Now I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon here, in writing this blog post, but it may not have escaped your notice (who am I kidding? It's everywhere!) that it's A Level results day tomorrow and that for many Year 13s (like me!), it's the make or break time where we found out what university we'll be heading to in a few weeks' time. But panic ye not! I am on hand with 3 top tips for surviving the next few hours (and if you're receiving GCSE results, the next week!) while you nervously wait, hope and pray. Because the rational part of my brain tells me that this is not the end of the world, and we will all get through the day regardless of the outcome! (Side note: this is only a very spur of the moment, spontaneously written post!)
1. Put it all into perspective! So this whole education system can seem like an ocean, in which we are swimming against the tide as little fishies (forgive me. It's early in the morning and that's the best analogy I can come up with!) but it's so crucial to remember that it all comes down to making it onto the next rung of the ladder. Even if at the time, you feel disappointed with a result, or it's not as you expect, there's so many back up options - chances are, there WILL be another university out there in the world that is willing to offer you a place, and though it may be a slightly different path to the one you'd prepared yourself for, it could be really lovely. You can still study whatever you'd like to regardless of how this day goes!! But it may just mean sitting tight for a few more weeks potentially waiting for remarks, or perhaps you'll have secured another University through Clearing on the same day! Keep up the hope - you'll look back on this experience and realise it's WHAT you'd like to study that's the most important thing. Location, shmocation. (Understatement of the year. Oh dearie me this is going well..)
2. Don't lose rationality!! Towards results day, it seems to me as if the irrational, panicky side of your brain starts to outweigh the calm, reassuring aspect that's deep within. Granted, I'm no psychology expert but I feel like this all links in with panic and anxiety overriding our logic, leading us to forget all the months and months of hard work, dedication and hope that has got you through the exams in the first place! So don't lose sight of the memories of everything you did to prepare in the run up for exams, your teachers' positive comments: predicted grades aren't whipped out of thin air! You're much more wonderful than you believe yourself to be, so have faith and be rational - worries often derive from losing sight of reason!
3. Remember that everything happens for a reason. (Shoutout to the lovely Misha for reminding me of this awesome phrase in my times of madness!!) This is where I feel my religious faith has a huge role to play regarding results. There's nothing you can do to change what's around the corner, but the great thing is that whatever happens in the future is all part of God's bigger plan for all of us. In hindsight, how many times have you been disappointed or upset when you were younger, but now you can look back and realise the reason why that event had to happen, in order to learn a valuable life lesson? Failures become our strengths and everything that initially knocks us down will later build us up (buttercup baby just to let me down.. Someone stop me!!)
This leads me to consider two religious quotes that have reassured and comforted me in recent times regarding God's plan for us all. First of all, from John 13:7 'Jesus replied "you do not realise now what I am doing, but later, you will understand"' and secondly, a piece of wisdom I've found on the Internet, 'I am not afraid of tomorrow because I know that God is already there'. Though these two messages derive from my faith, I feel like many who are not religious could have a lot to gain from the idea of patience and hope ('later you will understand'); often the only way to learn is through the passing of time and through new experiences. Think of tomorrow as just another day, where you'll live and learn, and life will go on no matter what letters appear on that piece of paper!
Best of luck everyone, my thoughts and prayers are with you all!!
Thanks so much for reading! If you'd like any more specific academic advice posts, just leave me a comment and I'll do my best to help :)
P.S. Apologies to year 11s and 12s as some of this advice is very uni specific! But I hope it's of some support to you all!
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