If in Dowd

'The Leaving ' is ingrained in the Irish psyche. It's an experience that characterises life as an Irish person. Engage anybody in conversation - somebody in the local shop, a friend of the family's, even a passerby on the street. If you admit your age and stage of education they'll immediately tilt their head to the right slightly in a gesture of sympathy, aware of the backbreaking workload that burdens you, before sighing and letting out the " Well we all had to bloody do it " line. 'The Leaving' is a common experience that we have all been conditioned to endure. Although there's a sense of unity about it: we all struggled, we all persevered, we were all overwhelmed by it. No matter how academically gifted, how determined or how meticulous, the Leaving Cert represents a substantial hurdle in life. I don't think I'd do it justice by simply labelling it a 'state examination'. I'm in the middle of that roadblock. In a