Danny Goff is the eldest child in his house - a positive and a negative when it comes to exam pressureDanny Goff: Really looking forward to the end of the Leaving Cert, in particular the infamous Leaving Cert holiday. Sun May 31 2026 - 06:01 • 2 MIN READDanny Goff is feeling nervous about the Leaving Cert. There’s a lot going at once, the 18-year-old from Wexford acknowledges. He’s finished school, but it hasn’t felt like that, as he’s been attending block revision classes at school in the lead up to the exams.Preparing for the exams has at times been harder for Goff, as he has Type 1 diabetes. “If you have a low blood sugar, you’re sweating and you can’t focus on anything. When you’re high [in blood sugar], you’re irritable and it’s like nothing’s going in,” he says.This has been a factor for him throughout school, and people don’t really understand how it impacts on him or how it’s affected him over the course of his education. “Especially in the first few years I had it... I’d be going constantly in and out of class, going to the first aid room.” It’s been easier in recent times as he’s more comfortable in managing it. “The teachers for the most part are really understanding.”He has a routine to try to maintain stable blood sugars. “I have a good breakfast. I have my snacks if I go low [in blood sugar]. I have loads of water.” 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. “You’re trying to predict the poets,” he explains. He’d love to study Arts at Maynooth.[ Did you hear? The Leaving Cert exams are just around the cornerOpens in new window ]He’s the eldest child in his house, and that’s both a positive and a negative when it comes to exam pressure. “My mum is like ‘Oh, I don’t know what this means’ because she’s never done it before [put a child through the Leaving]. It is nerve-racking for her as well.”She’ll be facing into it two years in a row, mind. “My brother is doing it next year as well.”[ Leaving Cert party on Zante: ‘If I had children, I wouldn’t want them to go on a holiday like this’Opens in new window ]Danny is really looking forward to the end of the Leaving Cert – in particular the infamous Leaving Cert holiday. It’s keeping him motivated, he explains. “Conor Pope didn’t keep me away from it,” he says laughing, referring to a recent State exams episode of the Conversations with Parents podcast.He’s off to Albufeira. IN THIS SECTION