End of an Era

Well, readers. I am officially out of School/College/Sixth Form. Whatever you want to call it, I'm out of it. Really, I could not be happier. I spent an extra year of my life at my sixth form as I have explained in a previous post and to finally be done is just the biggest weight off my shoulders. I think that I've said it before, but I just didn't feel like I belonged there any more. My year group had all left and moved on with their lives and there I was with a group of people that I wasn't that keen on. Harsh, probably, but true. There are a handful of said year group that I adored and considered really good friends but the rest? Eh. Insert shrug here. Not seeing them every day won't be a loss and I'm sure that they'd say the same about me. But moving on. You know what? I think I might whack out the subheadings for this post. 

Last Day Drama

So on my last day, I had two exams; Economics and English Literature. The exam boards had scheduled them both for 1pm which meant that I had to sit my English exam early at 10:30. Annoying, yes. But not a problem. So in I go (I'm alone because I'm the only one who has this clash) and for those that haven't sat an English Lit exam, it's split into two essay questions that you're supposed to spend about an hour on each. One is an essay that you write about an extract that you're given and the other is about poetry, in my case Tennyson. So during the year you have a book of poems that you annotate and then when you get into the exam, you're given a another copy of the book which is blank and so you write your essay about whatever poem they've decided you've got to write it about. Anyway. So I'm feeling pretty good. My last essays I've handed have come back on my Moomin notepaper with a surprisingly cheery grade on. I've been sleeping well. I've had a ridiculous amount of coffee and I have that confident 'Exam, you're going down' spring in my step. I sit down, plan the first essay, start to write it and then notice that I've not actually been given a copy of the poetry book that I'm supposed to have. The invigilator looks pretty damn panicked when I tell him because hey, lets face it, they don't want to be dealing with this crap and then the exams boss lady comes in and tells me that they don't have any Tennyson books and, in short, I'm screwed. So to cut an already long boring story short, I had to sit half of my English exam and then stop and do my Economics exam while randomers went running around, desperately trying to find a very particular selection of Tennyson poems. It wasn't fun. I was losing my mind. When they handed me my Economics exam my brain literally went 'HA NO THIS IS NOT HAPPENING' and gave up. I can safely say that I have failed that exam. Eventually, they photocopied someone elses book and I had to sit the second half of my English exam 3 3 hours after I had started it. I'm not sure whose fault it was that I hadn't been given the book - the school said that the exam board didn't send them, but I personally think that it should have been doubled checked? Am I wrong? Either way, I'm gutted. As I was writing my first essay people were coming in and out of the hall and whispering to each other but not telling me what was going on so it's safe to say that my mind wasn't completely focused. I've been told that I'll be put in for special consideration but that means that I'll get a couple more marks when I'm sure that I would have done infinitely better had I been able to do my 2 hour English exam, have a half hour break and then do my Economics as expected. There we have it. My last day of school was pretty messed up. Typical!

It's not been all bad... 

I've made some friends this year who I hadn't even heard of last year. They've managed to make the painfully long breaks and lunches go a lot faster and been the root of some cheery memories that have made the year worth while. I love you fellas. I really do. 

This is probably going to be the dorkiest thing that I have written in a very long time but you know what? My blog, people. Deal with it. I was absolutely dreading this year. And we all know that I've not enjoyed it as such, but it hasn't been all bad. For a start, my lessons have been brilliant. Yup. That's right. One of the big highlights of my school year has been my lessons. I took 3 subjects this year and had four teachers (two for English). My Economics teacher really is as good as they come. He is one of those that make the most complicated of subjects simple. The man is teaching God. He expects the absolute best from his students and really encourages them all which should go without saying from a teacher but I've found sadly does not. If you need help with something, he'll help you. Simple. I really got on with him and although he can be an absolute douche, you always know that he has your back. I had a massive drama with a teacher when I was in year 12 and if he hadn't been behind me with it, I would have absolutely lost my mind because I know that nobody else would have. It really makes a difference when you know that a teacher is going to listen to what you have to say and take you seriously, not treat you like a child and automatically take the side of the adult. Coooor, there is nothing worse! 

And English, despite the exam being a nightmare, was brilliant. I walked into my first lesson having never been taught by either of my two teachers but having heard a lot about them from friends (one I'd heard to be an absolute hero but the other... Well, she has a reputation for being a bit scary ;) ) I was also in a class of 16/17 year olds that I didn't know and being the grand old age of 19, I wasn't really sure how it was going to go. But a friend of mine, Jared, turned up and oh my Jesus it was a relief. But the class turned out to be lovely (although I don't think I heard most of them speak until a good 3 months into the year) and both teachers were absolutely lovely. I got on really well with both of them and I'm actually really going to miss them. Yup. Loser Megan is a loser. One of them is the biggest feminist you've ever met and mad as a box of a frogs but she's a hoot and a half and managed to make Tennyson (semi) interesting so, ya know, hats off to her. I came to actually really admire her - there is absolutely no messing with this woman. I mean, really. She's nails. My other teacher also had her pretty crazy moments and I admire her just as much. She taught us the Victorian topic and as a published author (I'll be waiting for my signed copy when her book is out at the end of the year!!) who has based her stories in the Victorian era, there is very little that she doesn't know about ye olden daye. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when a teacher clearly adores their topic and knows everything there is to know about it. I think that I mentioned before in my post about my week at Arvon, but we have the same taste in books and she's lent me a couple over the year which I loved. There really is nothing better than a person who likes the same books as you. At least if there is, I'm yet to find it. 

Yup. The teachers that you have really do make an incredible difference to the year. I've had years when lessons have been such a struggle and topics have been unbearable because of the person in charge. I was so lucky this year.

So what's next?

Uni, come at me! I really cannot wait. I've been in a tiny little town for far too long now. This little bird has wings that need to be spread! 

I've gotten myself another job for the summer so I have two now which will keep me busy and, more importantly, get the moneys rolling in! I'm going to need it when I'm a poor, poor student in September. And then it's off to Bournemouth University (if all goes to plan) to study Public Relations. That's right. I'm going to be the real life Eddie from Absolutely Fabulous. I just need to find my Patsy... 

A little excitement

I also received an uncorrected proof of a book called 'My Notorious Life by Madame x' by Kate Manning the other day. I am so excited to read it! I won it in a give away on Goodreads.com and the cover alone makes me want to read it! 

‘In the end, they celebrated. They bragged.

They got me finally, was their feeling.

They said I would take my secrets to the grave.

They should be so lucky.’

'A stunning tale of sex, freedom, family and the many faces of love, set in nineteenth-century New York'?? I am all over that! I can't wait to get my teeth into it. 

And it's recommended to those that love The Night Circus and The Crimson Petal and the White which are two of my favourite books. Ooft, it's gonna be a good'en!! 

And with that, I shall leave you! This has been me for the last week or two and this has been one tedious blog post! If you've made it this far, I salute you and give you my humble thanks!

For those of you that are taking exams, whatever they may be, I wish you the best of luck and hope they go a little smoother than mine did!! 

M x

Exam Madness

I know that this is going to be different for a lot of people that read this and completely irrelevant to others, but today marks the end day of my January exams! I'm not going to claim to know how the American (or any other nationality for that matter) exam system works, but here in England you do A levels which are made up of (usually) 2 AS exams that you sit in year 12 when you're 16/17 that count for half a qualification and 2 A2 exams that you sit in year 13 when 17/18 which complete the qualification. Now, as I've mentioned before, I am currently 19 and redoing one year of my A levels. I'm not going to go into it but I'm doing two AS levels and one A2. THIS IS NOT IMPORTANT. I am moving on! 

So we can sit exams in January and Summer and today, I sat an economics exam which was the last exam that I will have to do until around Mayish time. I must say, whatta relief! 

This January, I only had to sit two exams - one biology and one economics - but I have been revising for them for ages! I'm not going to pretend that I revised as much as I should have, but I did a fair amount and would be happy if I never saw a diagram of photosynthesis ever again. 

Which is what the point of this post begins to play its part. 

For weeks, we sit and we revise for exams that we are forced to sit which will give us a grade from a set of questions that were set for every single person in the room. Now, I don't think that is very fair. I don't know what an alternative to exams could be, but to test everyone in exactly the same just seems so unfair! Well when I say it like that, it sounds pretty stupid, but if you consider that everyone thinks and works and operates in a different way, then to say that we should then treat them all in the same way and test them on the same paper seems ludicrous. Ignoring for a moment the fact that how well you do really does depend on how you're feeling that day, I find it strange that we still have an education system that seems ridiculous. The amount of exam boards, for a start, is insane. In England there are about a million different companies that can be the makers of the exam board you sit and the school decides which board that school will test with. Surely, if you're going to test everybody in the same way, there should be one exam board, one exam? For example, my biology exam was with Edexcel. Well that's all very well and good but what if I had studied the AQA biology course? That may have been more suitable for me and I may have come out with a better grade in exactly the same qualification. Their paper may have been 'easier' than ours and so all the hours I put into revising may get me a really bad mark on the paper I did sit, whereas I may have got a really good mark if were to have sat another paper? I just don't think it's fair. If you're going to make every student sit the paper, then make them sit the SAME paper. That way, when I am competing for a university place or a job or whatever and the person next to me says "Yeah buddy, I got an A in biology" and I'm there saying "Awh man, that sucks because I failed epically" I'm not then saying "So what exam board did you do? Ohhh it was really easy? That sucks because my exam was really hard". 

And I know that there is always the "you get what grade you earn" argument, but all I'm saying that I think there should be one unanimous exam board that the entire country sit with. So there.

And then there is resits. Now, I am all for resits. I know that a lot of adults are moaning that exams are getting easier and it's not like it was in their day and bla bla blaaa. Whatever. You know what? I work bloody hard for the exam results that I get and no, they're not as good as I would have hoped them to be so you sitting there saying that exams are bloody easy these days is not valid. You sit and put in hours and hours of revision and then come out with a crappy grade and listen to someone say how "easy" the exam must have  been. See how much it cheers up your day. I digress slightly, but my point is that everyone can have a bad day. You can work for weeks for an exam and then completely flunk it but resit it and pass with flying colours because maybe you were in a better mood, less nervous, had more sleep, didn't have an argument with your parents that morning, hadn't lost something and spent ages looking for it. Whatever the reason, external factors can put you off and you could bomb an exam you should have, by all rights, passed. In England they're stopping resits next year and I think that it's completely unfair, even though it won't make a difference to me - I will still be able to resit the exams I did this week in Summer if I fail them. 

I just don't think it's very fair to give someone one single shot at something that, if failed, could actually really change their lives. If I hadn't been able to resit this year, I wouldn't have a place at university and I genuinely don't know what I would have done. Give us a break, people! 

In other news : 

I got some more birthday presents from my incredible friends and just want to share to of them with you . 

My incredible TARDIS mug from my incredible best friend in all the world, Miss Kathleen Rose. The girl knows me so well. 

And an equally as amazing and much loved book of Gene Hunt wit and wisdoms from another darling friend of mine, Miss Evie Rose, who I love with all my heart. 

And in other news, I have started another blog that is dedicated to music because I didn't want this blog to get overcrowded with Music posts because music is such a big part of my life. Each day, I will post about my song of the day - it's a pretty self-explanatory concept really. The link can be found in my "connect to me" (or whatever it's called!) section that can be found in my pages down the right hand side of my page. Or, if you're lazy and fancy a link, it can be found right here! 

Click here! Right here. There you go.

See. I did the hard work for you. 

I hope that all those that had/have exams did well or do very well indeed! 

Until next time, 

M x