Time for a break?

One thing I've realised lately is that no matter how much you think you have done, you could always do more. This is true in every aspect of life you look at, whether it be work, friends, family or school. After finishing my AS studies in late June, the 25th to be precise, I thought that I would be able to relax and enjoy the following 3 months before starting all over again in September, for my final year of Sixth Form. It seemed that all the energy that I previously had vanished, along with the self motivation that I had improved over the past year. There was however, no time to rest and unwind because as soon as half term had been and gone, I was expected to start work in prepartion for Year 13. At the time it seemed like a brilliant idea, getting a head start on the year ahead, meaning there would be less work to do over the summer and perhaps even a less stressful September. So I was then given the work I was expected to complete. This consisted of a variety of tasks throughout my subjects, such as reading, writing letters, sketching, writing analysis and taking photographs. There was also the added pressure of beginning to write my personal statement for University. There was nothing I desired more at this point than a rest. The opportunity to sit back and not have to worry about the work mounting higher and higher and trust me, it did. The more I sat at home pretending that I was relaxing, wasting the days away, the more work that was put on the pile to do. It was only last week that I realised I had got myself into a horrible situation. A situation I told myself I wouldn't let myself fall into. Overwhelmed with work, one day I had to face the fact that this work wasn't going to go away and decided it was time to actually do something about it. As weird as it sounds, I think I actually like feeling stressed and the satisfaction of finishing a task. Naturally I am very ambitious and determined, yet I feel that after working so hard for this past year my mind is trying to tell me it needs a break. Having a break isn't as simple as just putting the work to one side and forgetting about it though, because no matter how hard you try you always have that niggling voice at the back of your head reminding you about reality, and that you have lots of work to do. Even if you actually do all the work that has been set, I always find that there is something more you can do. For example, if I finish reading a book and making notes on it, I can always read another book. It is never ending. Of course, you may ask, if you do not like this level of work then why study at Sixth Form. I am not trying to explain that I dislike Sixth Form, it is one of the best experiences of my life so far, I am purely explaining my current thoughts and feelings after completing the first year. As I conclude this post, I feel that I have cleared my mind. I always like making plans and so now I propose this one. I think in order to enjoy the summer break as much as possible, I will need to complete as much work as possible within the next 2-3 weeks so then I have less to worry about for the rest of the summer. Obviously this is much easier said than done, but I will keep you posted on my progress!

Life at Sixth Form

Isn't is funny how all of a sudden your life can change so drastically? Before starting sixth form last September, I thought life was easy. Although GCSE's were a challenge, I found that even though I didn't revise as much as I should have done, I still managed to achieve A*-B grades in all 11 of the GCSE's that I took.
   My life literally changed on the first day of Sixth Form. I no longer had three lessons every day and instead found myself with five one hundred minute lessons called 'study periods.' I found that I as receiving more and more work from subject teachers, realised that most people I was surrounded by actually wanted to be there and that everyone was given a lot more independance.
   I made a number of mistakes during my first year at Sixth Form, and arguably my biggest one by far was to think that these 'study periods' could be used to socialise, with both friends and on sites such as twitter, and then not complete any of the work that had been set in my lessons. However, I soon realised the purpose of these lessons was not the above and then started to use them to be as productive as possible. Well, most of the time.
   Recently, I was asked to participate in the Sixth Form taster day, a day in which students from Year 11 spend the day finding out what Sixth Form is really like. I hadn't reflected much on the year until this point and found that as well as helping the Year 11's to make the correct decisions, this gave me the opportunity to consider my attitude, work ethic and success over the past year. I realised on this day that no matter how many Sixth Form students explain to you how much work there actually is, students will never realise the reality until they are experiencing it. It was exactly the same for both myself and everybody in our year and will most likely be the case for the Year 12's next year and in years to come.
  The most important thing I have learnt from the first year of sixth form is that I was wrong to think that life at Sixth Form would be easy. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it really a step up from GCSE'S? Yes, a massive one. However it is also important to stress that throughout the stressful and saddening moments, it has probably been one of the most rewarding and successful years of my life so far and I wouldn't change any of it. - Tammy