Monday 4 July 2016

Looking Ahead To The Summer

In case you were wondering whether I had been dragged by my still relatively oil-prone hair to the woods in the middle-of-nowhere (which I seriously think is very close to where I live - let's hope that no bears will be queueing up for their lucky dip at the local corner shop anytime soon!), I've just survived quite a manic and mayhemic week - still, I would definitely define it as a piece of cake in comparison to sitting my recent exams!

Honestly, I've been meaning to find time to write here of late because, like all the teenagers who have recently completed their exams (whether it be GCSEs or more devilish A-Levels), we have been duped into thinking that the world is literally ours to claim for an unlimited space of time. Indeed, for months (and possibly years) ahead of my exams, I always believed that summer would literally last forever and I would be inundated with time to do whatever my little heart pleased - well, surely I deserved such luxury after enduring absolute hell literally from the very beginning of Year 11 last September?

Sadly, such fantasies are eventually discovered as complete allusions: sometimes, determination and willpower can blind you from recognising the facts that, if you were not so distracted and consumed with other tasks, you would otherwise instantly see. Not even wearing the most eye-catching cat-style glasses (whose lenses can make the world more defined and richer in style for myopic people like myself!) can help you overcome this 'blindness' when your mind is psychologically situated on another planet! Therefore, I'm gradually coming to terms with the fact that summer - the one true amazing gift to be received after pushing myself through paces that I never want to re-experience (until AS-Levels creep into my life from September onwards!) - does not last an eternity.

Whether this fact will soothe the soul-destroying blow or not, I'm not so sure, yet I suppose that, deep down within my Oreo-loving heart, I have known this for quite a while. For starters, my mum drastically alerted me to the fact that, due to attending various induction days (more on which later) and starting NCS next week (I only have one week until I'll be waving au revoir to Netflix - sob!), I wouldn't have enough time to fit in the work experience I'd intended to do at a nearby primary school because there were no weeks in which I would have been available.

OK, the week following the end of my exams was pretty much consumed with bingeing on Pretty Little Liars and conducting Zumba lessons in my living room because exercising outdoors with vile insects chasing after me is pretty much a massive no-no during the warmer months of the year, yet I had to attend my school's leavers assembly on the Friday. Surprisingly, it was worth the sacrifice of a precious lie-in - not least because every student was offered free cans of soft drinks and KitKats - and I was really glad to have gone along because it was probably the last time I will see most people, particularly as I doubt many people will turn up at 10am (the earliest time) on Results Day.

However, last week and this week feature induction days at my two chosen sixth forms which are not only essential to attend, but will give me a further insight into sixth form life. Unfortunately at what I shall now be referring to as my old school (because I haven't applied for their sixth form due to their stupid decision to drop French - quels salauds!), I never came into contact with the sixth formers because the sixth form and lower years were literally segregated from each other, which I thought was pretty unfair because studying A-Levels or BTECs do not automatically make you God-like or amazingly powerful!

Anyway, these induction days would have interfered with my plans to gain work experience at the primary school, which meant that I had to abandon my plans. In a way, I'm disappointed that I won't be able to visit the school because work experience is greatly appreciated on UCAS applications, on which I should be making a start within the next few months (scary how time flies!), and I quite liked the idea of being surrounded with innocent, sweet and unaggressive children, who would have been the polar opposite to some of the students at my old school! Nevertheless, I'm hopeful for the opportunity to gain work experience during my time at sixth-form over the next two years because I'm sure that such opportunities are greatly encouraged.

Besides, what does a revision-mad, knowledge-hungry and mindmap-obsessed teenager need after surviving a massive chunk of exams? A BREAK!!! Although I wouldn't have been joining in with taking spelling tests and the like at the primary school, I would have still been working, which I seriously don't want to do until I commence my AS-Level studies in September (only two months until September - I guess that A-Levels are no longer an out-of-reach fantasy...). Hence why I signed up for NCS all the way back in January because I wanted to participate in new experiences, meet new people (which would help me feel more confident when I start sixth form because I probably won't know anyone) and have fun, of which my life was seriously deprived whilst I was sitting my exams.

In many ways, I'm glad that I cancelled my work experience because I truly needed the past few weeks to clear my head, give a little thought to what I want to do in the future (without thinking that I'm skipping ridiculously far ahead - in fact, these next two years will make me feel like I'm already at university what with all the preparation I will be doing for it) and relax - just the perfect reason why I signed up to a month's free trial of Netflix! Sadly, I will missing out on nearly a week's worth of the trial because I'll be starting my first week of NCS this time next Monday, so I'm in urgent need of finishing my viewing of the French Twin Peaks-esque drama The Returned (which somewhat counts as AS French revision!) and Pretty Little Liars, which I view as Desperate Housewives set in high-school (and without any husbands or sexy gardeners!).

Moreover, I'm looking forward to the week ahead because I'll be going on an induction day to my second-choice sixth form which, if I failed to meet the entry criteria for my first-choice, I would go to in a heartbeat. Although French is not taught on site, transport would be provided so that I could study it at another nearby sixth form - quel soulagement! However, my heart is set on my original sixth form choice, which offers all of my preferred courses (English Lit, French, Sociology and Media) and is home to such bright, pleasant and welcoming students. Hopefully, if all goes well, I will be going there from September onwards with my friend who has also applied there, which would make me feel a bit more comfortable in different surroundings. Still, I'm not one to get over-confident because, unless I put the hard work in (which, believe me, I definitely have!), I don't expect anything as life only rewards you if you do all you possibly can to achieve your best. Nonetheless, I do feel that some good results will be coming my way on 25th August...

Whether this will be my last entry before I embark on my four-week long NCS adventure next week, I'm not really sure because I'll definitely be enduring days in which all I'll want to do is relax and enjoy the privilege of using Netflix for free, but I'm enthusiastic about making the most of the summer while it lasts. In my ideal fantasy (which I'd like to translate to reality), I would love nothing more than to look back at this summer in a few years' time and view it as the one in which I blossomed in many ways - being surrounded by fellow like-minded people, trying new things (though I would firmly decline the chance to do rock-climbing on NCS because I probably wouldn't know how to get down!) and looking forward to whatever the future holds. Not to say that I'm not already blossoming, but I suppose there is a reason why everything within the world of nature seems more beautiful and vibrant during the summer!

Adios, if my basic Spanish is correct - perhaps I may be fluent in the language by September if Google Translate continues to be my saviour!