Teen Times: As my brother and sister embark on their Leaving Cert year, my mother has remarked several times that I must be glad to have it behind me.

I agreed, sort of. You see, the Leaving Cert was every bit the stereotype for me: hard work, stress, worry, torn up CAO forms - the lot! But it was much more than that, it was an exciting year full of new possibilities and open doors, more importantly perhaps for me, it was my last year with the friends I'd had for five years.

It's probably a cliche at this stage but I think balance is the key to maintaining your sanity, in what is arguably both the most challenging and exhausting year of your life so far. Maybe sports is your thing, or drama - debating was mine. I had formed a team with three friends in fifth year, and throughout the Leaving Cert year we debated with other schools about everything from teen apathy to genetically modified foods.

We put a lot into it, researching, writing, learning and eventually saying our speeches, but we got a lot back, too. We became closer as friends, we made friends in the schools we debated against, we skipped classes like PE and religion to "practise" (read "chill out"). More than once, one or other of us found stress relief in yelling at an empty auditorium, even if we were yelling about bananaless-ism, which by the way we will certainly be facing in the absence of GM foods. We brought a mini-bus of supporters with us to our debates, and had a laugh at every one.

I wasn't a world-class debater, and the team didn't get further than the regionals, but we took an awful lot of good memories with us to our respective colleges. I think everyone should have a hobby like that, whether it's pilates, being in a band or judo. In life it is important; in Leaving Cert year it is an absolute necessity! The only other thing I wish someone had told me at the beginning of my Leaving Cert year is that it really is not that big a deal. Yes, you read right, it's not. There are so many options these days, whether it's going into a trade, doing a Post Leaving Cert course for a year before college, repeating, taking a year out, or choosing to go with a course that wasn't your first choice but that you never know - you might love.

Now don't get me wrong, do your best and aim high, just try not to get too caught up in the stigma attached to the Leaving Cert. Have a hobby and a social life, but maintain the balance between them and your studies. Next September your friends will go off to different colleges and while you might stay close to some, chances are you'll lose contact with others, so make the most of your last year together. Leaving Cert year could very well be the best of your life!

Katie Harrington (18) studies New Media and English at the University of Limerick

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