A Level myth busters

Okay, so results day for GCSEs is tomorrow and if you're waiting on results believe me I know how nerve wracking it can be - I got very little sleep on the 21st August 2013 and it was the same with my friends, we actually stayed up playing Would You Rather on a group chat on Whatsapp (highly recommend this if you want some top notch #bantz whilst you're waiting for results day to come). So, I thought I would do a post debunking some theories about A Levels and giving my tips and advice for anyone moving onto that portion of their lives.

Check the time stamp on that tweet - literally just about a week before my GCSE results!

BS THEORY #1: 'A Levels are easier than GCSEs because you're doing fewer subjects'
This theory is probably the one that irritates me and many other A Level students alike the most - this is utter nonsense. Sure, you're doing fewer subjects and I understand at GCSEs when you're studying like 10 subjects, the prospect of doing 3-5 sounds a lot easier, but A Levels are about 50 times harder than GCSEs. You have to learn a hell of a lot of extra detail, like you know at GCSEs when learning specific detail was something you did if you really wanted the A*? Yeah, at A Levels the specific detail is bare minimum like it'll probably bring you to a C at most so already you're having to put in a lot more effort to get a C.

BS THEORY #2: 'You'll be able to do all your work and revision in your free periods so you'll have a lot more free time'
Again, this isn't true because you get so much extra work at A Levels and there's so much content  to revise, you're going to need free periods as well as time outside of school to do all the work you need to do. Don't get me wrong, you'll still have free time but you definitely won't have as free a schedule as you did at GCSEs.

BS THEORY #3: 'You have to do A Levels if you want to get into University'
I can't stress this enough, but if you don't feel like exams are your sort of thing, you do not have to do A Levels, you can do a BTEC and still get into University. There are certain courses at certain Universities that will only take A Levels and that's granted but for loads of courses they accept people with BTEC results and I know people who weren't so into exams but did amazingly on their BTEC and got unconditional offers from good Universities so please don't listen to all that crap about how A Levels are the only route into University and can we please stop with the whole 'BTECs are for stupid people' malarkey. Yes, I did A Levels but I know from other people that BTECs are still a heck of a lot of work, that's why you can get onto a University course with, for example, entry requirements of BBB at A Levels but DDM at BTEC - so if you don't feel exams are for you, please do consider a BTEC and don't let people put you off them because of the stereotypes around them, you know what kind of education is best suited for you I'm sure.

BS THEORY #4: 'You should do a Science subject because it looks good on your UCAS'
Okay, this is true in general like you should never do a subject based on the fact that it looks good on your UCAS, but I know in Science this is a particularly big problem and it's something that actually happened to me.

As you may know, I did Biology for As and hated it within the first couple of weeks. I did actually really like Biology at GCSE and our teachers made us think that the course we were doing was basically A Level (which was complete and utter rubbish anyway, we were doing Cambridge CIE iGCSE, which is done in public schools and is a heck of a lot harder than a regular GCSE) so I assumed I'd be fine at A Level, but I absolutely hated it and found no enjoyment in the course anymore, but I didn't even question dropping it before A2 because I thought that having a Science subject there would make my UCAS look better but it really wasn't worth the trouble. Firstly, I genuinely despised going into school on some days because I knew I'd have Biology (Thursdays especially because, whilst I had a half day, I had 4 periods of Biology) and this made me really down on those days. Secondly, I wouldn't concentrate much in lesson or I'd get lost because I didn't care about what we were learning and I didn't find it at all interesting for the most part (although, gonna give it some credit, I quite liked all the biology on food and diet like that was pretty interesting.) Thirdly, I basically scraped a pass in it so I barely got any UCAS points from it anyway plus Universities only look at 3 subjects generally and they pretty much disregard As entirely.

This brings me onto another point, never do a subject if you have the intention of dropping it. During the first few weeks of A Levels, I knew I either wanted to drop Biology or History but after those few weeks I was dead set on dropping Biology and I'm pretty certain it's that mentality that contributed to me not working as hard in it. Essentially what I'm trying to say is, do subjects that you love. Also, if you're only doing certain A Levels to get onto a certain Uni course and you hate those subjects, you probably won't like the Uni course so you may need to reconsider what you want to do. Furthermore, to do well in a subject you should have some sort of interest in it otherwise revision is going to be a complete task (I don't really think revision should be the most enjoyable of tasks, but if you're bored to tears revising it like I was learning about bonds and Alpha helixes and all that jazz, you're doing the wrong course).

BS THEORY #5: 'Once you've made your choices for A Levels, you're stuck with them'
There's a degree of truth in this in the sense that if you're a few months into the course, then it's probably not worth changing because you won't be able to catch up on a new course in time for the exam (the year goes by dangerously fast, be prepared) but if you change in the first few weeks, there'll probably still be places on other courses that you can change to or you can drop a subject if you're not liking it. I feel like you do get a feel for the course you're doing in the first few weeks of it, I know I definitely did (especially with Biology, but lets not go through that again) so if you don't like a course in the first few weeks, don't hesitate to ask your Head of Year about changing. They may not let you drop it in the first few weeks because it's possible after a first assessment sort of dealio you get a good grade so they can persuade you to stay on the course, but you may be able to change to a different course that you'll enjoy more.

That's all I really have to say, I hope any of you receiving GCSE results are happy with what you get, and I hope it's enough to do what you want to do next whether that be A Levels, BTEC or an Apprenticeship (I think there are more options too but these are the main ones that I'm aware of).

What are your tips for those who've just finished their GCSEs?

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Exams, Philosophy related musicals, shopping, and rediscoveries

It's that time where I do 'Ten Things and Ten Blogs' but I've decided to change it up a bit. I've decided not to showcase ten blogs anymore, not because I don't think they deserve recognition, but because I'd rather be able to give a massive spotlight to one or two blogs I've really been enjoying ('tis a bit more meaningful and all that jazz) so if I am really enjoying a blog you will still hear about it, just not in the same way as before, cool?

one.

Only Dan and Phil could make me laugh about revision (I'm in the midst of my second round of A Level mock exams and I'm just hating every second)

two.

I'm not sure how many of you reading care about Star Wars, but I am a massive fan of Star Wars and I just need a moment to talk about the new trailer with Harrison Ford and Chewbacca - ultimate fangirl moment!

three.
Since the mini-post above, my mocks have finished - huzzah! Philosophy hasn't finished being marked so I can't tell you a grade for that, but I was really happy with my History and I got an A* and an A in Psychology which is what I'm probably going to be doing in University so that's pretty good.

four.
After mocks, our Philosophy teacher decided to give us somewhat of a break and show us a musical called A Theory of Justice (you can see the trailer here), which is actually a university production musical. He always said he would show it to us and we didn't know when, and in all honesty none of us expected anything amazing, but it just is. It's just hilarious, it tells the story of John Rawls and Robert Nozick developing their theory of justice but they travel through time learning about different philosophers' theories of justice. My personal favourite moments were Karl Marx saying 'that's so bourgeois' as that's something I say almost on a daily basis, and Emanuel Kant being portrayed as a fairy godmother - absolutely brilliant.

five.
Me  and my friends decided to go for a mini shopping trip and meal out as another small celebration of the end of mocks, and as it's probably the last time we'll be able to do anything like that before the real exams. I picked up a couple of beauty bits (not enough for a haul though, sorry! Sure you'll see reviews though) and we went to Pizza Express, then we went back to my friend's house and we watched Into The Woods whilst eating a lot of Reese's peanut butter cups and Tangfastics - such fun!

six.
I've become re-obsessed with the app QuizUp. Around exam season, I always tend to get more into apps probably because I'm spending more time on my phone than my computer, and all my friends have this app now which makes it all the more time-consuming!

seven.
Whilst we're on the topic of rediscoveries, I need to mention How I Met Your Mother. I was watching this obsessively over the Summer (and the odd episode throughout 2013) but I hadn't really watched much of season 9 as I already knew what happened in the last episode (what the heck man) and I had generally heard from people that it ruined the series. However, my friend has been pestering me to finish it because I need to be disappointed too and so far, so good, but I am not looking forward to the end.

eight.
Me and my friends are in the process of trying to organise a cottage holiday for the summer, y'know those sort of crappy British holidays pensioners tend to do, hoping it does go ahead because I'm looking forward to it! (We're hoping to do a ouija board and a seance)

nine.
I read and rewatched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book review here) and for the past few days I've had So Long and Thanks for All the Fish stuck in my head, which has been annoying as I don't know all the lyrics and it's a bit of a silly obscure song so I can't even sing it out with anyone - #FirstWorldProblems

ten.
Marina from YouTube Channel marinashutup uploaded a video about the evolution of Rape Culture which I thought was so interesting and well worth a watch.

How have the past couple of weeks been for you?

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Ten things and ten blogs #1

After seeing a few of these types of posts floating around the bloggersphere, I thought I'd try my hand at it to add a bit more lifestyle and general rambling into fashion, beauty and an existential crisis. I'm thinking of doing these bi-monthly, because I don't do enough in a week to talk about but over the space of a month I've usually done a fair bit so bi-monthly is the way forward dudes.

one.
I learned that some people will never change and will never see the need to change, and with toxic people like that, it's most beneficial just to cut them off.

two.
Plato may be one of the world's most famous philosophers, but The Republic is one of the most hellish books a person could ever study for A level.

three.
I'll never be able to let go of my adoration for My Chemical Romance, and after having a long listen to them on Spotify, I realised that I'll never be over the fact that they've broken up (The Black Parade still hits a nerve in me, right from the intro, the emo inside never dies)

four.
My mock exams went a lot better than I initially thought they would, especially Philosophy - what can I say? Artificial intelligence and the state as an oppressor is just my thing.

five.
I went to see Alt-J at the O2 in Greenwich and it was ahmayzing. The opening acts were Gengahr and Wolf Alice, and they were both top notch too - I've been looking forward to this for so long now, and now I have nothing to look forward too, boo.

Ah a crappy iPhone photo, now that's a real throwback right?

six.
Binge watching the first generation of skins in under a week was not a good idea, you think you're over these characters and storylines after watching it several times but rewatching is like pouring salt on open wounds.

seven.
I found out I have roughly six more weeks until my grade 8 piano exam, which is emotional because that means I'll never see my piano teacher again who I've had for nearly ten years (crazy!) She's a quirky lady and I will miss her, she's like family.

eight.
My birthday was in November as you may have seen if you saw my Birthday haul post but one of my presents from my friend only just came because she ordered it from Japan, and it's one of the best presents I've ever received - I absolutely love Studio Ghibli and My Neighbour Totoro so receiving this book was really lovely!

Try to spot the Doctor Who badges (forever fangirlin', even in blog photos)

nine.
Life can get dark, really dark, and other people may misunderstand and belittle your feelings, but your feelings are valid - try not to forget that.

ten.
Whilst I've realised recently that some people who claim to be your friends are actually massive arse wipes, I do have some pretty cool friends. On Friday, I went to see a friend with one of my other friends and we had a massive catch up and it was just generally really lovely, and on 31st January, it was my friend's birthday and we were doing a treasure hunt around London, this company sent the clues via text message but unfortunately we didn't finish it - it was cold, and we wanted pizza from pizza hut so y'know, but overall it was a top notch day.

blogs.
Throw me something beautiful
Qworterlifecrisis
Kayla Hadlington
Sweet electric
All that shimmers
Milk bubble tea
Merry musing
Yingcbeauty
Deaddsouls
Francesca beauty

What's been the best thing you've done over the past couple of weeks?

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18 things I learned by 18

1. Always bring your iPhone charger with you, where ever you're going. You never want to be in a situation where your battery is too low to listen to You're Gonna Lose That Girl or Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now for the thousandth time. 

2. Never leave the house without a book. A bus journey without reading material is a bus journey not worth taking.

3. Don't forget that your journal is there for when you're feeling the bitter winds of teenage angst.

4. Saying 'I'm not a feminist, I believe in equality' is the most stupid thing a person can say. Embrace your feminism, educate the ignorant and don't stop complaining until things change.

5. Your parents were right about Morrissey and The Smiths. The years of denying yourself the pleasure of The Headmaster Ritual, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, and How Soon Is Now? are years you will never get back, so face facts and accept that when it comes to music your parents know what they're talking about - it will save you a lot of time.

6. Don't be ashamed of still not being over High School Musical, anyone who doesn't like it is a dirty, rotten liar and they need to get their head in the game. Also don't be ashamed of the fact that you still watch Disney channel and get excited when they show Hannah Montana.

7. Foundation and concealer do not make you look cakey and orange if applied in the right shade and with the right amount, you can cover up those dark circles that you hate oh so much.

8. Biology A Level was never going to be your thing, you knew that from the first week of sixth form and just because you got a B at GCSE in a ridiculously hard Biology curriculum (Cambridge iGCSE is no joke people) it doesn't mean you're going to become an expert in phospholipid membranes and tertiary structures, so don't stress yourself out about it too much.

9. Try not to let your anxiety control you, say yes to more opportunities, but don't feel bad and beat yourself up if you're not up to meeting up with friends once in a while, it's all about baby steps.

10. Doctor Who is worth the hype. Give it another go, start from Christopher Eccleston - enjoy.

11. Don't upload photos of yourself on Facebook at least until age 15/16, seriously anything before then is not a pretty sight and by the time you discover this there will be hundreds to go through and make private or delete - save yourself this time.

12. You don't need to buy every Beatles band shirt you find, if you have nearly twenty, you have a problem and an empty purse.

13. As much as you want to date Tom Felton/Draco Malfoy (in the movies of course because Draco in the books is an arse wipe) you are not a Slytherin, as you find out at age 17, you are a gryffindor (and it's great - go go gryffindor!)

14. Answer your phone. Seriously. People know you're scared of picking up the phone, and they're generally sympathetic, which is why if they're calling you it is important - so pick up your damn phone once in a while.

15. Reading reader insert fanfictions probably isn't the best use of your time, but if it helps you forget about the inevitability of you being forever alone, go right ahead and do it.

16. That existential crisis you've been having since you were 12? Yeah, that's not going anywhere any time soon. Just try not to bum everyone else out by talking about the inevitability of death and the insignificance of humankind because it's not the greatest conversation starter.

17. One Direction are not that bad. Perhaps pop music is all manufactured and a disgrace to the greats like The Beatles, The Smiths, Ben Folds Five, Arctic Monkeys (and so on) but they are catchy and can be quite fun. However, you can maintain that pretentious façade and claim you only listen to 'I want' because it's written by Tom Fletcher and because it sounds exactly like a McFly song if it makes you feel better.

18. You don't need to have your entire life plan figured out by age 18. Very few people do, enjoy the next few years and get some life experience (preferably experience that doesn't require a wifi connection, yes Tumblr I'm looking at you)

What wisdom can you pass on from your life experience?

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