The Verdict

What a day! Never have I felt so much stress, so much relief, so much adrenaline and so much exhaustion all in the space of 24 hours. You can gather from the word 'relief' that I received the offer I wanted! So now it's official - I am going to study Multimedia in DCU. Woohoo! It's an amazing feeling!

After listening to my iPod for quite a while in a futile attempt to calm down, I finally gave in to tiredness and tried to get to sleep at about half past twelve. So much for eleven at the latest! I must have slept for at least four or five hours, because I was then awoken by the sound of the dog whimpering downstairs and my dad getting up. Of course then it dawned on me that the moment was getting ever closer and I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally got up at six and turned on the laptop... only to find that the CAO website was being a bastard and wouldn't let me log in. Fantastic! That's just what thousands of anxious students need in the early hours of a Monday morning. That infuriating 'unavailable at this time' message everyone hates to see kept flashing up on the screen, and by this time I was getting extremely agitated. My parents, meanwhile, were both waiting downstairs for the news and were getting pretty worried. After what felt like an age but in reality was probably only about ten or fifteen minutes, I managed to log in, and lo and behold - there was the offer I wanted. Cue massive sigh of relief! The system then decided to be an even bigger bastard and refused to let me accept the offer for another ten minutes or so. However, all was well in the end. Phew!

The points for many courses went crazy this year, particularly in the area of science and computing. Luckily for me, Multimedia only went up by ten points, so that's 430. My points from my Leaving Cert last year were 515, so I was a good 85 points over the requirement. What was I worrying for, eh? Well, I'm a pessimist, and I hate taking anything for granted. But never mind, what's done is done. I'm in now, and I couldn't be happier! My parents are no longer nervous wrecks either, which is good!

Now I just have to wait for an offer of accommodation. I sent in my application back in May, so hopefully everything goes okay in that department. As an incoming first year student I had two choices: Hampstead and Larkfield. I decided that Hampstead appealed to me more, as you have an ensuite instead of a shared bathroom. Fingers crossed I get it!

I'm now looking forward to watching my beloved Manchester United tonight in the first match of the new Premier League season. Today's events will just make it all the more enjoyable!

Oh, and I did go back to bed in the end... but I still couldn't sleep. :)

Judgement Day

It's here! It's finally here! The wait is over! At 6am tomorrow morning my future will be revealed. I have a feeling that it's going to be a very restless night! I don't intend to pull an all-nighter like many of my friends and peers did last year, but I can't promise myself I will get much - if any - sleep. One way or another I will be sitting in front of my laptop bright and early, logging into my CAO application with trembling hands to see if I have the offer I so badly want.

At this moment I am trying desperately hard to be positive, but admidst the excitement there is also a lingering feeling of fear and worry, bordering on nausea. My parents will both be up; my mother especially for the occasion even though she has the day off work. That's love and support for you! Honestly, my parents have both been brilliant these past few months. They have calmed me down when I've been having minor panics and reassured me when the self-doubt kicks in. I would quite literally be lost without them. My best friend has also sent a much-appreciated message of support, and insists that I text her as soon as I find out. She doesn't care about being woken up at six in the morning - now that's friendship!

I don't know what I'm going to do after the event. Go back to bed? I doubt it. I probably wouldn't be able to get back to sleep anyway. I suppose I'll decide tomorrow. Right now, I'm contemplating what time to go to bed at so that I can attempt to sleep. I'm thinking eleven at the latest. Maybe I will sleep after all... when I got my Leaving Cert results last year, I had a good night's sleep, although I did have two different nightmares about failing all of my exams!

I sense that I'm becoming a little incoherent now, so I'll sign off. Verdict to follow tomorrow...