The A* Grade Challenge Update: September

First months over…ALREADY!

If I was to summarise the state of my endeavour to discover the slippery terrains of the ‘A* grade challenge’ during September, it would have to be the one and only CLUELESS. Yep that word precisely. And here’s why.

I had a ridiculously long reading list to complete over the summer holidays and this is probably a BIG first *cue drum-roll*…I didn’t do it. Not one book, play or poem did I read. But it doesn’t matter though, and as you read on you’ll find out why.

OK- let’s focus on the positive things first.

To keep myself on track, I decided to stick all these fancy colourful posters up near the study area in my bedroom. The great thing with these is that when I become bored or I just cannot be asked to do any work, I can just stare that them rather than counting the amount of dots there are on the ceiling.

Also, I doubt this should be classified as a positive, but I missed three university open days this month due to travel issues and being ill (YES, my immune system crashed AGAIN!). I was planning to visit Oxbridge and KCL- but nicely enough, Newnham College, Cambridge sent me their prospectus through the post which I though was incredibly sweet of them actually. Entirely unexpected, but I can arrange an independent visit sometime during the year.

Now- the much dreaded negatives.

Firstly, it’s worth mentioning the fact that I absolutely DESPISE disorganisation. I cannot stand anything that isn’t organised properly- and over here, I am ranting about my lesson timetable (so please excuse the capital letters, I’m practically shouting).

Rather than using slang jargon to describe the disgusting state of it- it’s diabolical. I haven’t got enough lessons for THREE of my subjects, one of which I STILL haven’t got a teacher for (good ol’ History) and one where I have to start all over again- and that’s English. Doing the EPQ didn’t work out so I’m back with Biology since I did pass last year and RS is the ONLY subject I can see myself passing in.

Firstly, History. My schools sixth form is quite small, and since no one is interested in History (shockingly), it isn’t offered. This means that I have to teach myself and the AS is self-teachable. It’s heck of a lot harder than GCSE, but you can teach yourself. The A2 however, it’s tons more difficult and this time round, coursework is inserted into the lovely equation.  I don’t even know where to start. Unit 3 is going alright I suppose you can say. I’m studying the French Revolution and never before in my life did I think that the French could be so scandalous. Apart from executions using the guillotine and wealthy people avoiding tax- it’s incredibly entertaining and I’m just spurred on to find out more about the controversies that surround this period of French and early modern European history. If anything, this is the subject that I want to get an A* in the MOST since I’m planning to study it at university. But also, I have an incredible amount of passion for history; some people may find it strange and boring but I find it incredibly fascinating. But not having a teacher IS KILLING ME.

Now, English. I’m going to try to condense this tragic soliloquy because you’ll just be bored as hell by the end of it.

Ok, I didn’t do well at AS. I had (and I’m trying to think of the nicest way to say it) a useless teacher quite frankly. Once again, I had to self-teach. Although English is far easier than History, you NEED a teacher. You need someone to guide you along, particularly the essay technique. Anyway, after much hard work from my part, and zero from the teacher- I got a D. I did really well in the coursework- but FAILED the exam. Obviously, this was extremely gutting. I was just so so so devastated, and still am, but not as much. So we got a new teacher, and said that we have to do a new spec now FROM SCRATCH. In other words, do both AS and A2 in a year. I did AQA Lit A last year, and now I have to do Lit B.

So here’s my question for you English?

This isn’t my concern- I’m literally going to die in the end but it has to be done. The worst thing is the fact that I have ONLY 2 lessons of English a week?! Seriously. I’m not even kidding. You’re probably thinking OMG what the hell is going on, or even worse maybe. There’s more to this story but I really don’t want to go through it now, I’m just way too frustrated to even care. Watching Made In Chelsea isn’t making me feel better either. To all Lit B students out there, I may need your help if you don’t mind of course.

After all this, getting A*s in all my subjects seems impossible.As mentioned before on this blog, I’m taking a gap year. Having said that, three of the universities that I want to submit an application to require me to get A*AA. Quite possibly, the American dream.

But then again, this is just the start. After all, you can’t have a rainbow without a little bit of rain.

 

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