My Weird World

This year was big. Therefore, instead of just reflecting on the new year's resolutions I made in January, I have decided to also do a list of all the things that I have done and achieved this year to really get a sense of my 2017. First, my new year's resolutions: Meditate regularly. I have been semi-successful with this. During the run-up to GCSEs and throughout GCSEs I was meditating nearly every day. However, I let it slip during the summer holidays. I have recently downloaded an app on my phone again and (due to being stressed about college) I am beginning to pick up meditation again. I genuinely think it made a real difference to my mental state through exams and it is a habit which I always want to keep. Drink enough water, especially during exam season. Again, during GCSEs, this was something which I tried very hard to complete but it went downhill from summer onwards. Unfortunately, since starting college I have noticed that I am no...

Hello. My name is Emily, I am 16 years old and I have social anxiety. For me, that means that the thought of being around people terrifies me - especially if it's people I don't know. So things, like walking around college, going shopping or inviting a new friend over to my house, put me on edge. My chest gets tight, my palms get sweaty and I may have a panic attack. Last summer, I debated doing NCS but decided against it because the thought of spending Monday to Friday for 5 weeks with a bunch of strangers away from home made me want to puke. No way was I doing that. So I did something else instead. I went to a summer school to a university near me. Spending 3 days and 2 nights with people who I'd never met before pushed me out of my comfort zone. I came home early after a panic-attack-filled night but I definitely got something out of it. When I started college, I was scared. But (through a lot of motivation) I have made some new friends and I am enjoying it. I...

Hi guys Happy October! It's nearly Halloween now - time is flying fast. I started college 3 weeks ago so I thought it would be cool to talk about some of the differences between college and school and to share my experience of how it is. How is college different to school? Times.  The lessons are an hour and a half instead of 50 minutes, some days I only have 1 lesson and some days I don't have to be in college until 11:45. Regarding the latter comment, this can be particularly inconvenient because I often feel like I'm hanging around for ages not being productive. Free lessons. The reason why I start so late on some days and have so much time on my hands is that I have a lot of frees. I usually go home for these (I live 3 mins away from the college) and write notes/make flashcards. However, it is very tempting to just sit and watch Youtube (which I may or may not have done last week...). Independence. It is up to you to get work done during your fr...

Hey, guys! I've just finished my GCSEs (6 As, 3Bs and a C). Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to give everyone starting their GCSEs some tips on how to best survive the year. Don't waste your money buying useless stationary. Fancy pens with cute rubbers on the end, post-it notes in awkward shapes and little overpriced A5 notebooks are probably never going to be used - so don't waste your money on them!   If you are going to make flashcards, it may work out cheaper buying a pack of card from Tesco then going to Paperchase and buying pretty index cards. Watch back to school and revision videos on Youtube and try out different study techniques to see what works for you. Mind maps, flash cards or pages of notes? Visual, kinesthetic or auditory? Revise for all your mock exams/in class tests. This helps so much. I'm not talking hours and hours but just making some flash cards or posters for mini tests will mean that you don't have to make them all later...

Hey Guys!! Today is GCSE results day - which should be quite obvious to you if you live in the UK as it has been broadcasted everywhere . This is the day we have all been waiting for. 2 years of learning irrelevant facts and pointless equations by hours and hours of revision has all come down to this. My Results 6 As, 3 Bs and 1 C. Maths - 7 (old A) English Language - 6 (old B) English Literature - 7 (old A) Science Core - B Additional Science - A Religious Studies - A French - C History - A Music - B Textiles - A I am so unbelievably happy about these results. I can't believe that I managed to pass French considering my - quite frankly - lousy performance for the last 5 years. To have 6 As is incredible. Special thanks to:  All of my teachers for being (mostly) brilliant - particularly those who were awesome enough to hold intervention sessions after school - sometimes until 6 in the evening - just to make sure that we all did well. Primrose Kitten ...

Hey guys, WARNING:  This is a very unstructured, rambling blog post.  It's Monday today which means that there are only 3 days until my results day. I'm starting to panic. I left school after my last exam on the 16th of June. That is a very long time to wait for results. Up until now, I have remained relatively calm, mainly because I've kept repressing any thoughts about GCSEs and have distracted myself. It has all caught up with me. Pretty much every waking moment is consumed by worries of my results. Last night I could not sleep and as I was laying in bed my mind kept playing over possible situations for Thursday morning. The thing is, I know it's pointless. I know that the exams are already over and there is nothing I can do to affect the results now. And I also know that I was predicted all As so I should have nothing to worry about - but I still do. Next year I want to take: English Literature Politics Religious Studies Music However, to take...