Education, the End and the Future

It’s the half term holidays in England, meaning I have a week off from school- Hoorah! I’m in my last year of education (Year 13/ Upper Sixth) so we are reminded on a daily basis that this is ‘the most important year of your life so far’ and that is a scary prospect! This year determines so much for me in the future but, is also a complete end to a huge chapter of my life. I’ve gotten to the stage where every holiday brings me joy, sadness and terror combined in one. There is the utter relief that you get a little break from the mundane cycle of school but, the sadness, fear and terror that this means I’m one landmark nearer to leaving and having to face the dreaded exam season.

I have been lucky enough to enjoy every single step of my school life and know that I will miss it when I leave. I’ve created best friends which I intend to keep in contact with even after I have to enter into the big bad world. But, it’s more than that. I’ll miss my classmates whom I only see in lessons or my teachers who I know I won’t see after June. After spending 7 years with the same bunch of kids (now young adults) it’s utterly bizarre that you won’t be seeing them every day or perhaps ever again.

A school trip to Southend in Year 10- back when I had to wear this stylish uniform

School is a beautiful environment that for the most part you need to embrace and make the most of. Yes, it can be a nightmare, there will always be people you detest or subjects that you will never get the hang of- I valiantly turned up to French lessons for 5 years and still cannot string a sentence together- but, at the end of the day you spend 5 days a week inside those gates, so it will forever be an integral part of your life.

 Employers and Universities will only look at those stupid little letters on your CV as recognition of your education (commonly referred to as A-levels and GCSE’s) but, high school has a much larger impact on you than that. Its undoubtedly made me the person I am today, your teenage years are meant to be the time you develop the most and secondary school teaches you so much more than the speed of light (299 792 458 m/s) and the year of the Battle of Hastings (1066) .  Think how much your life has changed since primary school. I went from going to a school a 5 minute walk from my house, with 30 students in my year to a high school 40 minutes away from home and with 250 students in a year.  You learn who you are as person, how to make friends, have relationships, work your arse of for exams, write a CV, play sport, respect people and so much more that is outside the specific education curriculum.

My friends and I use study time correctly by taking selfies 

 So if you’re having a bad week at school: people are being mean, your teachers are setting homework like it is their ultimate goal for you to have no life or your just a little down in the dumps; take a second to think the last time you smiled or had a little giggle at school. I bet you half a Galaxy chocolate bar that it was probably yesterday in Geography lesson or riding home on the bus or walking to class in the torrential rain and wind. Whatever stage of education you’re in, every year brings a new battle and you always reflect and think that was honestly a piece of cake in comparison to what I have to do now (sorry). Lower school ( year 7-9) is a battle of settling in and balancing a trillion new subjects, GCSEs (year 10-11) mark the beginning of your ‘future’ and having to take about 18 exams at once and A-levels (year 12-13) bring on a whole new definition to work load and the significant difference in an A or B grade. I already look back at AS and GCSE’s and think what was I actually worrying about, did I even do any work? You forget the endless hours of homework, the torture of writing an essay, the piles of revision and the terror of exams- instead you remember the laughter and joy! I already know this time next year I will reflect on A-levels and just remember the good times and not my current state of trying to figure out how I meant to do coursework, revision, mock exams and homework all in one go and how the hell I’m going to actually achieve my predicted grades to get into university. Instead I’ll probably be scrolling through my old blog posts (hello to future self), school photo albums and stalking my old class mates on Facebook and Twitter, while panicking that I need to attend a University lecture, write an essay and read about 5 books- so to be fair maybe my life won’t be as different after this year as I think it will be.

What are your thoughts on school? I would love to know if you have the same memories as me and the same hates- do you think you’ll miss the craziness when you leave?

Peace Out My Lovelies xxx

PS. Blogging artists this week have been Passenger (http://www.youtube.com/user/passengermusic/videos) and Vance Joy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ_1HMAGb4k) 
PPS. If you want to see some of my school and life adventures follow me on Instagram: amygill_96