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...

Hey guys, So it is the middle of the summer holidays. I have my GCSE results day in less than two weeks and college is slowly closing in on me. Last week I decided to open up Youtube and search 'yoga'. I did some yoga on my bed and felt so much better afterwards. This is when I decided that I was going to start doing yoga again. (I did yoga throughout GCSEs) I went and bought a yoga mat because I was determined to succeed at doing yoga regularly - for anyone interested, it cost about £7. Why I like doing yoga: It makes me feel productive. If I wake up in the morning and do 15 minutes of yoga, that is one thing I can cross off my to do list. Also, it makes me want to continue being productive for the rest of the day. It helps with my dancing.   I dance every week. However, because we have a different schedule during the summer, I only dance on Mondays and Tuesdays which means there is a massive gap in my physical activity. I used to be really stiff on Monday be...

Hey guys,  I have recently realised that I have wasted a hell of a lot of my extensive summer. I finished school back in June and to be honest, I haven't really done a lot since then. So, in an effort to stop procrastinating, I have included some new things into my daily life to help me be more productive. 1. Get a planner. Throughout the school year, I always have a planner and write down everything I need to do during the day. Why have I never thought of keeping one during the summer? I find when I physically write down a to do list, I am much more likely to get stuff done. 2. Have a timetable.   This one will probably be more controversial. Now, I'm not saying plan out your entire day minute by minute. However, if you say to yourself 'I am going to read one chapter of my Literature text at 8 pm' and write it down, it will make sure you stay on top of things and get them done. 3. Have fun.   Go outside, spend time with family and friends and do thing...

Hey Guys, A month before I started GCSEs, I started writing a journal. I have always been the type of person to write in a diary and give up after three days, then feel guilty and starting a whole new diary. I also used to start the 'entries' with 'dear diary' which obviously sounded fake and childish. So, as a bit of a challenge and new lifestyle choice, I decided to write in a journal every single day throughout the lead up to exams, during exams and the start of the summer. I have finally managed to fill a diary. It was hard. I'm not going to lie, I did forget sometimes and woke myself up at stupid o'clock at night to keep up my record. Some days, I wrote 3 or 4 sentences. Other days, I wrote paragraphs. It just depended on how much I felt I needed to get off my chest and how tired I was. Every night, I wrote at least one achievement of the day and at least one drawback. This got me to evaluate how I can improve myself but also remain positive even ...

Hey Guys Better late than never - here are a reflection on my exam period goals, To read the original post, click here:  Things to do over the exam period 1. PASS     It was nice to return to the magic of Harry Potter. I definitely read the book a lot faster than the     previous times. However, I noticed that there were parts of the book that I had completely     forgotten about so it was lovely to read those bits again and let my own imagination take over. 2. PASS (ish)     Okay, so this one was going pretty well. However, I realised that it is quite boring to read the     screenplay of a movie you have already seen multiple times. I ended up sicking the DVD on and     reading the script whilst listening to the movie. Oops. On the bright side, it did mean that I read it a     lot faster and I finished the book in one sitting. 3. PASS (only just)     I finished reading this b...

Hey, Guys! For me, it is now the summer holidays! I am really proud of completing GCSEs and I am definitely looking forward to an exceptionally long summer. Check out my other blogs on GCSEs here:  GCSEs 2017 | Week 1 ,   GCSEs 2017 | Week 2 . GCSEs 2017 | Week 3 . As always, the text in  italics  will be quoted from my journal. Monday English Language Paper 2 (AQA): Section A wasn't too bad for me, Section B was very dodgy. Managed to squeeze a Sherlock reference and Emma Watson quote in. Tuesday Maths Paper 2 - Calculator (AQA): Started easy. I actually had to make sure that it was actually a higher paper and not a foundation. That it went downhill and went stupidly hard. Not sure how to feel about this exam. Wednesday Chemistry Unit 2 (AQA): Great 6 marker. Surprisingly good paper, despite what a lot of people have said. Crammed right before we went into the exam and it helped so much! History Paper 2 (OCR): Good exam. Stayed on tim...

Hey, Guys! If you would like to read a synopsis of the first week of GCSEs, you can read it here:  GCSEs 2017 | Week 1 , my synopsis of Week 2 is here:  GCSEs 2017 | Week 2 Again, the text in  italics  will be quoted from my journal. Monday History Paper 1 (OCR):  The first half of the paper (Medicine Through Time) was brilliant. The questions were nice. The second half (American West) didn't go as well. I had to completely guess the last couple of questions. Tuesday English Language Paper 1 (AQA):   I understood the source:-). I stayed on time and wrote right up until one of the invigilators said that time was up. I think it went okay. Wednesday No exams. Finally got my prom outfit today. Had a massive conversation with my mum about politics and stuff and stayed up really late. All in all a good day. Thursday Maths Paper 2 - Calculator (AQA):  I thought the exam went really well. I left the exam feeling confident and proud...

Hey guys, Well, this half term has been interesting. I have taken a break from revision and have got out f my house a bit more. I have visited family quite a bit and have genuinely enjoyed myself. I have done lots of reading too which is a good thing. I have even had a sleepover round my best friend's house. It is important to have a break. Two weeks of GCSEs can be pretty tiring which is why my main focus this half term has been relaxing. I have started meditating again - I have re-downloaded an app that I used to use called 'Calm' (not sponsored.) It feels good to spend even just 10 minutes a day concentrating on my breath and really switching off from the world. Also, to anyone who has been involved in the Manchester and London attacks, my heart goes out to you. I am so proud with the responses to these sickening events by the British public. Respect goes out to all those people who have been strong enough to continue with their daily lives and to those who w...

Hey, Guys! If you would like to read a synopsis of the first week of GCSEs, you can read it here: GCSEs 2017 | Week 1 The text in  italics  will be quoted from my journal. Monday English Literature Paper 1 (AQA): The Macbeth question wasn't too bad. It was about the theme of ambition (which is a pretty easy theme, I think). I think I wrote a bomb-ass essay for A Christmas Carol. Tuesday Textiles (AQA):   The textiles exam I thought was great. This was strange because I have never been very good at textiles and I pretty much accepted at the start of the year that it could be my worst subject. But, I finished 20 minutes early. That kind of scared me a bit. RE Unit 3 (AQA):   The last 6 marker was dodgy and I kind of had to make it up. But as for the rest of the paper, the questions were really nice and it went well. My hand died - I wrote 10 pages of A4 in 1 hour 30 mins. Wednesday Physics Unit 1 (AQA):  This again was a good exam...

Hey, Guys! Currently, it is May half term! But I thought I would discuss my first week of GCSEs. The text in italics will be quoted from my journal. Monday No exams. Getting a bit nervous now. Got an A in today's French and Biology past papers - that gives my more confidence. It's gonna be okay. I can get through this. At this point, I turned on my fairy lights and settled into bed to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Tuesday French (EdExcel): I don't think the exam went too bad, the last couple of questions on both papers were tricky. There was a lot of random stuff in there too. Biology Unit 1 (AQA): very good, felt confident. The 6 mark question was on reflexes which I felt very happy about. History coursework: 47/50 (A*) Wednesday RE Unit 2 (AQA): I found the exam really nice. There were loads of good questions and topics and I left the exam feeling confident, despite my throbbing hand. I spent the rest of the day revising. Th...

Hey guys I take my first GCSE exam on Tuesday. In some ways, I am terrified. The thought that two years of solid hard work could all go down the drain if I have a bad day is scary. I have bombed mock exams in the past so I know what it feels like to walk out of the exam hall feeling like it's all gone wrong. But to do that on the real exams would be devastating. However, I am feeling reasonably calm. I started revising pretty much since the start of year 10. I have done past paper after past paper, made thousands of flashcards (quite literally) and have covered my walls in revision from floor to ceiling. I feel prepared. This is strange. I always thought I would be really stressed in the run up to exams. But honestly, it's a day before and I'm feeling fine. Last week, I posted a list of non-school related things that I wanted to achieve during the exam period. I have already started on some of them. It feels nice to allow myself time off despite t...

Hey guys, After watching some motivational youtube videos and reminding myself that I am so much more than my grades, I have decided to come up with a list of things that I want to accomplish during exam season (which are not school related). 1. Finish rereading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 2. Finish reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 3. Finish reading Four 4. Blog every week - without fail 5. Write in my journal at the end of every day 6. Find an outfit for prom 7. Compose and record a new song 8. Play the keyboard at least twice a week (1 hour) 9. Meditate at least every other day 10. Do yoga once a week It is important to make sure that I am doing the things that I love. That's not what I've been doing. For the last week, I have been trapping myself in my bedroom and doing revision from when I get home from school to when I go to bed. So it's time to stop this and do more of the things I love. Until next week, -Emicool

Hello people of the internet, We have hit the final race to exams. I started the week very stressed, after all, there were less than 30 days until my first exam. But this where my mega self care plan comes in. My mental and physical health is a priority. At the end of the day I no longer care if I come out of school with all As. Yes, I want to get good results. I know I have the capability to get an A in every subject (except maybe French...) but if I don't,  it's not a big problem. I shouldn't be pressurising myself to be the best of the best if I'm not happy. So now it's time to crack down on my resolutions. Drink water. Meditate. Excercise. Read (especially on the weekends.) Take breaks. I have started journaling and I intend to continue doing this at least until summer. The race to good grades and good health has begun. Until next time -Emicool

Hey guys The Easter holidays are upon us... For year 11s this is the time to not relax, but instead, cry in pity as we stress about the inevitable exams that are approaching ever closer and dismally attempt to 'revise' for them. As well as this, my school has been holding lots of intervention sessions during the holidays. Today, for example, I have been at school (from 10:00 to 3:00) doing maths. Fun. I am lucky in the sense that for me, intervention is optional. However, (for various reasons) multiple people do not thave a choice and have to come in during Easter for these sessions. Now, this is quite good because we do get help from teachers and it does force us to actually revise and not procrastinate by watching all 4 series of Sherlock, the Christmas special and all of the bonus features back to back... Some good news: I have finished all of my coursework for all of my subjects! This means that I don't have to stress about deadlines for coursework and I ca...

I have been thinking about my 'crushes' recently. Straight off the bat (no pun intended), I will confirm that I am pansexual. The people that I have liked... well... I don't know if I have even liked them. It's a pretty strange concept that I am trying to understand myself. My theory is that all the people I have had a crush on, I have just liked as a friend. Maybe? I don't know. You see, my previous crushes (particularly the more recent ones) have been friends of mine. When I liked them, we grew as friends. If I ever thought about 'confessing' my 'feelings' I would only ever think about hugging. Spending Saturdays together. Doing fun things. But not kissing. Not saying 'i love you' or doing anything romantic or sexual. Maybe this is because I haven't had any experience (having never been in a relationship, I have never kissed anyone).Or maybe this is because I have been confusing platonic love with romantic attraction. Who knows?...

Hello Internet (*salutes*) My school did mocks in November/December time and, well, this week has been interesting. On Monday I opened my mock results and we had a full day off timetable to go to sessions where they talked about how we could improve. Mock results: 5As, 4Bs :-) On Wednesday I had my last parents evening and my teachers basically talked about how to get As/A*s and gave me loads of handouts. By the time it got to Friday I couldn't even see my desk as it was flooded with loads of handouts and sheets of paper. Time for a sort out. I threw out all of the useless junk and put all of the relevant bits into piles according to their subject. I then filed them away in a folder, using dividers to separate each category. Then it was time for the revision timetable. My first GCSE is 17 weeks away so I think now is a good time to start my revision. At first, I used an online timetable but, to be honest, I was disappointed. It took me about 45 minutes to...

Happy new year everyone! As I do every year, I am writing some new years resolutions for 2017. These will (hopefully) guide me through the year. 1. Meditate regularly. 2. Drink enough water, especially during exam season. 3. Spend more time with friends outside of school. 4. Try hard for GCSEs but make sure you are healthy. 5. Maintain regular exercise (maybe go for a run??) 6. Don't panic when you go to college, it's going to be fine. 7. Meet up with your cousins more. 8. Write more blogs - release any thoughts. 9. Read for pleasure on the weekends instead of watching Youtube. 10. Be proud of yourself. Take pride in your work and how far you have come. Have optimism. 2017 is the year I have been working up to. It is the year I sit my GCSEs. These resolutions reflect that I need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not get too caught up in exams. Until next time, -Emicool

Happy New Year! I have taken quite a big break with this blog, just because life got a bit busier. However, I am back now to do one of my favourite annual blog posts - a reflection on the resolutions I made for the year. 1. Take care of your skin and body. I did step up m game with this one - putting in a good facial routine more frequently. However, I have been lazy and have not been doing it every day which is a shame. 2. Read a little every day. Failed. Although I have been reading more frequently, I certainly haven't been reading every day. Looking back at this now, I think it was a very unachievable goal for someone who normally didn't read a lot. 3. Write more stories. I started to write more but then didn't. I suppose more frequent blogging would have been a good way to write more stories... 4. Be patient. Patience is definitely been something I have worked on in 2016 and I think I am nearly there. I would Say I have passed this one! 5. Res...