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!

    

Visiting Cambridge

A little over a month ago, I went on a school trip to visit the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge is a collegiate university, meaning that the university operates under a number of independently run colleges which make up the university as a whole. 

The college we went to visit was Gonville and Caius, but to get there, we all decided to venture through Kings College for a little while as it certainly captured our attention the moment we left the coach!

Now, due to the atrocious weather, I was unable to take decent photos of Caius, so instead, I'll tell you some facts about Kings (which I took a lot of photographs off!)

• The College was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, the same man who founded Eton College 
• It's sister college is New College, Oxford
• The College lies on River Cam and faces out onto Kings Parade, which is right in the center of the city, within close proximity to Caius (just a 5 minute walk)
• It has an international reputation for it's own chapel, where every Christmas Eve a service named 'A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols' is broadcast to millions around the world
• It also happens to be (quiet obviously), one of the most beautiful buildings throughout the whole university
• It's alumni include: novelist Zadie Smith, poet Rupert Brooke and the first Prime Minister of Great Britain Robert Walpole  

Bodley's Court

Front Court of Kings

Back Court of Kings, featuring The Gibbs' Building

Scotts Building

After striding through Kings, we made our way to Caius, where talks about the admissions process and all things academic proceeded. We then met current students at the college who spoke about their experiences about studying at Cambridge and had an extensive tour around the College itself. The visit was a real eye-opener, as the University usually has a lot of misconceptions attached to it, but with all myths dispelled, it certainly made some of my friends a lot more confident about applying.

All in all it was a great day! Apart from the horrible rain, I managed to find out a lot more about university life in general.

Keep Calm and Study

That’s my mantra for the next 2 weeks; however, there will be some decent amount of resting. I mean, it is a holiday after all!

After a 9 week term overloaded with petty drama and procrastination, I think it’s very fair to say that I’ve been looking forward to the Christmas holidays for a long long time!

Apart from the likelihood of watching Home Alone for the millionth time (honestly, it never gets old!) , I’ll also be preparing for my January mock exams – the first thing I have when I get back.

Happy holidays everyone! I hope it's both restful and productive. :) 

Must Stop Procrastinating.

The one thing I’m always guilty about is procrastinating – particularly when I’m painfully suffering through an essay crisis. Although it may seem like a mini break (and by mini I mean every 5 minutes) in between tasks, I end up producing pieces of work that doesn’t reflect my capabilities – which obviously isn’t great.

Since one of my September Resolutions was to get rid of procrastination completely, below are some of the steps I’m taking to help myself achieve this ridiculously insane target!

1.       Write down a list of assignments that I need to complete.

So these can be essays (90% of the time), textbook notes, annotating articles and making presentations. A typical example would be: complete chapter two annotations for The Great Gatsby, make notes on viruses in Biology, complete a past paper for History etc.

2.       Prioritise!

Do the most important and huge tasks first, then focus on the little ones. This way, more time will be devoted to pieces of coursework that will contribute to my final grade.

3.       Have focused revision sessions rather than long tiring ones.

I’ve decided to create a timetable comprising of 30 minute slots with 5 minute gaps in between. This way, as well as being focused, my mind will be refreshed allowing me to absorb more information efficiently rather than doing one hour and gaining nothing. Another thing, actually following my timetable.

4.       Find an accountability partner and report progress weekly.

Although doing certain tasks individually can be beneficial, I find that undertaking things like studying collaboratively can be a huge thumbs up.

5.       Reward myself after a day’s hard work.

Yeah…I need to start doing this.

6.       Remember, short term sacrifices for long term gains!

If I’m going to have any hope of applying to my dream university next year, one thing that I will undoubtedly need is kick-ass results. The only way I can get that is by working really hard – which means NO procrastination. 

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!

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.

 

x

Reflecting back at AS.

Exactly this time 12 months ago, I started my AS levels. Not knowing what to expect, below is the advice I would give out to those who have just started, and regretfully, some of the things I wish I had known before.

1.     A-Levels are HARD.

This is by no means an exaggeration. If you thought that GCSEs were hard, think again. There is a huge gap between GCSE and AS and it will take time to bridge it, possibly weeks maybe even months; so my BIG advice is don’t let the initial fright take hold of you. At first, I found Biology the hardest and within two weeks I was seriously contemplating whether I should get rid of the subject or not. Subjects such as the sciences and mathematics will be big when content is considered; whereas for humanities and English, it’s the essay technique that’s the challenge. So, expect to be thrown into the deep end for the first few weeks, and once you gain strength, you’ll rise once more!

2.     Time Management

Taking A-Levels will test your technique of time management to the limit. With the increased workload, finding your feet could seem like an immense task. So for this, I would strongly encourage drawing up a timetable/schedule. I know I know, this didn’t work for GCSE right? Well I can guarantee that it will help you out by a huge mile for the next 2/3 years because balancing your work will prove quite a challenge. Also, include some BREAKS in your timetable! Don’t bother with three hours of straight revision and not getting anything out of it. Remember, it’s the quality of your revision that counts- not the quantity!

3.       “I got an A* in this subject at GCSE without much effort, that means I’m definitely going to get an A at AS Level.”

NO NO NO! An A* at GCSE does not mean an A at AS Level. In fact an A* is equivalent to a C grade at AS so you can imagine. I remember writing my first History AS essay and I got a C, but if it had been a GCSE essay, it would have been graded an A*. After ripping my hair out during revision sessions and having a nosebleed in the exam- I managed to get an A overall in my AS History…and that came with super hard work. At GCSE you can get away with revising lastminute.com and getting a decent grade. I did that with my RS GCSE, literally highlighted the entire textbook the night before the exam and I managed to achieve the unimagineable (is this even a word?!). You should aim for at least 5 hours per subject per week, and this links to my next point.

4.       Revise consistently.

You need to be revising throughout the entire year, keeping on top of notes etc. Also, I believe that successful revision comes with great organisation. If you are not organised, your revision will be an absolute mess. I will be blogging about my tips for organisation soon, so stay in tuned! The very last thing you want is to be in the exam hall like this:  

So yeah, revise earlier and sleep well  and you'll be a LOT more productive!

5.       Can I get an A* at AS Level?

No. There is no A*grade awarded at AS level; but it’s awarded at A2, provided that you achieve 90% average across your A2 modules (it’s different for Maths so you might want to check this out with your teacher etc) and 80% average across your AS modules (so that’s an A). However, if you get 70% average across your AS modules, you can still get an A*. The highest grade you can get at AS is an A.

6.       For the Sciences and Maths…

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Do every single past paper there is available and do them twice or thrice even. I can only speak for Biology over here, and if you want to scrape at least a C, you really do need to practice answering the questions and strictly abide by the mark scheme.

7.       For the Arts and Humanities…

I follow a simple rule for this: ATDQ. ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION.  And start practicing the exam technique early (ideally 4 months prior to the exam) and once again, do all past papers and most crucially, under exam conditions. By doing this, you’ll get used to the pressure imposed on you in the exam.

Best of luck AS-Levellers! :D

September Resolutions...

Well back to school it is, and below is a perfect replicate of how I look every morning:

Another year of craziness, procrastination, running for the bus and subsequently missing it (bus drivers really do hate me) and spontaneous hilarity. But since it's also the first month back, it's a great time to set yourself some targets for the year (or resolutions even) to give yourself a boost of confidence to dispel all those looming clouds of laziness away.

1. STOP procrastinating.

My procrastinating levels are downright delirious. It’s so BAD. Everytime I sit down to do some decent revision, 90% of the time I’m procrastinating. It really is a thief of time. So my target for this is not to procrastinate much- or to stop it completely if I can. Waaaay easier said than done! This does seem like a ridiculous expectation right now, but never say never (NO! There isn’t a Justin Bieber intended pun here…just no).

2. Be Healthy!

As much as I hate to admit it, I snack a lot. But I’m slowing becoming put off by crisps and chocolate (they remind me of my crazy revision moments right before exams start). I’ll try some fruit this time round; so more oranges, apples and cherries. Oh I just adore cherries. Also, both grapes and bananas help with concentration levels immensely so I need to stock up fast!

3. Take time off studying.

For all those who know me well enough, I am one study freak. Yep, those exact words. I don’t there’s a day that goes past in the whole academic year that I don’t study for at least one hour. The only day I can remember I did no revision at all was my birthday. I think you get the message…I have no social life. A-LEVELS CORRUPTED MY SOCIAL LIFE! That does make me sound like an emo.

But I’m not one…promise! *insert innocent face*

So this year, I will TRY to take some time off studying. Maybe making an effort to attend parties rather than saying “Sorry, I’m doing my science coursework so I can’t attend” or “OMG I’ve got so much revision to do!” .But I obviously won’t get carried away with all this shizz…studying will still be my priority. I just think that I need to vastly improve my work-life balance.

4. Planning my gap year.

Since I got back, everyone in the world has been asking me why I’d decided to embark on a gap year, and when I told them the most common reply was “Your English grade isn’t even that bad!?” *insert the boisterous voice of Patti Stanger* Are you kidding me? Not bad??? It was the worse grade I’ve ever seen in my entire life…which at the time was quite hard to take in since I’m pretty used to seeing pleasant grades. Days after results day I was pretty depressed. I was meant to celebrate the fact that I did well in three of my other subjects…but English just pulled me down.

Yaah. But I’m really looking forward to my gap year! Some of the stuff I plan to do include: the Julia Wood essay competition, DofE award, learning new languages, EY scholarship and going abroad. Work and internships are also inserted into the equation. And apply to university of course, hopefully my dream university. I need to stop dreaming so much, it’s pathetic. I always get over excited.

5. ENJOY MY LAST EVER YEAR AT SCHOOL.  

It’s finally come, but rather quick. This time next year I won’t be a schoolgirl anymore which makes me feel quite old. I’ll be an adult so no more Tracy Beaker or Hotel Trubble…or that’ll just be weird. But I’m still permitted to run for the swings at the park, it really isn’t against the law. Alongside working my absolute hardest, I will really relish the last few months I’ll be staying with my friends. All our craziness and laughter, awkward dancing and horrendous singing, it really does seem to me right now that Year 13 will be a YOLO, carpe diem kind of an experience. Before you know, we’ll all become ‘Class of 2014’ and fall into the school’s alumni, show off our leavers’ hoddies and the last ever time I’ll be in an all-girls environment. For those who don’t know, I go to an all-girls independent school. Not as fancy as you may think, and DEFINITELY NOT like Eton at all…no no no.

So there you have it. Those are my big fat five September resolutions and I'm ready to accomplish them all!

Hopefully, next year should entail scenes of euphoria like this:

Go Gryffindor!

The A* Grade Challenge

Results day has come and gone. Doomsday of this year is now history.

So what did you get I hear you say? Well, allow me to provide some background information.

Since the first day of sixth form, my primary aim was to achieve AAAA. I took History, Biology, English Lit and Religious Studies. I did great at GCSE, and I was pretty determined to replicate that success in my AS year – well I was partially successful let’s say. During Easter, realism started to dawn on me so I lowered my expectations to AAAB, the B being in Biology. No matter how hard I worked, getting an A in Biology was seriously delusional; it’s like asking God to give you wings?! To sum up in a word; impossible. Literally. There was absolutely NO WAY in the world I would get an A in Biology; zero, zilch, nada, nil. So what did I get?

• Religious Studies – A
• History – A
• Biology – B
• English – for the love of literature, I’ll let you imagine what I got.

With the first three subjects, I WAS GOD-DAMN DELIGHTED. I literally leapt for joy when I saw them. Woohoo! And then I saw English…well ya’. Imagine my facial expression when I saw my English grade. Now there could be two possible problems: either a marking error or I got the exam technique wrong, now trust me, getting the exam technique wrong is a fatal MISTAKE. Either ways, my coursework mark brought my grade up surprisingly. I didn’t react stupidly. If I didn’t get an A in History, I would have went to the Home Office, get my death certificate issued and bury myself alive in a cemetery (obviously, where else?). Ahh the irony is so evident.

So what’s my plan for Year 13?

I’m embarking on the A* grade challenge! This is a project started by a fellow blogger Sanam (check out her UH-MAZE-ING blog at thechiclifestyle.com) so I thought I'd join along side her- after all doing things as a pair or a group will guarantee that you don't run out of fuel). For my A2 year, I’ve dropped Biology and in its place I’m going to take the EPQ (never mind the calculator opposite by the way- I don't study maths). So now I’m setting my sights on achieving an A* in all my other subjects and apply to my dream university (yes Oxford, I’m talking about you!). I've always dream't about going to Oxford- a childhood dream if I'm honest. Oxbridge is in the dream of every idealist, wanting to reach the academic heights of their discipline. Looking at the architecture just makes your heart melt. Simply stunning. *continues to daydream*.

New College, Oxford.

Seriously. I’m more than determined to achieve them. There is nothing more I hate than getting an average grade at something I know I can do amazingly well at.

So since my hard work paid off last year, I plan on working just as hard. Although having said this, I’m going to have to work extra harder. A2 level content is a lot tougher than AS so practising the exam technique is going to be unavoidable- DO YOU HEAR ME FUTURE RAHMA? No such thing as “I’m going to write this essay tomorrow cos I’m too tired now.” If you catch me doing this, you are entitled to giving me a cyber-slap. I deserve it.

Yes. And alongside study, I will be taking part in the Young Reporters Scheme. It’s a competition aimed at young people who are considering a career in journalism. It lasts 8 months long and I will be writing an article every month. Also, after my exams are completed, I will take part in the Julia Wood prize, a history essay writing competition for sixth formers at Oxford University. I plan to apply to university post A-Level, so after I have my full A-Level grades.

This will be a monthly update to let you all know how I’m getting along; what has worked and failed, some tips and the miracles that have occurred along the way.

So, are you willing to take part in the A* grade challenge?