The first 4 weeks of college have been eye opening and have exposed to me the harsh truths about college life along the way. It’s been 4 weeks and here’s what I have learnt so far other than my A level content, which is getting harder by the day.
#1 You Are On Your Own In College
Responsibility is a huge aspect of college life. HUGE!!
Like you are on your own for this quick ride. You may have friends and teachers there to support you but for the most part, you are responsible for yourself.
Teachers make it quite well known that there is plenty of help available. However, they all come with a warning label by the end of this whole discussion.
It normally ends with: “We are here if you need us but it doesn’t mean you are solely dependent on us” which is fair if you think about it because we are no longer 14- or 15-year-olds.
Why?
Most of us are bordering 17th year of our lives and throughout that we have picked up a few good websites with past papers on it and we by now have a favourite YouTuber; P.S for me it is khan academy and freesciencelesson for the sciences. And by now we should have a revision method that works for us. If you don’t then I highly recommend you find one. For me past paper, question by topic and YouTube are the top choices.
Anyways back to the point: it is a time where you are truly becoming independent. We learn to commute ourselves because the college is no longer at the end of the road but is 1 hour away on the bus and we no longer have our homeworks sent to our parents and we have to carry our lanyards and all that other stuff on our own.
You are no longer spoon fed or have information shove down your throat. It is more like: here is the information, it is highly recommended that you use it but if you don’t I really don’t care as long as you do well.
Hence, you do have to motivate yourself and develop a routine and get into the habit of revising early on. Unlike me who is writing this blog instead of doing biology flashcards.
I will be writing a blog on routine setting once I figure it out myself.
#2 Failure And Setbacks Hit Hard
It is very very safe to say that unless you were revising throughout the summer or are just naturally smart and have good knowledge retention, the set back will hit you hard.
Colleges tend to test you at the start of the year to see where the gaps are and it might seem quite easy and casual at the start because instantly when I think of GCSEs I feel confident in my abilities but oh man! the results don’t say the same.
I did get a grade on my chemistry introduction test that I definitely didn’t expect, especially because I revised. I was very shaken the whole day. However, just know that it is very normal to have set backs and not get good grades initially.
I was talking to ex-year 13 students and one of them told me “That’s the thing about A levels sometimes it seems easy but it ends up being harder because of application and everything but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a high-grade next time, so when you get your exam back ask your teacher what you could’ve done better and see where you could have gained more marks and where you almost gained marks”
I can confirm that the person saying it is highly credible and I believe them from the bottom of my heart.
Don’t let academic validation get to you and read my blog post on it to gain a new perspective.
The Solution
Also to combat this issue I was told that “tests really do come out of nowhere but you need to balance it all because you don’t want to burn yourself out befor the next year. And that’s why I always recommend like spending 20-30 minutes looking over the stuff that you will do in the next lesson so that you can use the actual lesson as a revision lesson instead”
Which I don’t know about you but I think is top class advice because at least you have a vague idea about the content and can use the lesson as consolidation.
So now we have a solution to the problem we were facing and hopefully it doesn’t get too annoying.
Also don’t lower your morale and limit your opportunities based on one test or any test for that matter. It’s okay and by mid-term more things will fall into place and we’ll have answers and solutions to issues we’re faced with now.
#3 Grades Are Worth Nothing
Honestly if there is anything I am sure on, then it is the fact that grades are actually useless on their own.
Don’t get me wrong, your tests ad A level results are quite detrimental but when isolated they don’t add to a lot.
What really adds up is your extracurricular and super-curricular involvement.
College is so full with opportunities and daily talks from guest speaker and so is our community. It is in our best interest to make the most use of it.
This is also the point where networking comes in handy because in order to gain any valuable experience you need connections.
It is sad but inevitable and the harsh reality. It is important to start making connections and expand the number of people you are acquainted with. These very people will help you find experience and jobs and opportunities now and later in life.
Just a heads up, finding work experience especially in medical industry is extremely hard so if you are a year 11 or reading it during summer break, listen to me “DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ROTTING IN BED”. Go find or book work experience whether for now or next year in case the places are all booked.
If it helps here’s a check list of the things you should be doing throughout year 12:
- Join enrichments
- Connect with people
- Find work experience
- Learn skills relevant to your career path
- Take part in super curricular activities
- Read around your chosen subjects
If you have them all ticked by July of year 12, you should be fine.
x Raniya Abrar