May the good times roll...

Yes, we meet exam season once again.

By taking subjects that are predominantly essay based, I can get away with only having six exams over the coming weeks, the first of which I had today, my English exam. No comment on how that went, but let's just say that I'm so so relieved never to take or write a literature essay ever again in my life. So goodbye to Gatsby's delusion, Fitzgerald's overuse of patronising poetic descriptions and Rossetti's constant talk to betrayal. I have to admit though, it may have driven me insane but I enjoyed studying literature. I think that I'll just stick to reading now, rather than analysing books to it's bare bones.

After the unpleasant experience in the exam hall today, I decided to take a stride in the park, which I apparently needed!

I think that it's important to realise from time to time that it's okay to take a break from revision, stress or whatever you're occupied with. Just taking time out and letting loose actually makes so much more of a difference, and once you start whatever you were doing again, you feel rejuvenated. I certainly feel that way now and decided to take the whole day off, so that I freshly start tomorrow.

I have 5 exams left now all of which are in June, and these exams are the most important ones that determine which university I go to. So yes, no pressure at all. And also, to help avoid my motivation to falter, I've made a Tumblr account so that I can keep on track.

Best of luck to anyone taking exams this season. May the force be with you!

 

Getting yourself organised!

I’ve recently joined the #StudentBloggerSelection and this week’s theme is ‘showcasing your skills’. Since exams aren’t that far away anymore (my first one begins in 7 weeks time *gasp*), I thought that I’d share some of the ways I organise my academic work which will hopefully be of some use, particularly during the next few difficult weeks.

image source

Number 1: Organisation is extremely important.

Yes yes, you’ve probably heard of this already, but honestly, an organised folder makes revision and life heck of a lot easier. Revision is definitely a time where you don’t want to be going through useless pieces of paper, or notes that aren’t in the correct order etc, so by organising everything in accord beforehand really does you favours in the long run. I personally abhor disorganisation because I know for a fact that my revision won’t be as efficient as it could be, and really, I just think that it adds on unnecessary stress that you obviously don’t want!

Number 2: One folder per module

This is something I highly recommend. I started doing this last year where I had one ringbinder per module, but as the notes and notes started to pile up, the folders got pretty full! That led to some of my essays to go missing (not the greatest thing in the world) and some of the sheets starting to rip out. So this year, I decided to invest in leaver arch files and it suited me great! Everything is neatly put into place according to topic, so no complaints!

Number 3: Putting your notes into place

The first thing that should really go into your folder is the exam specification. To put it simply, this is your friend over the next few months. Exams won’t contain any questions that haven’t been in the specification, so really, it does save you time from learning irrelevant information. After that comes my hand written notes from the textbook, then notes from the revision guide. I do both because the textbook seems a lot more detailed than the latter but it does contain so information of no use sometimes!

After that comes the handouts my teacher gives out. These again are directly from the textbook so I just highlight the most important pieces of information. Then comes the answers to questions in the textbook.

Number 4: Separate folders for revision?

I never really did this, until now. My folders always contained past papers, practice essays and the lot; but now since my folders have way too much irrelevant pieces of paper, I decided to invest in extra folders purely for revision.

Some will contain past papers only, and others will contain revision material and timed essay practice.

Number 5: Make a checklist

Make a checklist for all your subjects then tick off all the topics you’ve written notes on. This way you’ll keep on track to see how much you’ve got left to cover.

Number 6: Make to-do lists.

Again this is important. You will be on track with your revision and see what you have left. Some diary planners my already have this (I have a Filofax which contains these to do lists), but making your own won’t hurt.

These are all of the ways I organise my work, but it does change from time to time. The more you discover the ways to organise things the better!

    

The A* Grade Challenge Nov Update: August Decrees, Competitions and the Oxford Union

Well hello there. Some of you are wondering who I even am? Due to my absence from this space for some time, I give you permission to blast a Justin Bieber song (oh dear)…

Anyway, apart from sleeping on buses every morning due to late nights, it’s been a fairly positive November.

One topic I’ve been studying in my History lessons is the August Decrees. Just some quick background info: before 1789, France was ruled by an absolutist monarchy. The rich (the nobles and the clergy) widely practiced tax evasion, placing burden the poor – a segment most of the population were classified under. The monarchy increasingly became very anti-French (weird huh?) and disillusionment grew amongst laymen so they decided to revolt. Many exciting events took place (apart from people dying which obviously isn’t great), and one of them was the August Decrees. This marked a significant end to the ancien regime and paved way for a more democratic France that lifted the burden from the poor and nationalised the Churches. If you look at it as a short term occurrence, it was very very successful. The ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen’ followed, but of course, conspiracy theories came along.

Alongside academic work, I’m participating in some national competitions which I’m pretty excited about! First up is the British Biology Olympiad which is open to all post 16 students who have a particular interest in biological sciences. After some persuasion from my Biology teacher, I’ve decided to give it a go. Second comp I’m taking part is The Julia Wood Prize, a history essay writing competition held by St Hugh’s College, Oxford. For my dissertation, I’ve decided to focus on a period of British history I haven’t studied before. I’m going to be writing about Oliver Cromwell but I haven’t yet concluded on a specific aspect of his time in power to focus on.

    

To make my study breaks more productive, I’ve decided to listen to some debates held at the Oxford Union by subscribing to their YouTube channel. The best thing...it’s free! No actually, the best thing is listening to intellectuals who know a heck amount about their field, and in the end, you completely change your perspective of that particular topic. Quite fascinating really.

That’s it for November, strikingly hard to believe that there’s only one month left till the end of the year. Where did all the time go?!

The A* Grade Challenge October Update: Gatsby, Fundamentalism and Motivation

Rather than rambling on and on, I'm going to go straight to the point.

I've decided to adapt to a specific structure. I'm not going to focus on every subject for all updates, I'm just going to pick out specific topics that I've learnt. Not only will it make it short and snappy- you won't lose interest in my everlasting sob stories either.

So this month, the novel that I've been focusing on in my English lessons is The Great Gatsby. It's pretty hard to believe that this novel wasn't a breakthrough when it was first published. It went to the extent that this work of Fitzgerald's wasn't even mentioned in his memoir. Now it's considered to be one of the most unparalleled pieces in American modern literature.

As you can probably guess, I absolutely loved the novel. Whether I enjoy writing essays about it is something else, but I'm getting there! Imagery and symbolism are in adundant supply which I think makes this novel simply amazing. I hope to watch the film so enough, probably during Chirstmas, and perhaps write a lot more [maybe?].

Another great topic that I studied [and still studying] is religious fundamentalism. This has always fascinated me. For those who don't know, fundamentalism is a term given to a concept/idea that expresses an extreme viewpoint regarding a religious matter. Truth is that fundamentalism isn't just about religion. You can be fundamentalist about anything, but nowadays its associated more with religious activity. This is quite a huge topic so there's lots to learn! But so far, I've focused on the origins and nature of fundamentalism and I was surprised to find out that the movement started when Darwin's very divisive theory of evolution came into prominence. It contradicted the theory of creationism stated in the Book of Genesis . It went to the extent that the State of Tennessee completely banned schools to teach evolution in science lessons- but of course, there will be that one person that's rather rebellious. If you're interested, then find out what happened here.

Apart from schoolwork, I've been focusing on increasing my motivation. I'm not going rewrite a sob story [I'm pretty sick about it], instead, I'm going to be positive [for the first time ever!].

Anyway, I've been finding some methods to help increase my motivation. After having a meeting with my Head of Year, I finally accepted the fact that failing ONE exam isn't the end of the world and actually, I finally acknowledge the fact that I'm extremely lucky to have a second chance to put things right. I've identified my mistakes and now it's all about moving on. So in response, I've created much of a wall.

Firstly, 100% credit goes to Amy who suggested this tactic to me! It's honestly helped so much and I can't express my gratitude enough. Just thank you. Thank you thank you thank you!

Also, this may work for some of you, but try to always think about results day. Think about how joyous you would be when you see your dream grades written on, what arguably is a very important sheet. This has motivated me so so much and it's made me pretty determined to get the grades I need/want. There's only one thing left though, hard work!

Rather than this being expression in August:

I want it to be like this:

   
Hopefully, positivity will prevail over the coming months!

The Hidden Face of Failure

Setbacks happen to everyone. Whether you've failed an exam, been made redundant, failed to make it to your first choice university and everything in between, you've probably rendered on the 'negative' side of failure.

Of course everyone tries to avoid failure, no one wants to fail. Failing at something can have a hugely gloom-ridden effect on someone. You might think that your 'not good enough', or that 'you don't see the point of trying anymore', but that really isn't what failure is about.

Failure is all about reflection. Reviewing your faults if you like. No one is perfect, and as much as you'd love for everything to fall strictly into place- that won't always happen. Something will inevitably go wrong for sure; but how will you react to it?

Will you cry all day thinking 'why is it always me?!' and 'what did I do to deserve this?'.

Or will you instead think yourself "Okay, what have I done wrong to make sure that I don't repeat the same mistake again." This is exactly what failure is about.

Once you've identified your problem, then you'll strive to improve it. This is what failure allows you to do. So there really isn't a need to be scared about it or to even avoid it. It happens. That's what life is all about.

So a note to all perfectionists (ahem...me most importantly), don't be so crestfallen if you fail at something. Pick yourself up, identify where you've went wrong, then strive for improvment. This way you'll succeed. You can't recognise your mistakes if you don't fail.

And lastly, by the words of JK Rowling, "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all -  in which case, you fail by default." Wise words.

This post was inspired by this motivational video. Give it a clicky, it really is worth your time!