Sunday 25 December 2016

Merry Christmas!

Hello all or, rather more fittingly with today's festivities, Merry Christmas!

Indeed, this festive season has finally motivated me to return to this beloved blog, which was rather cruelly abandoned just days before I picked my GCSE results in August earlier this year. In case you assumed that my results didn't go to plan as I had literally spent the whole summer hoping - as I'm sure that you wouldn't want to hear a teenager having a meltdown about failing all of her subjects (and using the Internet is often regarded as a leisurely activity, not one which makes you want to reach for the nearest bottle of wine!) - my GCSEs did go well and I maanged to get into my chosen sixth form, an all-girls grammar school which has recently been recognised as the best performing state school in my county. Yay!!!

However, I didn't initially feel thrilled with my results when I got them because 1) I got lower grades than I expected in English Literature and Sociology (both were A grades instead of my coveted A* - please don't think of me as being 'greedy' and 'selfish', yet I had rigously revised for these exams and had genuinely believed that my exams had gone in my favour!) and 2) several days after picking up my results, I realised that my RS result was incorrect (unfortunately, the exam board regarded my GCSE as half-course when, just three weeks before the exam, I had upgraded to the full-course, so I was mistakenly led to believe that I'd achieved an A* in the subject when, in fact, my true grade was an A).

Before I knew it, I was plunged into the vicious and demoraling world of re-marks, which I demanded for English Lit and Language, Sociology and RS. Without going into ridiculous amount of detail (as I'm sure that you want to eat your Christmas dinner before Easter!), my former school created numerous barriers with  regard to even paying for my re-marks - as far as they were concerned, they only cared about the fact that I'd achieved B grades and above in all of my subjects (the only B grades were in Core Science and Maths, the latter of which would have been an A if Edexcel hadn't increased their grade boundaries by a crazy number of marks - hopefully the same exam board will be more forgiving with my AS Level English Lit!).

Nevertheless, I got the last laugh by having my English Literature grade moved up to an A* thanks to an extra 11 marks being found across both of my exam papers - one of the re-marks that my former school wanted me to pay for! Unfortunately, my other re-marks were unsuccessful, yet to this day I am grateful for my English Literature grade because, from the moment I found out during a free period at sixth form, my confidence in studying A Level English Lit has increased. And, more than three months into studying my A Levels, I'm feeling prouder than I nitially did with my GCSE results, especially as the 2016 exams were difficult!

Anyway, I've settled into life at my sixth form which, despite being challenging at times (ah, the lovely nature of A Levels), I really enjoy. So far, I've competed in a debating competition, in addition to being a jury member for a bar mock trial competition, while I'm currently waiting to hear if I've been selected to be a mentor for some Year 11 students who are studying Romeo and Juliet (which I genuinely miss studying - long gone are the days of watching the Leonardo DiCaprio film in my English lessons!). Although I would regard myself as a naturally shy person, I'm glad that I've pushed myself to take part in various activities because, as is the case with all things, you only live once - and, before I've even had time to blink, I'll (hopefully) be starting at university!

Talking of university... It will only be a matter of months before I'll start applying for universities - even just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience! Surely, I can't be approaching the age to move onto higher education and be an adult?! In fact, I'll officially be an adult - at least in the eyes of the law (not so sure about at home; I might still have to ask if I want to buy an 18-rated film) - when I turn 18 in February, which is only a couple of weeks away. So many responsibilities come with getting older, some of which are good (such as choosing which clothes to wear) while others are more unappealing (cleaning my en-suite remains a chore that I utterly detest doing on a Sunday afternoon)! Still, as far as I'm aware, I won't be kicked out of the house anytime soon (a joke which parents love to make with their teenage children, though I'm not always sure about whether they are kidding or are actually serious!), so things shouldn't be changing too much in 2017.

Furthemore, I'm just doing what I do best at Christmas right now, which is: chilling out and enjoying the festive ambiance in the air. Honestly, I'm just so grateful to have a break from revision, especially as mocks are around the corner (good luck on remembering all of the sociologists' names in my Sociology paper!), which Christmas perfectly caters to (pardon the pun). As ever, I got several books - including a copy of Twilight in French which, to my delight (and can only be understood by fellow A Level French students, is not written in the ghastly past historic tense - and several clothes, all of which are from the delightful H&M (definitely get their jumpers if you want a bargain and something cosy and fashionable!).

I'm hoping that, whether you are and whatever you are doing (such as flicking through all of the TV channels in the hope of finding something semi-decent to watch), you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!

Meanwhile, I'm counting down the minutes towards Christmas Dinner being served... Nothing new there!