Two years on... Second Year

Two years on and I am in a completely different place.

I have left school and I am in my second year of university studying an English BA.

First year was an absolute blur, it went by so fast that I could barely keep up. From nights out, to making new friends in seminars, last year was an absolute blast.

Freshers isn't what you expect it to be - yes, people go out, get drunk and have a good time, but it is so much more than that.

Freshers is a time in which you find yourself, yes, it sounds cheesy, but it is completely true. You make brand new friends, move in with them and have an absolutely fantastic time.

Your freshers year of uni is so much fun, especially in halls. Halls is like one massive community, everyone is new and attempting to become a new, improved person. You meet so many different people in halls, from all over the world, it really is fantastic. You will never experience anything like halls.

Moving away from home causes you to become independent and it makes you realise just how much you take for granted at home. Whether it be your mum's cooking or a warm house, it all becomes clear when you have to cook for yourself everyday and wear ten layers because you can't afford the electric bill.

University is an experience that in my opinion everyone should have. Yes you have to study hard and yes it is important for getting jobs afterwards; but it is also the best years of your life. You are in your prime academically and most likely physically, so take this opportunity by the collar and live it.

Looking back at my school life I realise just how easy everything was. People say that university is easier than school because you are only doing one or two subjects, this is one of the biggest lies you will ever hear. The context quadruples in difficulty and your free time quadruples too. Despite having so much free time, you will still never have enough to do all of the reading. AND no matter how far in advance you are set an assignment, you WILL do it in the last 48 hours.

Uni is amazing, make sure you make the most of it!

Exam Season...

So... the clock is ticking down faster than we can count. Our exams are literally just around the corner; thus, it is officially time to place our 100% concentration on our exams.
These next few weeks are going to make or break us, and with a new Tory Government, we need the best grades possible to achieve anything in life nowadays.
It is time to focus, heads down - earphones in, pens out - time to work hard.
It can be extremely hard to find motivation at this time of year, especially if you have been revising for a while - it is easy to lose motivation and not bother to continue.
However, it is extremely important to remember your goal - whether it be university, college or an apprenticeship - it is important to remember were you would like to be in five years time.
Would you like to be successful, working and happy? Or benefit-scrounging, poor and unhappy?
It is your decision - so if you would like to change your future, work for it.
For meritocracy is the key to success - as success is the key to a happy, healthy life!

I would like to wish everyone doing any exams the best of luck over the next few weeks.

Just remember, it is you, and you alone that can change your future - so go for it!

The Clock is Ticking Down...

The clock is ticking down with just four months to go. Students are beginning to feel the breath of exam stress on the back of their necks. Therefore, this can only mean one thing... EXAMS ARE COMING!

Being in my last year of school has made me realise just how far I have come over the past few years. After 14 years of school, consisting of blood, sweat and tears – it is time to completely knuckle down and strive for success. It is so important that revision is a student’s priority. If you put your social life before school, your grades WILL suffer.

So many students seem to forget that the clock is ticking down. They are too busy going out with friends, getting ‘drunk;’ rather than doing the work that they are supposed to be doing.

Therefore, I think that students seriously need to sort their priorities out and just get on with their school work.

Yes, it can be extraordinarily boring; going over and over the same old thing – but, at the end of the day – that ‘same old thing’ will make or break you.

It can be the difference between attending university, getting a first class degree and living in a council house living off virtually nothing via state benefits.

It is about time students were given the credit they deserved – maybe this would help to motivate them to succeed.

Students get such a bad reputation, purely because of a few irresponsible people in the past.

I suggest that people start treating students like adults, rather than children. We are asked to act like an adult, yet not treated like one – how is that fair?

Please, just treat us like adults and we will act like them.

We will work our butts off – deferred gratification will occur if we just keep working, gain motivation and again and strive for every success possible.

School really isn't as glamorous as it seems...

School shouldn’t be a place of ridicule, a place of misery. It should be a place in which everyone has the right to be educated. They should become educated without actually realising it. Not only academically, but socially. They should be subtly socialised into the norms and values of society, in a way that they don’t actually realise that it is happening. They shouldn’t wish to retaliate, and wish to be deviant.

People don’t always realise the importance of school and education. They don’t realise that without school you wouldn’t be the person that you are today. Teachers may annoy you and may make you feel like a failure at times; but, at the end of the day, they are getting paid. So, why should they care? Personally, I find this viewpoint disgusting... if you don’t want to see students be successful, and you cannot be bothered to put the effort in... then those students WILL fail.

Is that really what you want?

There is so much pressure put on the students of today, that it can sometimes be the reason for their failure.  They work day in, day out and believe me, it doesn’t always pay off. Students put blood, sweat and tears into achieving their goals - and sometimes... it really isn't worth it. To me, this is horrific, it is evidence that meritocracy can be a complete and utter myth.

However, I do not believe that this should be the case.

I believe that students should be assessed throughout two years, from the moment they start year 12, until the moment that they finish year 13. Education should NOT be assessed based on academia alone, it should be based on attitude – on work ethic and on resilience.

Students only seem to get into university based on their grades. So, how about if a student is caring, generous, well-behaved, hard-working... they could work every single day for two years .... but just not quite get the grades that universities request. So, they just don’t get into university? Yet, there will be rude, arrogant, lazy students that just about scrape the grades and get in? This education system is completely unfair.

It really is about time that it was changed.

Students face stress every single day of their lives; sacrificing necessities such as sleep, in order to finish a piece of homework that their teacher will never even ask for. They cry on a regular basis, because the stress of school and a part-time job has just got too much... they suffer often just because a teacher has decided to make a joke about them... why? Why is it that teachers can ridicule students, but students cannot ridicule teachers? Yes... 'respect your elders'... but seriously... it's borderline cruel!?!

So, I am asking you – what is the point? Really? What is it?

Unjust schools...

School should be about solidarity, about creating a sense of community and belonging for students. It should be about supporting students from day one until the very end. It should be about allowing them to become young adults; yet still helping them with the difficult maturation process. It should be able teaching them in a way that they will actually remember information and still enjoy it.

School should be a place where a student feels safe, feels as if they should be there. School is supposed to be the best years of your life – but unfortunately, for many students – it isn’t. It’s a time that students are put until immense pressure – a time in which they suffer stress so badly that they breakdown that they cry, that they just want to give up. A levels cause students so much stress that they sometimes just drop out of school – not because they want to, but because they feel as if they have no other choice. Personally, I feel that this is completely unjust – I feel that we should enjoy working, and feel a sense of meritocracy. As if all of our hard work will actually be worth it in the end – sometimes, we just work so hard, for so long and still don’t get the grades we would like – still don’t feel satisfied with our achievements. How is this fair?

Students should not have to feel as if they are suffering at school, but as if they are striving – as if they are learning and achieving. Of course it won’t always be fun and easy, but right now – it is very rarely fun or easy. It is rare to see students enjoying their learning and being willing to stay after school to do work, or go to extra classes in order to improve their work.

Schools should be meritocratic and democratic. Students should get their say – after all, what’s a school without students? Schools should be run in a way that benefits students; too often nowadays, schools are run like businesses – for profit. Students are forced to work hard day in and day out in order for their teacher to get a pay rise – or to boost their school’s reputation in the odd ‘Marketization’ process that occurs in today’s society.

How can we enjoy school and be successful if school policies are pro-reputation and anti-child welfare? Schools should be run in a way that benefits students – in a way that creates equality of opportunity for students; in a way that will make them realise that school was worthwhile. Everything is about reputation nowadays, it’s about time the student voice was heard... schools should be democratic!

Teachers...

During your education, you don’t quite realise how important the role of a teacher is. They are there every lesson with you – whether you are in a great mood or a bad mood – they are there for one reason, and one reason alone... to teach. There is only one problem with this... why are they there?

It is extraordinarily rare nowadays to meet a teacher that is actually teaching for the greater good. Most of them are there for the holidays and the pension – however, they must have wanted to be a teacher once... so what has made them lose their motivation? School is hard... everyone knows that – but, it isn’t just hard for students; it is hard for teachers too – they spend all day with disruptive teenagers, attempting to teach them something that they will probably forget in about 10 minutes time. Attempting to get them through school in order to get them decent grades and a reasonable shot at life....

So why have so many teachers given up?

They have given up because of the horrific behaviour displayed in schools nowadays - from 11 year olds to 18 year olds – there will always be a few students that ruin it for everyone. Teachers, they have to sit there every day and attempt not to lose their cool because of that one insolent student that won’t keep their mouth shut. They have to suffer through trying to help others get good grades because of that student.

Despite this, some teachers – few teachers, still have that motivation and drive to make the world a better place; to improve the education and lives of the youth of today... these teachers are the best kind of teachers. They are teachers that are willing to come into school in the school holidays, weekends and after school in order to help students with work; they are teachers that plan their lessons in a way that allows them to cater equally to the needs of every single student in their class. They are the teachers that don’t continuously lose their temper with you – they are teachers that can simply look at you and it will feel like their eyes are burning straight through you because you have disappointed them.

These teachers are more than recognisable – they will be the teachers that offer to sit down with you and help you with your work or even just have a chat with you to make you feel better ... these teachers are sincerely respected within schools and it is extremely clear. They are one of a kind – so please; don’t take advantage of them – because they will be the ones that guide you through school into a better standard of living.

Just appreciate your teachers for once and treat them with the respect that they deserve!

Meritocracy... pfft, what a joke!

Is the education system really meritocratic? Do students really get rewarded for all of the work that they put in? Do they get  the grades that they deserve after staying up late to finish essays and revise; for going to those weekend/school holiday revision sessions and lessons after school? Do they get what the rewards that they have worked for after all that? Do they get repaid for all of the times that they have turned down days out and sacrificed their ever-so precious sleep? For me, the answer is no...

Some students revise every day, stay up every night to finish coursework, essays and revision – they stay up with a goal in their mind; a goal that they are working so hard to achieve ... a goal that eventually slips through their hands like butter. A goal that they have clung onto for ‘dear life’ – and for what? In their minds, they have had results day -  a day that many students like to call ‘ Judgement Day;’ the day that they find out whether they will be carrying onto year 13 or more importantly getting into the university of their choice. This day can decide their fate – via a piece of paper with 3-4 letters on... this day can make or break a student ... it can mean that all of their hard work has paid off... or in my case – hasn’t.

You know what has caused these students to suffer? There are a few things: the removal of January exams – the point of this was to prevent as many students achieving the highest grades ... the grades that they have worked their butts off for! The funny thing is ... to Michael Gove, this made sense – he clearly enjoyed watching students’ hearts break as they opened their results – to see that they just haven’t made the cut. How do you think that this makes students feel? You make it harder for us to get the grades that we deserve? WHAT ARE YOU DOING????? It is already hard, we already sacrifice so much – why are you making it worse for us?

Additionally, not only have you removed January exams; you have also moved grade boundaries up – up so high that they are just unrealistic ... how is this supposed to help us? Now, no one is going to get the grades that they deserve because you are too selfish – you are so wrapped up in how much you hated school ... that you are trying to make it worse for us? Why??? What can you possibly get out of making our lives miserable that is so rewarding? Oh yeah... a pay rise.

Well, at this rate – we won’t even be able to get jobs ... because the working world is so competitive already; and because of your brainless, selfish decisions – we are going to be left unemployed, unable to get a pay-rise because we have no jobs! The education system is not meritocratic – it is completely unfair ... and what is even worse, is  that to you – we mean nothing... we are just another number on a piece of paper – another statistic for you to look at contently, whilst in your dressing gown and slippers in your £1000 armchair in your heated living room, in your overpriced, luxury apartment somewhere in London. Whilst we are left sitting in our rooms, crying and thinking we are just not good enough for education – just not good enough to achieve deserved grades; even though we could have never done anymore work for our exams.

So why don’t you actually consider us when you arrange the education system – rather than being so selfish and thinking of just your pay rise and reputation... I tell you know, you reputation is getting rapidly worse – so please, sort yourself out before there is a revolution. Power in this country is so unevenly distributed – it is about time is it equalised and fair.

So, in conclusion – the education system is not meritocratic – and some people, like me; just don’t achieve the grades that they deserve because meritocracy within schools is a myth – and it is about time is it brought back into play.