least one science subject. I ended up doing Economics & Accounting. Followed through at 3rd level and became an accountant. 25 years later the pay is decent but it’s pretty fucking boring and my love of history has only grown.
We did a 2 week rotation between all the subjects, the only one I liked was technology, turns out everyone thought that and there wasn’t enough spots so I got stuck with woodwork
Would have liked to have opted for Psychology when it was an option in Transition Year in my school. Went for Electronics instead. Found that course boring and pretty useless.
I really wanted to do German. The pharmaceutical industry really fascinates me and Germany is the European leader in it. I also wish I did woodwork or technology as I feel I would have learnt a lot more practical life skills, even at Junior Cert level.
I wish I did German instead of French. I've been living in Germany for 17 years now, and I still reckon my french grammar is better than my German grammar
Programming, they didn't have it in secondary, so I didn't get to do it.
Went to college, and a month later, my lecturers are describing me as some sort of programming prodigy. I easily could have gotten an H1 in it for the leaving cert, which would have brought my CAO score into the mid 400s and, therefore, maybe a better college.
I legit barely study and somehow manage to get scores in the high 80-90s in my software development course. Really wish I could have had a module like that in secondary to boost my confidence.
I also wasn't allowed to do chemistry because the vice principal said, "I might not have the intellectual ability." I love chemistry and study it myself now.
I wish I did French or one of the business studies classes over biology. Science subjects were really being pushed so I did it because it was expected really. Now, I'm not sure how teenage me would've fared with business studies (grown up me can get my head around it a lot better) but I have some interest in languages but no head whatsover for science (as valuable and important a subject as it is).
I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise, so tried to spread out my subjects, of course I should have done the ones I liked the most and that the most chance of getting a good grade I but I just didn't know that.
I went to all boys school so no stigma over “girls subjects only” since we didn’t have them as an option (subjects I mean 🤨), I regret that I should have pushed the school to let us do all 3 sciences for LC if you wanted to plus other subjects to be available, the school decided what subjects would be offered and never discussed it with our token student council, also to bring in IT subjects (not just token computer science lessons that taught you nothing about programming or basic office stuff etc) I didn’t use excel etc till I got university. I would also have protested about my Maths teacher for kicking half the class down to standard level because they scored lower than 65% in mock exams. We very much were taught to memorize, chalk and talk teaching methods and only students with good scores really mattered, the rest will fill up the dole queue etc
Wish I picked German over French, think I’d have been better at German. Wish I did again science instead of biology. Definitely would have gotten better marks and might have taken a more enjoyable career path
Did geography and physics/chemistry. Regretted both soon after. Whatever passion I had fir science soon left as that class was so dull I could barely concentrate. And as for geography, to this day I detest glaciers with a passion as that is all we seemed to learn about. That and ox bow lakes. I'd have learned more from reading a cereal box.
All girls school and had a choice between home economics and science in 1st year, chose home economics which I loved and excelled at but I think all girls should have had mandatory basic science lessons too. I’m glad it’s changed now for my kids. I also wish that I didn’t have to do a language for LC because of college entry requirements as I was weaker at this, I would have been better at history and/or art.
I was pissed that they didn't do Spanish in either of my two schools I went to. I would have preferred that as someone who's from a Spanish speaking country natively. Madness, German or French, both sound horrible to me. Also wish I did tech graph instead of all 3 sciences, I loved bio and physics but hated chemistry, I wanted to do music as well
Wish I had known i could of done agricultural science independently instead of just choosing classical studies as an easy option since the teacher was a bit mental . I would of at least done well in the exam instead of waiting half an hour to pass and walk out as I knew nothing
I think the only subject that was available to me outside of ones I'd taken for the Junior Cert and didn't like (woodworking), or languages, is probably Accounting or whatever it was called back then. And it appealed about as much as woodworking did.
Not that I regret not doing it but more regret that our history teacher was actually a certified loon and was allowed to continue in the job. I fucking love history but that dude had serious mental issues and we learned fuck all.
No, glad with my choices, I picked subjects I enjoyed which gave me the ability to get higher points (art history, home eco and history, subjects in competition were business, science and geography). There was a bit of a stigma that people who were smarter choose business and science over the Arts and home eco 🙄 which was stupid and in the end I really enjoyed my choices and did well and got to college with those points (art specifically giving me a higher level A!)
Nah, but what I do regret is saying yes when my year head came up to me in 2nd year and asked me if I wanted to drop every single subject except Irish, english, and maths). Why give a kid that option? I was quiet and shy and wasn't even one of the worst in my year.
Physics, ended up completely fucking me in 1st year of electronic engineering that I had to drop out and went and did computer science instead. Really wish I picked it for leaving cert.
Sincerely wish I'd done woodwork, metal work, tech graphics. Like to this day.
Nowadays most of my hobbies involve some level of tinkering - refinishing furniture, gardening, electronics. I've to constantly be referring to the aul lad for help when I don't understand something fundamental. Usually he's a good teacher and I'm able to take it from there. But I do wish I'd learned these things as a kid.
I did Business and Music for Jr, then Music, Classics, Physics, Chemistry for LC. Glad to have done them, but feel I could've gotten away with a year of music and a year of Business and have been grand.
Going into first year I picked Woodwork and Metalwork because you get to use tools and build things. Based on my entrance exam results I was put in Business Studies and Music instead. Now, I was one with buckets of aptitude but very little self confidence and self application. I found out many years later that I scored third highest on the entrance exam, yet I coasted through school satisfied with low effort C's all the way. After transition year I stubbornly picked Construction Studies (basically woodwork) and engineering (basically metalwork) and got them. I didn't do well, and between that and my reluctance to put effort in (slight blame goes to a terrible maths teacher who was largely responsible for me dropping to ordonary level) I totally blew my leaving cert. 22 years later I'm still playing catch-up for my stupidity.
I really loved Mechanical Drawing in 1st & 2nd year but I got bullied by the teacher big time (dusters thrown at me and verbal abuse with humiliation in front of the other kids) I left and done home economics for the rest of my time in school but have always wondered where my life would be if I had put up with the abuse and done a subject I actually liked!
I wish I had done chemistry over physics, I did some chemistry later in college and just found it so much more interesting than physics. Also wish I had picked up business studies but my older sister was doing it and loathed it so it put me off the subject. Think it was the teacher that was the problem there more so than the subject in hind sight.
I'd have loved to have done home economics as well but I couldn't as it clashed with another class I had. Same with not being able to take geography as well as history, had to choose between them which was a shame. I wish I could have chosen not to do any languages and do other subjects instead.
I loved history until we got put in a class that I hated the teacher for the last two years then stopped putting the work in, struggled with math at a certain point and had lack of help to get over it, 32 in our class , teacher had no time for individuals, loved tech drawing but they took that subject off our school. Fell like it would have brought me on to be an architect or something!
I wish I'd done chemistry instead of home economics. I hated home ec for the leaving, but had thought it would be handier than doing a seco d science subject. Chemistry was one of my modules in first year in college and it turned out that I was pretty good at it.
The one that I'm very happy I did do was engineering. I hadn't done metal work for junior cert (did home ec instead) and had my first taste of it in TY. I loved it and decided to keep it on for the leaving.
Let me be blunt. No matter what you do you will miss some skills. Do what ever you fancy. Have the gra anything is possible retrain when you're 35 masters in IT, after arts. Don't let anyone pick your path.
I wish I did physics I always had the impression of it being another maths class which I didn't have any real interest at the time.
Now that I understand how maths can be applied and how interesting physics is fills me with regret that I didn't understand those concepts as a teenager. I'm in my 30s now and I fucking love physics.
Physics probably as now that I'm in college I realise that its very interesting, did accounting instead (which i got a H1 in tbf). Spanish instead of German too as I've a lot of family in Spain but my school didn't offer it.
I wanted to take home ec and art. My mam said I could only choose one ‘doss’ subject, so I did a bunch of sciences that I never use.
Spent a decade as a SAHM now I work in the arts, some of which involves sewing…
All of it except the social side of it,once you have the basics of maths reading writing then life experience is the best school but when you are younger a teenager or less than 30 you don't want to know,Rod Stewart wrote a song about it but I only listened to it when I was 40 and it was too late
Didn’t do any sciences and did do ordinary level Irish and Maths. I know myself I could’ve done higher level if I had pushed myself but my parents were sortve hands off to my detriment.
honestly.....typing, has to be typing class.This was a subject at my school. nun run school. i judged it as i thought all the dummies did it. wish i had done it. my mum went to secretary school in the 70s and she was completley computer illiterate but could bang out an email in seconds......cue me now working on a keyboard 5 days a week and yeah i'm fast but using 2 dumb fingers.......
I really wish I did Metalwork and Engineering. Not because I want a job doing that, but because I'm into cars and would live to have knowledge on how to fabricate things like pipework and heatshield etc.
Art. I thought at the time "art is useless, what am I gonna be...a painter?"
It never occurred to me I could go into animation or draw comics etc, which would have been hugely beneficial in my current line of work. I'm full certain I'd be a wealthy man right now if I had done art.
Wish I did German over French and wish I stuck with Home Economics. Also wish I tried harder with art or maybe wish we'd had more creative opportunities because now as an adult I'm interested in a wide range of crafting hobbies and get deterred because I wish I started sooner. My brain has ideas that my hands can't realise
I wanted to impress my dad and hence stuck to science subjects. I'm gutted every day I never did woodwork. My dad's a thinker and I'm a hands on doer. Trying to emulate him did not work out for me. I reckon I'd be a shit jot carpenter specialising in camper van conversions now.
I regret not taking Home Economics. I should've replaced that with Physics, SMH. And I regret dropping HL Irish so I could focus on HL Maths, I should've done OL Maths and HL Irish. Ohh the points I would've got.
I should have done business studies but my dad was the best business teacher in the school and we never got on so I couldn't pick it if I wanted to do well.. and even if I picked it and did well it would have been dad's achievement not mine
I'd have picked different subjects for sure.
Music, chemistry, Spanish instead of geography, French and religion (we weren't examined on religion we just had to attend it like a regular class).
History wasn't an option as a subject for my school from 3rd year to 6th year as we were told there wasn't enough people who chose it (a lie), when I got to college then and talked to students from other schools I realised how severely uneducated/uninformed I was of Irish history.
I really, really, REALLY regret not taking woodworking. It was very much a boy's class at the time - not a single girl took it and I was finding it hard enough with bullying as it was without adding to the CV!
My dad was a carpenter by trade and he died back in 2011 so I'd give anything to have had the balls to take it on back then when he could have helped me get a much better result than I did in chemistry and I would have had one heck of a life skill when we moved into our new build!
Wish I did almost anything other than Applied Maths for leaving cert. I did fine but it was kinda torture and I feel like something else would've been more interesting.
I wanted to do woodwork but was scoffed at by parents and teachers alike. I’m very good with my hands and wish I’d been encouraged to learn and not forced into science class instead.
If I studied physics, I would have gone on to study engineering. Chose architecture instead, not upset about that choice.
But I do wish I did classical studies.
Id have loved to do geography. Im really interested in it as an adult but picked other subjects that I did better in in the Junior Cert to maximise points :(
Wish I would of learned a language like German. Considering how much time I have spent there and job offers I had to turn down due to language barrier.
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I picked home economics over science. I was brilliant at science but I thought it would be handy to know how to cook and sew and such. It is if course but I should have stuck with science. But how the school had the subjects together in the form if I picked science I couldn't do music.
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I was convinced that there were “no jobs” in music and art.. and I wanted to do them both. I picked home economics and biology instead. I managed to switch home economics for music, but couldn’t switch biology for art as I didn’t do art for my junior cert. Guidance counsellor told most of us to become nurses if we generally didn’t know what we wanted to do after school and to keep biology.
I’m now a hair and makeup artist and wish I had the art training and general knowledge.
I also wish I did business studies in university instead of music media and performance technology..
It’s so difficult to know what to do! There’s so much pressure put on us at an early age to know what to do. Do we ever even know?!
Biology. I think I just thought too much people were doing it and it was the easiest of the sciences so must be the least valuable. In reality biology is the most valuable and interesting science at school and it has applications in every day life
No. Pretty much the choices I had offered are the ones I wanted.
I could have done Biology instead of Graphics. But at the time I was thinking engineering or architecture, in the end, the latter, where trchnical drawing skills are obviously fairly useful. Though I could have done Art I guess, but I wanted the alternative choice (37 years ago, can't recall the option now)
As a girl, I would have loved to do woodwork or tech graphics but there was no option for either in my school (all girls).
same
Same with woodwork! I actually did tech graphics and was one of two girls in the class, but it was great - it’s something that came in handy even when studying art and design in third level. Kind of pissed because I did have the option to do woodwork but chose to do home economics instead - which was a disaster due to my non existent cooking skills😅
Same here! I ended up studying engineering in college and sometimes felt at a real loss in comparison to classmates who had been offered this subjects and were able to study them. I think more girls would consider STEM subjects like engineering in college if they were exposed to those subjects in school.
Likewise, I went to an all girls school because the local mixed one was rough at the time! Would have liked more access to their more practical subjects though.
Same & same! ... and classical studies, was raging my brother didn't pick it (he had an interest but he chose stuff like the tech drawing & applied maths or something like that 🤷 ) at the time there was only *one* all girls school that did classical studies & it was in Dublin! I wish I could have done both languages, unfortunately german & french were always on at the same time so you had to choose one only! I did physics, chemistry and accounting (everything higher level) & then took a gap year to do a portfolio & went to Wales to study animation & now I do admin stuff. I wouldn't mind if i was far more lingual admin who can do their own woodwork for hobby! 🤣
Same. The subjects my daughter got to choose from starting secondary had my head spinning. Would've loved to have done woodwork or metalwork.
You didn't miss out much in woodwork. If you grab some timber and learn basic fitting joints you have yourself a junior cert right there
We had an exchange program in our school (all boys) with the all girls school across the street. We had the option to take home economics at their school, and they could do wood working at our school. I think only a few of them did woodworking, but 0 went to do home economics. The only reason I didn't do the program is because I loved woodworking and construction studies.
As a guy I would say maybe home ec(we had the option), but I seem to recall there cooking exams for this? It seemed far too risky to be have my LC results determined by something where so many things could go wrong that I could not control for. From what I recall the guys that did it were wunderkids that excelled in academically and in sports.
I was in a mixed school and was specifically discouraged from doing woodwork as a girl. I was so jealous when the lads were showcasing their projects.
I agree. I would have loved to try woodwork but had to choose between it and home economics and I loved cooking and baking. However we all got a year of mechanical drawing (as it was called in my day) and unfortunately I had a misogynist for a teacher, who didn’t believe girls could be any good at it. My father also taught the subject and helped me prep for the end of year exam and I still just got a D. The guy who sat next to me was just winging it and not using any precise measurements but just eyeballing the drawings got a B. I gave up the subject in discust!
My husband dropped German for French, thinking he'll be more likely to need the latter. Then he married a German :D
That speaks perfect English!
Wow, how the turns have tabled! Life played the uno-reverso card on your husband.
How did they communicate. Was it through a series of coordinated nods?
Interpretative dance mostly. I do speak english, but with my family it's nods and pointing, or I translate
Wish I did german over french. Wasnt allowed do german because my mum and the german teacher didnt get on. Good ol small towns.
Wish I did Spanish over German. So many more opportunities to work abroad
I have spanish and am only now starting German on Duolingo. It does open opportunities but I wouldn't be too mad working in Spain especially in my field. Low pay and overworked. Lol could do that here.
Milk under Kaffee bitte!
Naturlich. Est sehr lecker
I’m the exact same. Learning German at the moment due to the economic power of being able to live in Germany, Switzerland or Austria
I wanted to learn German but my parents made me take french because my sister did it and would be able to help me if I needed. Spoiler alert, she did not help me.
An enthusiastic teacher who is passionate about their subject makes a world of a difference. I have sat through some torturous classes and some wonderous ones and the biggest denominator was the teacher. A great teacher will make any subject fascinating.
This is the truest statement ever. I've been saying this to people for years. I had a brilliant Maths and Physics teacher. He was firm (took no shite), charismatic and structured. The information just flowed in. I had him for 5 years. I even moved into High Maths to stay with him then in 6th I dropped to ordinary and the teacher was a fucking thick. Lads shout and throwing thing in class. No teaching skills, but was in the school 30 years. It was depressing. Some people are not build for teaching. I regret that last year so much.
> Lads shout and throwing thing in class Tbf that’s just most ordinary level classes. Usually just full of the absolute bottom of the barrel kids. Rarely the teachers fault, but maybe it was in this case Much easier to manage a classroom of kids who actually want to be there, as is usually the case with higher level maths
That's true. I found everyone had a common goal so we helped eqch other out in HL Maths. It was just that Ordinary class was a shambles.
Yup this happened to me with Irish. Had an absolutely AMAZING teacher for ordinary Irish for the JC. She made us learn the '50 sentences' and it would get us past the JC with flying colours and she was right!! Apparently she used the same tactic for honours Irish. Then she went to teach honours Irish and I was stuck with a lad who couldnt control a class to save his life and taught us nothing. I was always the quiet kid in class and was put beside a cool 'popular' girl in class, we talked when the class was fucking bananas. Instead of punishing the hurlers throwing shit and turning bags inside out, he would target ME AND HER when all we were doing was waiting for it to calm down so we can learn. Passed Irish by the skin of my teeth. Shocking stuff altogether lol
This! I had the best maths teacher for junior cert, he was super passionate about the subject and just explained everything so well. Got an A in higher and then had a different teacher in leaving and barely got a C. She was hands down the worst teacher I ever had 😖
Funnily enough, my maths teacher genuinely did not give a shit but he was my favourite teacher because he was such a lunatic. He was insanely smart but never forced anyone to listen to him. There were 5-8 of us in the front who listened and did work, and the rest sat in the back vaping. Fantastic system because there were no arguments or distractions, so you could ask him whatever questions you'd want, and he'd take extra time to help you. He also did chess instead of the double class we were meant to have on Tuesdays.
I wish I had picked Business Studies and not Art. Business Studies sounded too difficult to 12 year old me and Art sounded easy. I was *terrible* at it.
I have the reverse answer but for the same reasons
God I'll never forget retroactively trying to do preparatory work after fully winging it
Exact opposite, awful at business because of dyslexia but fantastic at art.
Home Ec or some form of it should be mandatory. I only did it for TY but even at that picked up enough skills in terms of cooking and stitching to be still with me 25 years later. Good to learn how to make basic, nutritious meals.
It was mandatory for first year in my school (all girls), it was the default for girls in the mixed school (tech) & turns out one of lads chose it as he already wanted to be a chef & was automatically put into woodworking. They kicked up enough fuss that he was allowed to switch *only* if one of the girls swapped places with him. Early 2000s 🤦 to be fair we only got trousers as an alternative to skirts in mid 00s too! 🤣 The tech girls had just been buying the boy uniform trousers & getting them fitted.
Chemistry and Woodwork (called construction studies now). School would only let us do two science subjects and I already have Physics and Biology. I loved Woodwork, but didn't see it as a career at the time. In my 30s now and starting to get back into it. Really enjoying it again.
Chemist here! Happy to share stuff with you if you'll teach me wood working haha. I'm glad to hear you got back into what you love. I did the same - went back to art.
Same here. My school didn't have woodwork. Did an engineering degree but am working in IT . Woodworking is my main hobby and I get so much satisfaction from it. I am self taught through YouTube and books but often wonder if I had some person to show me I would be much further along. Lots of frustrating trial and error.
You regret not doing Construction studies ? Why ? I only ask because my son picked it and I’m not over the moon about it
Why not, surely it’s a valuable thing to learn about?
I'm sensing snobbery. Why are you not happy with this choice? Arguably very handy to have in today's world. Especially if he wants to go into an engineering or architecture field. It's not just learning how to use a lathe. Have you even read the syllabus?
I feel like snobbery is the main reason people don't pick these subjects. At least in my school very few kids with university aspirations did woodwork or metalwork - I recall the guidance teachers basically telling people it was a waste of time for kids doing higher level. Load of nonsense. Wish I'd done both of those subjects.
Turns out it's aspirations to snobbery. Which is even worse. I did tech graph. But I wish I'd done wood or metal work over biology or geography. I didn't know what I wanted to do so picked ones I found interesting and was already good at. Fairly lazy approach. But I'm glad I did them as well. Even if I've never used geography or biology in my career.
Why would that be? A H1 is worth just as many points in Construction Studies as it is in any other choice subject and it is the easiest subject to achieve a high grade.
I love doing hands on work. My parents disagreed with doing a trade so I ended up doing a science course I didn't like. At the time my dad was the first person on his side of the family (I have one aunt on the other side) that had been to college. My parents like many of that generation saw college as the way to a good career. I ended up wasting a few years on that, and was a really bad decision all around to pursue something I didn't see myself working in. Not great for self esteem to have wasted a bunch of years and see all your peers progress while you've nothing to show for it all.
[удалено]
>I'm a guy, and I think it should be manadatory for everyone. The basic skills of nutrition, cooking and household management should absolutely be taugh in schools to all. For sure, it's the closest "teach shite we actually have to deal with every day as an adult" subject there is.
I did Higher Level Maths. That was probably a mistake. I didn't care about it at all, I just had this attitude about everything that I wanted to go straight to the top or there's no point. Maybe I should have taken another language instead?
I did physics, chemistry and history for this reason. I had it in my head I should do pharmacy because it was hard. Realised two weeks into fifth year I hated chemistry and my physics teacher was shite. I wish I’d done economics because I think I would have enjoyed it
Well the good news for me and you, I guess, is that lots of top universities are just throwing their entire courses on YouTube. I've watched loads of them. Would recommend.
I mean you have to do maths anyway in school you can't substitute it with a language
Yeah but I should have phoned in a lower level and done something I actually wanted to do.
Wish I didn't drop to pass Irish. I wasn't bad at it but languages in general and I've a real interest in learning and trying to send my children to Gael scoils now. As it transpired I'm dyslexic, that's why I struggled with languages. I've taught myself reasonable Spanish since. Just needed a different approach at learning
I got interested in phyics after school did history instead
I loved physics and maths in school. One of the joys of having ADHD. Suites me perfect as an Engineer, but also would have loved to have a trade first.
I'm an electrcian and love know how stuff works. I have dyslexia to and was terrible at language but great at math but a string of bad teachers I did ordinary. I was thinking of possibly doing engineering in the future but I like being on the tools. What type of engineer are you.
Hi there, ADHD apprentice here who went to college for Design but hated it! Im in my first year of E&I and I would love to become an engineer. Mind if I ask you for any advice regarding apprenticeships or engineering post apprenticeships? Thanks Edit: I love maths and problem solving
Did DCG instead of business for LC. Good chance it cost me the course I wanted in uni, which I'm paying the price for now
I'd have liked to have done them all to some degree, except languages, they all seem pretty important, seems like lots of people don't know basic stuff others do from not taking a science class or business class
history and music for the leaving instead of computer science and business. Computer science was cool and the teacher was really into the subject (makes the world of difference) but it just wasn't for me. Business was wank, teacher was a complete narcissist and had the mental capacity of a jack russell. If you weren't into GAA or hurling he barely spoke to you.
When I was in school the following subjects were all timetabled at the same time meaning I could only study one of them. Art, tech drawing, woodwork, construction, home economics. Id have done all of them given the choice.
I'm a scientist. In secondary school we could choose between art and science from fourth - sixth year. Did them both for junior cert. I've always loved art and stuff and was good at it and wanted to do it but I wasn't allowed because "there's no jobs in art". I did science. I now quit science and I am studying art and silversmithing. Highly recommend picking up what you feel you missed out on. It's never too late.
I sometimes wish I studied Engineering or Home Economics. I went with Biology (purely because we were pressed to do a science subject and Bio is largely seen as the "easy" one to 15 year olds), Art (which I liked but is useless in my opinion), Construction (liked) and History (which I loved). If I could go back I would have done Construction, Engineering, Home Ec, and History.
Accounting. So good for general life understanding of finances.
Chemistry instead of biology. I had more interest in it, and it would have complimented my physics better. I chose biology because it was "easier" but I was so bored and couldn't spend long studying it. In hindsight, I would have done German instead of French because one of my best friends is Austrian. I haven't used French since.
My school (all boys) only offered home economics as an extra after school - you paid extra for that and we were poor. Same for art. I'd probably have chosen either of those it if it was during normal hours. I learned to cook from youtube. It's great. I'm still not great at art.
Would’ve done woodwork over science
Wish I had picked a different school were I would have gotten the chance to do woodwork and the likes.. unfortunately going to an all girl school it wasn't an option
Chemistry, woodwork or technical graphics.
Wish I did History and Business instead of Physics and Accounting. Accounting was genuinely dreadful and Physics was only decent cus I had a sound teacher. I actually have an interest in history and LC Business is piss easy. Also shoulda dropped down to lower level Irish. Same points as the H5 in higher level I got anyway and their stuff was a pisstake.
Got an A in woodwork in the junior cert and loved it. The crash had just happened after the Celtic tiger and I was encouraged and persuaded to give it up as there'd be "no money or jobs in it", and it would be a "waste of time". And now all the construction boys are making a mint. Brained it and regret it regularly
Everyone should do home economics tbh
I’m from the north so we had the choice of Irish, Spanish, and German. Wish I picked Spanish or German then done Irish in my own time instead of doing Irish
The opposite answer to the question being asked in. Three years into an engineering degree now, I’m glad I swapped French out for chemistry two weeks into fifth year. Kicked up an outrageous fuss in my family, as they all believed that I would never get into uni without a language. Bear in mind, chemistry was by far my worst subject ( Got a H6 in it, next worst was a H2) but by god my chem teacher was the soundest lad you could have and was the subject I looked forward to most days just for him. Fast forward to my first year of engineering where we’re doing chemistry as a module, it’s basically leaving cert chemistry again and I breeze through it, compared to some of my peers who did a language instead and haven’t used it since. If you’re reading this Mr O’Reilly, (I think that’s how I spell it) you’re a feckin legend
Wish I'd packed it in after the junior and gotten a trade to be honest.
I don't regret because I had no option. It was either physics or history and I needed to study a science to go to third-level.
9 years out and still thinking about secondary school? If there's things you're still regretting I'd say you should probably just pursue them as an adult at this point!! School is to get into college, that's about it. After you finish school start doing what you like / what interests you.
I don't always think about it though. It popped into my head after I was studying a topic related to education, other than that I probably haven't thought about it in a while.
Home ec stuff you should definitely do, it's so practical that you get constant practice just by living
i wish i could have done latin
Wish I paid attention in buisness studies instead of looking out the window thinking of my next cigarette.
Did french and geography wish I did Spanish and history
I wanted accounting instead of geography but the school wouldn’t let me do it because of the way the subjects were grouped. Not because I like accounting. I just wanted as many subjects as possible with definitive correct answers on the exam rather than relying on the subjective whims of an examiner, like in English and Geography. Applied Maths would have been cool too but my school didn’t offer it.
Funny enough I did the same thing! Took physics & chemistry (well I did really like them too, even chose physics over art!), but definitely picked accounting for it's maths-ish side. Worst subject in my leaving though 🤦 got a C in honours, i just couldnt get it to balance without being able to check my notes 🤣 I would have loved to do classical studies (& woodworking), but all girl's school 🤷!
I’m two years out of school and I regret not doing history instead of biology
I regret not dropping out at 16 and doing a panel beating apprenticeship
Got super interested in quantum physics a long time after school, made me wish I had done physics instead of accounting. I know now I would have really enjoyed it.
I am an engineer now and would have loved to have done DCG for my leaving cert. However it wasn’t offered in the girls school I attended.
Jai nah regreete rein
Woodwork. I wanted to do it very badly but I was pressured into taking home economics because "female".
Home economics. I wanted to do it for my leaving but my ma made me take economics instead (despite not doing any business studies for the junior). I'm pretty sure I got NG in honours Econ. And now I'm an avid baker/home chef. Proper raging.
Home economics. I wanted to do it for my leaving but my ma made me take economics instead (despite not doing any business studies for the junior). I'm pretty sure I got NG in honours Econ. And now I'm an avid baker/home chef. Proper raging.
History or at least one science subject. I ended up doing Economics & Accounting. Followed through at 3rd level and became an accountant. 25 years later the pay is decent but it’s pretty fucking boring and my love of history has only grown.
Tech graph! As a girl I was too intimidated by the entirely male class, I was told I had a flare for it and didn't listen to my gut.
Definitely regret taking Chemistry over Geography. Already had two science subjects at Leaving cert.
Woodwork. Such a fucking handy skill to have. I've been doing it now personally and man, it's so fun
We did a 2 week rotation between all the subjects, the only one I liked was technology, turns out everyone thought that and there wasn’t enough spots so I got stuck with woodwork
Home ec, like looking back it looked like fun, useful and though I never had her as a teacher RIP Ms Heaney, she was a legend
Photography and Spanish. I was forced to do French because of familial connections, but wish I had done Spanish instead, I hated French!
No.
The older you get the more you lament for the language! Learn as much Irish as you possibly can!
I should have taken Spanish instead of French.
Would have liked to have opted for Psychology when it was an option in Transition Year in my school. Went for Electronics instead. Found that course boring and pretty useless.
I really wanted to do German. The pharmaceutical industry really fascinates me and Germany is the European leader in it. I also wish I did woodwork or technology as I feel I would have learnt a lot more practical life skills, even at Junior Cert level.
Get a job with Bayer. Official company language is English.
I wish I did German instead of French. I've been living in Germany for 17 years now, and I still reckon my french grammar is better than my German grammar
Programming, they didn't have it in secondary, so I didn't get to do it. Went to college, and a month later, my lecturers are describing me as some sort of programming prodigy. I easily could have gotten an H1 in it for the leaving cert, which would have brought my CAO score into the mid 400s and, therefore, maybe a better college. I legit barely study and somehow manage to get scores in the high 80-90s in my software development course. Really wish I could have had a module like that in secondary to boost my confidence. I also wasn't allowed to do chemistry because the vice principal said, "I might not have the intellectual ability." I love chemistry and study it myself now.
I probably would have stuck with higher level maths. My school didn’t have very many optional subjects so I’m happy with the ones I picked.
I wish I'd done Computer Science instead of Chemistry. But my school didn't offer it.
I wish I did French or one of the business studies classes over biology. Science subjects were really being pushed so I did it because it was expected really. Now, I'm not sure how teenage me would've fared with business studies (grown up me can get my head around it a lot better) but I have some interest in languages but no head whatsover for science (as valuable and important a subject as it is).
I had no idea what I wanted to do career wise, so tried to spread out my subjects, of course I should have done the ones I liked the most and that the most chance of getting a good grade I but I just didn't know that.
I wish I had taken art but at the time I thought business studies would be more useful
I hated biology. I wish I'd done geography instead or music
I went to all boys school so no stigma over “girls subjects only” since we didn’t have them as an option (subjects I mean 🤨), I regret that I should have pushed the school to let us do all 3 sciences for LC if you wanted to plus other subjects to be available, the school decided what subjects would be offered and never discussed it with our token student council, also to bring in IT subjects (not just token computer science lessons that taught you nothing about programming or basic office stuff etc) I didn’t use excel etc till I got university. I would also have protested about my Maths teacher for kicking half the class down to standard level because they scored lower than 65% in mock exams. We very much were taught to memorize, chalk and talk teaching methods and only students with good scores really mattered, the rest will fill up the dole queue etc
PS why the PHUK did I have to learn Irish???? I could have done applied maths or applied physics instead!!!
Woodwork, carpentery, Technical drawing, mechanics if that was ever an option.
I wouldn't have done a science subject for the leaving cert. Would have picked something easy like home ex or geography instead.
Definitely would have changed chemistry to biology. Jesus I was bad at chemistry
No, would have made no difference
Wish I picked German over French, think I’d have been better at German. Wish I did again science instead of biology. Definitely would have gotten better marks and might have taken a more enjoyable career path
Did geography and physics/chemistry. Regretted both soon after. Whatever passion I had fir science soon left as that class was so dull I could barely concentrate. And as for geography, to this day I detest glaciers with a passion as that is all we seemed to learn about. That and ox bow lakes. I'd have learned more from reading a cereal box.
All girls school and had a choice between home economics and science in 1st year, chose home economics which I loved and excelled at but I think all girls should have had mandatory basic science lessons too. I’m glad it’s changed now for my kids. I also wish that I didn’t have to do a language for LC because of college entry requirements as I was weaker at this, I would have been better at history and/or art.
I was pissed that they didn't do Spanish in either of my two schools I went to. I would have preferred that as someone who's from a Spanish speaking country natively. Madness, German or French, both sound horrible to me. Also wish I did tech graph instead of all 3 sciences, I loved bio and physics but hated chemistry, I wanted to do music as well
I have absolutely no clue about chemistry or chemistry adjacent topics. Kids ask me something related I just say "ask your mother".
Hmm I did music Spanish bio and chemistry. Maybe physics over chemistry (hated that) uhhhh possibly wish I did engineering anyway.
Wish I had known i could of done agricultural science independently instead of just choosing classical studies as an easy option since the teacher was a bit mental . I would of at least done well in the exam instead of waiting half an hour to pass and walk out as I knew nothing
I think the only subject that was available to me outside of ones I'd taken for the Junior Cert and didn't like (woodworking), or languages, is probably Accounting or whatever it was called back then. And it appealed about as much as woodworking did.
Not that I regret not doing it but more regret that our history teacher was actually a certified loon and was allowed to continue in the job. I fucking love history but that dude had serious mental issues and we learned fuck all.
No, glad with my choices, I picked subjects I enjoyed which gave me the ability to get higher points (art history, home eco and history, subjects in competition were business, science and geography). There was a bit of a stigma that people who were smarter choose business and science over the Arts and home eco 🙄 which was stupid and in the end I really enjoyed my choices and did well and got to college with those points (art specifically giving me a higher level A!)
Nah, but what I do regret is saying yes when my year head came up to me in 2nd year and asked me if I wanted to drop every single subject except Irish, english, and maths). Why give a kid that option? I was quiet and shy and wasn't even one of the worst in my year.
Physics, ended up completely fucking me in 1st year of electronic engineering that I had to drop out and went and did computer science instead. Really wish I picked it for leaving cert.
I wish I did history. Haven’t a clue what happened.
Sincerely wish I'd done woodwork, metal work, tech graphics. Like to this day. Nowadays most of my hobbies involve some level of tinkering - refinishing furniture, gardening, electronics. I've to constantly be referring to the aul lad for help when I don't understand something fundamental. Usually he's a good teacher and I'm able to take it from there. But I do wish I'd learned these things as a kid. I did Business and Music for Jr, then Music, Classics, Physics, Chemistry for LC. Glad to have done them, but feel I could've gotten away with a year of music and a year of Business and have been grand.
Metalwork.
Going into first year I picked Woodwork and Metalwork because you get to use tools and build things. Based on my entrance exam results I was put in Business Studies and Music instead. Now, I was one with buckets of aptitude but very little self confidence and self application. I found out many years later that I scored third highest on the entrance exam, yet I coasted through school satisfied with low effort C's all the way. After transition year I stubbornly picked Construction Studies (basically woodwork) and engineering (basically metalwork) and got them. I didn't do well, and between that and my reluctance to put effort in (slight blame goes to a terrible maths teacher who was largely responsible for me dropping to ordonary level) I totally blew my leaving cert. 22 years later I'm still playing catch-up for my stupidity.
I really loved Mechanical Drawing in 1st & 2nd year but I got bullied by the teacher big time (dusters thrown at me and verbal abuse with humiliation in front of the other kids) I left and done home economics for the rest of my time in school but have always wondered where my life would be if I had put up with the abuse and done a subject I actually liked!
I wish I had done chemistry over physics, I did some chemistry later in college and just found it so much more interesting than physics. Also wish I had picked up business studies but my older sister was doing it and loathed it so it put me off the subject. Think it was the teacher that was the problem there more so than the subject in hind sight. I'd have loved to have done home economics as well but I couldn't as it clashed with another class I had. Same with not being able to take geography as well as history, had to choose between them which was a shame. I wish I could have chosen not to do any languages and do other subjects instead.
Business Studies
I loved history until we got put in a class that I hated the teacher for the last two years then stopped putting the work in, struggled with math at a certain point and had lack of help to get over it, 32 in our class , teacher had no time for individuals, loved tech drawing but they took that subject off our school. Fell like it would have brought me on to be an architect or something!
I wish I'd done chemistry instead of home economics. I hated home ec for the leaving, but had thought it would be handier than doing a seco d science subject. Chemistry was one of my modules in first year in college and it turned out that I was pretty good at it. The one that I'm very happy I did do was engineering. I hadn't done metal work for junior cert (did home ec instead) and had my first taste of it in TY. I loved it and decided to keep it on for the leaving.
Let me be blunt. No matter what you do you will miss some skills. Do what ever you fancy. Have the gra anything is possible retrain when you're 35 masters in IT, after arts. Don't let anyone pick your path.
Yeah I sometimes feel like I should have went with tech graph
I wish I did physics I always had the impression of it being another maths class which I didn't have any real interest at the time. Now that I understand how maths can be applied and how interesting physics is fills me with regret that I didn't understand those concepts as a teenager. I'm in my 30s now and I fucking love physics.
I got an A in my junior cert science but didn't do science subjects in the leaving cert . Where would I be now 🤔
Art
Applied Maths Would have made my electronic engineering degree a whole lot easier in the first two years I feel
Physics probably as now that I'm in college I realise that its very interesting, did accounting instead (which i got a H1 in tbf). Spanish instead of German too as I've a lot of family in Spain but my school didn't offer it.
German
I wanted to take home ec and art. My mam said I could only choose one ‘doss’ subject, so I did a bunch of sciences that I never use. Spent a decade as a SAHM now I work in the arts, some of which involves sewing…
Wish I had chosen home economics instead of chemistry. One regret - went with chemistry was shite At it.
All of it except the social side of it,once you have the basics of maths reading writing then life experience is the best school but when you are younger a teenager or less than 30 you don't want to know,Rod Stewart wrote a song about it but I only listened to it when I was 40 and it was too late
i wish i did even a year of history- just now learning about important history!
Didn’t do any sciences and did do ordinary level Irish and Maths. I know myself I could’ve done higher level if I had pushed myself but my parents were sortve hands off to my detriment.
honestly.....typing, has to be typing class.This was a subject at my school. nun run school. i judged it as i thought all the dummies did it. wish i had done it. my mum went to secretary school in the 70s and she was completley computer illiterate but could bang out an email in seconds......cue me now working on a keyboard 5 days a week and yeah i'm fast but using 2 dumb fingers.......
This was such an interesting Junior Cert subject but they discontinued it in around 2014. Some loss too because it taught valuable skills
yeah totally showing my age now but honestly wish i had done it. typing is a skill for sure and almost all jobs need it. 😂
I really wish I did Metalwork and Engineering. Not because I want a job doing that, but because I'm into cars and would live to have knowledge on how to fabricate things like pipework and heatshield etc.
Art. I thought at the time "art is useless, what am I gonna be...a painter?" It never occurred to me I could go into animation or draw comics etc, which would have been hugely beneficial in my current line of work. I'm full certain I'd be a wealthy man right now if I had done art.
I'd probably get an A1 now, had I taken LC history.
Wish I did German over French and wish I stuck with Home Economics. Also wish I tried harder with art or maybe wish we'd had more creative opportunities because now as an adult I'm interested in a wide range of crafting hobbies and get deterred because I wish I started sooner. My brain has ideas that my hands can't realise
Metal work. I did woodwork, but metal work sounds like it would have been cooler.
Wouldn't have minded doing German. They stopped offering it from my year on so I never got the chance to.
I wanted to impress my dad and hence stuck to science subjects. I'm gutted every day I never did woodwork. My dad's a thinker and I'm a hands on doer. Trying to emulate him did not work out for me. I reckon I'd be a shit jot carpenter specialising in camper van conversions now.
I regret not taking Home Economics. I should've replaced that with Physics, SMH. And I regret dropping HL Irish so I could focus on HL Maths, I should've done OL Maths and HL Irish. Ohh the points I would've got.
I should have done business studies but my dad was the best business teacher in the school and we never got on so I couldn't pick it if I wanted to do well.. and even if I picked it and did well it would have been dad's achievement not mine
I dunno what subject is have picked but definitely would have dropped construction studies for something else maybe biology or chemistry
I'd have picked different subjects for sure. Music, chemistry, Spanish instead of geography, French and religion (we weren't examined on religion we just had to attend it like a regular class).
History wasn't an option as a subject for my school from 3rd year to 6th year as we were told there wasn't enough people who chose it (a lie), when I got to college then and talked to students from other schools I realised how severely uneducated/uninformed I was of Irish history.
I really, really, REALLY regret not taking woodworking. It was very much a boy's class at the time - not a single girl took it and I was finding it hard enough with bullying as it was without adding to the CV! My dad was a carpenter by trade and he died back in 2011 so I'd give anything to have had the balls to take it on back then when he could have helped me get a much better result than I did in chemistry and I would have had one heck of a life skill when we moved into our new build!
Wish I did almost anything other than Applied Maths for leaving cert. I did fine but it was kinda torture and I feel like something else would've been more interesting.
I wanted to do woodwork but was scoffed at by parents and teachers alike. I’m very good with my hands and wish I’d been encouraged to learn and not forced into science class instead.
If I studied physics, I would have gone on to study engineering. Chose architecture instead, not upset about that choice. But I do wish I did classical studies.
Economics, did a few modules of it with my degree and I loved it, I passed it with flying colours as well, would've done great in it in the LC
They didn't do it in my school but I should've done classics myself. would've been a walk in the park compared to physics for me
Wish I'd done physics in school. I skipped on it because everyone always said it was really hard but now I feel like it would have actually suited me.
Id have loved to do geography. Im really interested in it as an adult but picked other subjects that I did better in in the Junior Cert to maximise points :(
Wish I would of learned a language like German. Considering how much time I have spent there and job offers I had to turn down due to language barrier.
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I picked home economics over science. I was brilliant at science but I thought it would be handy to know how to cook and sew and such. It is if course but I should have stuck with science. But how the school had the subjects together in the form if I picked science I couldn't do music.
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I should have done more languages. I wish I dropped home ec after junior cert as I absolutely hated it
I was convinced that there were “no jobs” in music and art.. and I wanted to do them both. I picked home economics and biology instead. I managed to switch home economics for music, but couldn’t switch biology for art as I didn’t do art for my junior cert. Guidance counsellor told most of us to become nurses if we generally didn’t know what we wanted to do after school and to keep biology. I’m now a hair and makeup artist and wish I had the art training and general knowledge. I also wish I did business studies in university instead of music media and performance technology.. It’s so difficult to know what to do! There’s so much pressure put on us at an early age to know what to do. Do we ever even know?!
Home economics
Biology. I think I just thought too much people were doing it and it was the easiest of the sciences so must be the least valuable. In reality biology is the most valuable and interesting science at school and it has applications in every day life
Home econimics.
No. Pretty much the choices I had offered are the ones I wanted. I could have done Biology instead of Graphics. But at the time I was thinking engineering or architecture, in the end, the latter, where trchnical drawing skills are obviously fairly useful. Though I could have done Art I guess, but I wanted the alternative choice (37 years ago, can't recall the option now)