August Favourites

It feels like just yesterday I was scheduling my July Favourites and now here I am with another one. 

As summer is quickly drawing to a close and I have to consider the reality of starting college I have been trying to prepare myself with a plethora of items.

The Aftermath Of The Leaving Cert

The Leaving Cert; Ireland's ultimate memory test.

If you're not Irish, the Leaving Cert is the set of exams we take after six years in secondary school and will basically determine or not whether we get into college.
After years of watching the news and Facebook statuses pop up on my screen with people sharing their results and college acceptances, it was finally my time.
I'm a bit disillusioned with the whole Leaving Cert even though I got good grades, or perhaps because I got good grades. The whole thing just consisted of massive amounts of rote learning and more rote learning. I even found myself having to take days off from exhaustion throughout the year because of the immense pressure I put on myself.

I Am A Feminist

                           
I am a feminist. 

Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.

When you choose to identify with a label, that label is more than likely going to come with a list of negative misconceptions and preconceptions that society has built up. 

I am a feminist but I don't hate men. Yes, I have male friends. I am a feminist and I believe in the equality for both men and women. And equality between masculinity and femininity. I am a feminist but I don't believe that women are better than men. (Misconception number 1: Feminists hate men. Being a feminist does not mean you hate men or believe women are better than men)

Let's talk about misandry for a minute. Misandry and feminism are two very separate things. Misandrists have an ingrained hatred for men and want to be above men. They are not feminists. 

I am a feminist because in 32 states if a woman has a child as a result of rape, the rapist can sue for custody and visitation rights of that child. 

A Letter To My Teenage Self

Dear teenage me,

Fourteen is an age where you think you are beginning to understand life. You don’t. In 5 years time, you still won’t.

Right now you've just finished the Junior Cert, and don't worry, you did achieve that A in English, despite having the worst teacher in the universe. You are now transitioning into the Leaving Cert and you will find a love for French and for learning about the world around you. Soon you will become this open minded culturally aware person that you can be proud of today.

Get To Know Me

25 things about myself

I decided to answer these questions this morning as I realised in my last post I didn't really introduce myself properly (and honestly because I'm bored watching season 3 of Criminal Minds again) Anyway here's me and 25 things about myself. I wanted to introduce myself a bit more as a person and bring you all a little bit into my world. Not that my world is better than yours. You'll probably get bored after the third question so congratulations if you make it to number 25.

1. What is your middle name?
Maria. Pretty generic girl's middle name. I chose Grace as my confirmation name.

2. What was your favourite subject at school?
French or English. Also Business to a certain extent. 

3. What is the last thing you bought?
Some white paint for my room and a book titled 'The Existentialist Cafe'. 

4. Favourite book of all time?
I have read so many books in so many different genres but probably The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.