The jump from GCSE's to A levels

Before I start I just want you to know that my advice skills are limited and sometimes I may say things that are hypocritical BUT ANYWAY let’s get started.

Before I started College/Sixth form I genuinely believed that people were joking when they said that jump from GCSE's to A levels was huge, so me being my lazy self I attempted to continue with my routine of doing homework given, in school, last minute whilst frantically searching for the handout my English teacher gave me last week. That method of survival lasted less than 3 days until I realised that I was getting about 5 hours of homework each day and that truly was a slap in the face.

I think it’s safe to say I was (am) extremely unorganised and I felt like I was the only one. Except, trust me whether you’re like me or not I can tell you this for a fact that you and your peers are all in the same boat when it comes to organising your work load. I eventually bought a folder for each subject and filled them in with topic dividers and with that I felt as if a burden had been lifted off my shoulders because that way, I wouldn't have sheets of paper flying everywhere. One important thing I learnt later on is that almost every hand out is useful even though it might not seem like this at first, so make sure you don’t stash them at the bottom of your bag, BAD idea.

So far I have probably made my first year at Sixth form/college seem very scary, which it was but honestly, that was only the work aspect of it. In sixth form my old friends remained which was a relief. However, college is completely different experience. I had to travel for an hour at a time and I barely knew anyone there. Nothing has changed really, I still barely know anyone there but hey, on the plus side I had a fantastic teacher which is solely why I'm going back this year (and because I didn’t drop philosophy).

In short, in order to survive AS all you need to be is 1. organised (homework, folders etc) and 2. motivated; I personally found it really hard to be motivated especially with how much homework I was given. Nevertheless, that is just an excuse and it is important that you get yourself motivated, and quickly too.

Finally, I want to wish those who are starting a new chapter this year, good luck in whatever you are doing and to make the most of it. I hope you achieve everything you want!

AS Level results day 2014

Results day. One of the most daunting times of the year and quite frankly I am the worst person to deal with stress. Last year’s G.C.S.E results day is a perfect example; I started tearing up (I DIDN'T CRY) before I even knew my results OH AND I made my friend open my envelope for me. Yeaah, thank God that’s over.

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Back to the point, I'm proud to say that this year wasn't as hectic as last year, I surprisingly managed to keep myself calm. I said to myself: ‘whatever happens happens, you can’t change your results'. YUP those were my amazing words of wisdom. But in actuality if it wasn't for my friends that I had around me the stress would have doubled (its always nice to have a comforting person around you).

SO, what did I get? B in Psychology, C in Philosophy, C in History and to top that off a D in English lit. Ironically, I was actually predicted a D in is psychology (my least favourite subject) and a B for English lit (my favourite subject) so I was really very upset to  find out that I wasn't going to be continuing English Lit at A2. You never know though I just might start loving psychology.

I guess we don’t always get what we want and I am learning to cope with that by trying to change my preferences around a little which is something that we all have to do once in a while even if it might seem hard at first. I saw a lot of people that were disappointed with their grades yesterday and it made me realise that it is important to choose the right subjects for your individual abilities. Do I think I chose the right subjects? yes, but I only eventually realised  this through trial and error. And it may not seem like this through my results, but as I said we all have our own individual abilities.

Lastly I just want to ask, is anyone else’s school like this? we were put us into groups of Green and Red. Green meant you’re staying and Red meant you have to leave. I personally think that was a cruel move to make BUT HEY that’s my school and life goes on.

Quote of the day: "Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."