Two years on and I am in a completely different place.
I have left school and I am in my second year of university studying an English BA.
First year was an absolute blur, it went by so fast that I could barely keep up. From nights out, to making new friends in seminars, last year was an absolute blast.
Freshers isn't what you expect it to be - yes, people go out, get drunk and have a good time, but it is so much more than that.
Freshers is a time in which you find yourself, yes, it sounds cheesy, but it is completely true. You make brand new friends, move in with them and have an absolutely fantastic time.
Your freshers year of uni is so much fun, especially in halls. Halls is like one massive community, everyone is new and attempting to become a new, improved person. You meet so many different people in halls, from all over the world, it really is fantastic. You will never experience anything like halls.
Moving away from home causes you to become independent and it makes you realise just how much you take for granted at home. Whether it be your mum's cooking or a warm house, it all becomes clear when you have to cook for yourself everyday and wear ten layers because you can't afford the electric bill.
University is an experience that in my opinion everyone should have. Yes you have to study hard and yes it is important for getting jobs afterwards; but it is also the best years of your life. You are in your prime academically and most likely physically, so take this opportunity by the collar and live it.
Looking back at my school life I realise just how easy everything was. People say that university is easier than school because you are only doing one or two subjects, this is one of the biggest lies you will ever hear. The context quadruples in difficulty and your free time quadruples too. Despite having so much free time, you will still never have enough to do all of the reading. AND no matter how far in advance you are set an assignment, you WILL do it in the last 48 hours.
Uni is amazing, make sure you make the most of it!
The life of a hermit - aka student...
Wednesday 16 November 2016
Friday 8 May 2015
Exam Season...
So... the clock is ticking down faster than we can count. Our exams are literally just around the corner; thus, it is officially time to place our 100% concentration on our exams.
These next few weeks are going to make or break us, and with a new Tory Government, we need the best grades possible to achieve anything in life nowadays.
It is time to focus, heads down - earphones in, pens out - time to work hard.
It can be extremely hard to find motivation at this time of year, especially if you have been revising for a while - it is easy to lose motivation and not bother to continue.
However, it is extremely important to remember your goal - whether it be university, college or an apprenticeship - it is important to remember were you would like to be in five years time.
Would you like to be successful, working and happy? Or benefit-scrounging, poor and unhappy?
It is your decision - so if you would like to change your future, work for it.
For meritocracy is the key to success - as success is the key to a happy, healthy life!
I would like to wish everyone doing any exams the best of luck over the next few weeks.
Just remember, it is you, and you alone that can change your future - so go for it!
These next few weeks are going to make or break us, and with a new Tory Government, we need the best grades possible to achieve anything in life nowadays.
It is time to focus, heads down - earphones in, pens out - time to work hard.
It can be extremely hard to find motivation at this time of year, especially if you have been revising for a while - it is easy to lose motivation and not bother to continue.
However, it is extremely important to remember your goal - whether it be university, college or an apprenticeship - it is important to remember were you would like to be in five years time.
Would you like to be successful, working and happy? Or benefit-scrounging, poor and unhappy?
It is your decision - so if you would like to change your future, work for it.
For meritocracy is the key to success - as success is the key to a happy, healthy life!
I would like to wish everyone doing any exams the best of luck over the next few weeks.
Just remember, it is you, and you alone that can change your future - so go for it!
Friday 23 January 2015
The Clock is Ticking Down...
The
clock is ticking down with just four months to go. Students are beginning to
feel the breath of exam stress on the back of their necks. Therefore, this can
only mean one thing... EXAMS ARE COMING!
Being in
my last year of school has made me realise just how far I have come over the
past few years. After 14 years of school, consisting of blood, sweat and tears –
it is time to completely knuckle down and strive for success. It is so
important that revision is a student’s priority. If you put your social life
before school, your grades WILL suffer.
So many
students seem to forget that the clock is ticking down. They are too busy going
out with friends, getting ‘drunk;’ rather than doing the work that they are
supposed to be doing.
Therefore,
I think that students seriously need to sort their priorities out and just get on
with their school work.
Yes, it
can be extraordinarily boring; going over and over the same old thing – but, at
the end of the day – that ‘same old thing’ will make or break you.
It can
be the difference between attending university, getting a first class degree
and living in a council house living off virtually nothing via state benefits.
It is
about time students were given the credit they deserved – maybe this would help
to motivate them to succeed.
Students
get such a bad reputation, purely because of a few irresponsible people in the
past.
I
suggest that people start treating students like adults, rather than children.
We are asked to act like an adult, yet not treated like one – how is that fair?
Please,
just treat us like adults and we will act like them.
We will
work our butts off – deferred gratification will occur if we just keep working,
gain motivation and again and strive for every success possible.
Tuesday 2 December 2014
School really isn't as glamorous as it seems...
School shouldn’t
be a place of ridicule, a place of misery. It should be a place in which
everyone has the right to be educated. They should become educated without actually
realising it. Not only academically, but socially. They should be subtly
socialised into the norms and values of society, in a way that they don’t actually
realise that it is happening. They shouldn’t wish to retaliate, and wish to be
deviant.
People
don’t always realise the importance of school and education. They don’t realise
that without school you wouldn’t be the person that you are today. Teachers may
annoy you and may make you feel like a failure at times; but, at the end of the
day, they are getting paid. So, why should they care? Personally, I find this
viewpoint disgusting... if you don’t want to see students be successful, and
you cannot be bothered to put the effort in... then those students WILL fail.
Is that
really what you want?
There is
so much pressure put on the students of today, that it can sometimes be the
reason for their failure. They work day
in, day out and believe me, it doesn’t always pay off. Students put blood, sweat and tears into achieving their goals - and sometimes... it really isn't worth it. To me, this is horrific,
it is evidence that meritocracy can be a complete and utter myth.
However,
I do not believe that this should be the case.
I
believe that students should be assessed throughout two years, from the moment
they start year 12, until the moment that they finish year 13. Education should NOT
be assessed based on academia alone, it should be based on attitude – on work
ethic and on resilience.
Students
only seem to get into university based on their grades. So, how about if a
student is caring, generous, well-behaved, hard-working... they could work every single day for two years .... but just not
quite get the grades that universities request. So, they just don’t get into
university? Yet, there will be rude, arrogant, lazy students that just about
scrape the grades and get in? This education system is completely unfair.
It
really is about time that it was changed.
Students
face stress every single day of their lives; sacrificing necessities such as
sleep, in order to finish a piece of homework that their teacher will never
even ask for. They cry on a regular basis, because the stress of school and a part-time job has just got too much... they suffer often just because a teacher has decided to make a joke about them... why? Why is it that teachers can ridicule students, but students cannot ridicule teachers? Yes... 'respect your elders'... but seriously... it's borderline cruel!?!
So, I am
asking you – what is the point? Really? What is it?
Tuesday 14 October 2014
Unjust schools...
School should
be about solidarity, about creating a sense of community and belonging for
students. It should be about supporting students from day one until the very
end. It should be about allowing them to become young adults; yet still helping
them with the difficult maturation process. It should be able teaching them in
a way that they will actually remember information and still enjoy it.
School should
be a place where a student feels safe, feels as if they should be there. School is supposed to be the best years of your
life – but unfortunately, for many students – it isn’t. It’s a time that
students are put until immense pressure – a time in which they suffer stress so
badly that they breakdown that they cry, that they just want to give up. A
levels cause students so much stress that they sometimes just drop out of
school – not because they want to, but because they feel as if they have no
other choice. Personally, I feel that this is completely unjust – I feel that
we should enjoy working, and feel a sense of meritocracy. As if all of our hard
work will actually be worth it in the
end – sometimes, we just work so hard, for so long and still don’t get the
grades we would like – still don’t feel satisfied with our achievements. How is
this fair?
Students
should not have to feel as if they are suffering at school, but as if they are
striving – as if they are learning and achieving. Of course it won’t always be
fun and easy, but right now – it is very rarely fun or easy. It is rare to see students enjoying their learning and
being willing to stay after school to do work, or go to extra classes in order
to improve their work.
Schools
should be meritocratic and democratic. Students should get their say – after all,
what’s a school without students? Schools should be run in a way that benefits
students; too often nowadays, schools are run like businesses – for profit. Students
are forced to work hard day in and day out in order for their teacher to get a pay
rise – or to boost their school’s reputation in the odd ‘Marketization’ process
that occurs in today’s society.
How can
we enjoy school and be successful if school policies are pro-reputation and
anti-child welfare? Schools should be run in a way that benefits students – in a
way that creates equality of opportunity for students; in a way that will make
them realise that school was worthwhile. Everything is about reputation
nowadays, it’s about time the student voice was heard... schools should be
democratic!
Thursday 11 September 2014
Teachers...
During your
education, you don’t quite realise how important the role of a teacher is. They
are there every lesson with you – whether you are in a great mood or a bad mood
– they are there for one reason, and one reason alone... to teach. There is
only one problem with this... why are they there?
It is
extraordinarily rare nowadays to meet a teacher that is actually teaching for
the greater good. Most of them are there for the holidays and the pension –
however, they must have wanted to be a teacher once... so what has made them
lose their motivation? School is hard... everyone knows that – but, it isn’t
just hard for students; it is hard for teachers too – they spend all day with
disruptive teenagers, attempting to teach them something that they will
probably forget in about 10 minutes time. Attempting to get them through school
in order to get them decent grades and a reasonable shot at life....
So why
have so many teachers given up?
They have
given up because of the horrific behaviour displayed in schools nowadays - from
11 year olds to 18 year olds – there will always be a few students that ruin it
for everyone. Teachers, they have to sit there every day and attempt not to lose
their cool because of that one insolent student that won’t keep their mouth
shut. They have to suffer through trying to help others get good grades because
of that student.
Despite
this, some teachers – few teachers, still have that motivation and drive to
make the world a better place; to improve the education and lives of the youth
of today... these teachers are the best kind of teachers. They are teachers
that are willing to come into school in the school holidays, weekends and after
school in order to help students with work; they are teachers that plan their
lessons in a way that allows them to cater equally to the needs of every single
student in their class. They are the teachers that don’t continuously lose
their temper with you – they are teachers that can simply look at you and it
will feel like their eyes are burning straight through you because you have
disappointed them.
These teachers
are more than recognisable – they will be the teachers that offer to sit down
with you and help you with your work or even just have a chat with you to make
you feel better ... these teachers are sincerely respected within schools and
it is extremely clear. They are one of a kind – so please; don’t take advantage
of them – because they will be the ones that guide you through school into a
better standard of living.
Just
appreciate your teachers for once and treat them with the respect that they
deserve!
Tuesday 19 August 2014
Meritocracy... pfft, what a joke!
Is the
education system really meritocratic? Do students really get rewarded for all
of the work that they put in? Do they get
the grades that they deserve after staying up late to finish essays and
revise; for going to those weekend/school holiday revision sessions and lessons
after school? Do they get what the rewards that they have worked for after all
that? Do they get repaid for all of the times that they have turned down days
out and sacrificed their ever-so precious sleep? For me, the answer is no...
Some
students revise every day, stay up every night to finish coursework, essays and
revision – they stay up with a goal in their mind; a goal that they are working
so hard to achieve ... a goal that
eventually slips through their hands like butter. A goal that they have clung
onto for ‘dear life’ – and for what? In their minds, they have had results day
- a day that many students like to call ‘
Judgement Day;’ the day that they find out whether they will be carrying onto
year 13 or more importantly getting into the university of their choice. This
day can decide their fate – via a piece of paper with 3-4 letters on... this
day can make or break a student ... it can mean that all of their hard work has
paid off... or in my case – hasn’t.
You know
what has caused these students to suffer? There are a few things: the removal
of January exams – the point of this was to prevent as many students achieving
the highest grades ... the grades that they have worked their butts off for!
The funny thing is ... to Michael Gove, this made sense – he clearly enjoyed
watching students’ hearts break as they opened their results – to see that they
just haven’t made the cut. How do you think that this makes students feel? You
make it harder for us to get the grades that we deserve? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????
It is already hard, we already sacrifice so much – why are you making it worse
for us?
Additionally,
not only have you removed January exams; you have also moved grade boundaries
up – up so high that they are just unrealistic ... how is this supposed to help
us? Now, no one is going to get the grades that they deserve because you are
too selfish – you are so wrapped up in how much you hated school ... that you
are trying to make it worse for us? Why??? What can you possibly get out of
making our lives miserable that is so rewarding? Oh yeah... a pay rise.
Well, at
this rate – we won’t even be able to get jobs ... because the working world is
so competitive already; and because of your brainless, selfish decisions – we are
going to be left unemployed, unable to get a pay-rise because we have no jobs! The
education system is not meritocratic – it is completely unfair ... and what is
even worse, is that to you – we mean nothing...
we are just another number on a piece of paper – another statistic for you to
look at contently, whilst in your dressing gown and slippers in your £1000
armchair in your heated living room, in your overpriced, luxury apartment
somewhere in London. Whilst we are left sitting in our rooms, crying and
thinking we are just not good enough for education – just not good enough to
achieve deserved grades; even though we could have never done anymore work for
our exams.
So why
don’t you actually consider us when you arrange the education system – rather than
being so selfish and thinking of just your pay rise and reputation... I tell
you know, you reputation is getting rapidly worse – so please, sort yourself
out before there is a revolution. Power in this country is so unevenly distributed
– it is about time is it equalised and fair.
So, in
conclusion – the education system is not meritocratic – and some people, like
me; just don’t achieve the grades that they deserve because meritocracy within
schools is a myth – and it is about time is it brought back into play.
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