{"id":476126,"date":"2026-05-31T13:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/476126\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T13:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T13:04:17","slug":"leaving-cert-and-diabetes-i-used-to-be-going-constantly-in-and-out-of-class-going-to-the-first-aid-room-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/476126\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Cert and diabetes: \u2018I used to be going constantly in and out of class, going to the first aid room\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danny Goff is feeling nervous about the Leaving Cert<\/a>. There\u2019s a lot going at once, the 18-year-old from Wexford acknowledges. He\u2019s finished school, but it hasn\u2019t felt like that, as he\u2019s been attending block revision classes at school in the lead up to the exams.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the exams has at times been harder for Goff, as he has Type 1 diabetes. \u201cIf you have a low blood sugar, you\u2019re sweating and you can\u2019t focus on anything. When you\u2019re high [in blood sugar], you\u2019re irritable and it\u2019s like nothing\u2019s going in,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This has been a factor for him throughout school, and people don\u2019t really understand how it impacts on him or how it\u2019s affected him over the course of his education. \u201cEspecially in the first few years I had it… I\u2019d be going constantly in and out of class, going to the first aid room.\u201d It\u2019s been easier in recent times as he\u2019s more comfortable in managing it. \u201cThe teachers for the most part are really understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has a routine to try to maintain stable blood sugars. \u201cI have a good breakfast. I have my snacks if I go low [in blood sugar]. I have loads of water.\u201d <\/p>\n

His favourite subject is history, and he also feels well prepared for his economics and agricultural science exams, but is worried about English and Irish. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to predict the poets,\u201d he explains. He\u2019d love to study Arts at Maynooth.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Did you hear? The Leaving Cert exams are just around the cornerOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the eldest child in his house, and that\u2019s both a positive and a negative when it comes to exam pressure. \u201cMy mum is like \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t know what this means\u2019 because she\u2019s never done it before [put a child through the Leaving]. It is nerve-racking for her as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll be facing into it two years in a row, mind. \u201cMy brother is doing it next year as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Leaving Cert party on Zante: \u2018If I had children, I wouldn\u2019t want them to go on a holiday like this\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Danny is really looking forward to the end of the Leaving Cert \u2013 in particular the infamous Leaving Cert holiday. It\u2019s keeping him motivated, he explains. \u201cConor Pope didn\u2019t keep me away from it,\u201d he says laughing, referring to a recent State exams episode of the Conversations with Parents podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u2019s off to Albufeira. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Danny Goff is feeling nervous about the Leaving Cert. There\u2019s a lot going at once, the 18-year-old from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,43491,17163,61,60,3184,28205,2055],"class_list":["post-476126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cao","tag-classroom-to-college","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-leaving-certificate","tag-second-level","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}