To All Those Doing Their A Level Exams...
June 20, 2016
This time last year I was in the midst of my A2 exams. These exams would decide whether I got into the university of my choice, my insurance choice or indeed whether I would be going to university at all, and let me say, I was absolutely sure I had failed...
As I have stated before, my experiences with college were not what you would call stellar. I struggled academically through both years of college and my A2 exams honestly terrified me, although I tried not to let the pressure get to me. I'd given my best shot to my coursework for both History and English and now all that stood in my way was 3 exams... seems harmless right?
For my History exam, we had gone over all the possible questions, and how to structure your argument a million times over the year. I had revised and learned dates of key events in WW2 and I felt confident I could do a good job in the exam. That was until I opened the exam paper...
Throughout the year I had found one topic extremely difficult, and I was praying that it didn't come up on the exam, but there it was and I had no choice but to answer the question. This completely threw me. For the next 2 hours I was fighting the urge to burst into tears and run out of the exam hall - giving up before it could get any worse. I knew what I was writing was absolute drivel and I was 100% sure I had failed the exam. I came out of the exam, burst into tears and spent the rest of the day going over and over the exam in my mind.
My next exam was my A2 English.
I have always loved English, it's something that has always come naturally to me but I struggled soooooo much with A2 English its unbelievable. I don't know what it was but I just found it incredibly hard. As with History, we had practiced the question and structure so much I felt that I could do it in my sleep, but my grades hadn't been consistent - one week I scored an A and the next I was down to a D... I was all over the place, so I had no idea how I was going to score on my exam. Although I was more confident in my ability in English, I still wasn't sure what grade I would come out with so I couldn't console myself with 'well you've got A's all year...'
My perception of my exams meant I spent the next few months replying to the question 'What uni are you off to?' with 'I might be off to Lincoln - if I've got in' as I couldn't be sure if I had passed or failed, and I was 100% I had at least failed History.
Fast forward a few months and results day arrived. I felt like I was going to be sick. Logging onto UCAS seemed to take forever but it finally loaded and I read and re-read the screen, thinking there was some kind of mistake... I had got into university. When I received my actual results I had done better than I imagined - yes I hadn't done as well in my History exam but I didn't fail so my imagination was wrong there.
What I am trying to say is; you might think you have failed now, you might be so convinced of it that you could bet on it... but don't. Like me you might be pleasantly surprised when you open your results. A Levels are hellish but so long as you've tried your best that's all you can do.
Good Luck to all those taking exams right now - remember: breathe, read the question and, if all else fails, if somebody dies in an exam, everybody gets their predicted grade... take one for the team haha
Lottie :)
As I have stated before, my experiences with college were not what you would call stellar. I struggled academically through both years of college and my A2 exams honestly terrified me, although I tried not to let the pressure get to me. I'd given my best shot to my coursework for both History and English and now all that stood in my way was 3 exams... seems harmless right?
For my History exam, we had gone over all the possible questions, and how to structure your argument a million times over the year. I had revised and learned dates of key events in WW2 and I felt confident I could do a good job in the exam. That was until I opened the exam paper...
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| My revision wall... |
My next exam was my A2 English.
I have always loved English, it's something that has always come naturally to me but I struggled soooooo much with A2 English its unbelievable. I don't know what it was but I just found it incredibly hard. As with History, we had practiced the question and structure so much I felt that I could do it in my sleep, but my grades hadn't been consistent - one week I scored an A and the next I was down to a D... I was all over the place, so I had no idea how I was going to score on my exam. Although I was more confident in my ability in English, I still wasn't sure what grade I would come out with so I couldn't console myself with 'well you've got A's all year...'
My perception of my exams meant I spent the next few months replying to the question 'What uni are you off to?' with 'I might be off to Lincoln - if I've got in' as I couldn't be sure if I had passed or failed, and I was 100% I had at least failed History.
Fast forward a few months and results day arrived. I felt like I was going to be sick. Logging onto UCAS seemed to take forever but it finally loaded and I read and re-read the screen, thinking there was some kind of mistake... I had got into university. When I received my actual results I had done better than I imagined - yes I hadn't done as well in my History exam but I didn't fail so my imagination was wrong there.
What I am trying to say is; you might think you have failed now, you might be so convinced of it that you could bet on it... but don't. Like me you might be pleasantly surprised when you open your results. A Levels are hellish but so long as you've tried your best that's all you can do.
Good Luck to all those taking exams right now - remember: breathe, read the question and, if all else fails, if somebody dies in an exam, everybody gets their predicted grade... take one for the team haha
Lottie :)
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