A Bipolar&#x27;s Journey To University: Part 2

Hey I Hope it goes well hun, I know you can get those grades!
Good luck :smile:

Reply 2

OP

Original post by loveleest

Hey I Hope it goes well hun, I know you can get those grades!
Good luck :smile:

Thanks so much :lovehug:

Hope uni is goig okay :smile:

Reply 3

loveleest

Original post by StrawbAri

Thanks so much :lovehug:

Hope uni is goig okay :smile:

You welcome :smile:

It's going all fine, thank you. Workload is starting to get a little high but I think I can manage

Reply 4

CheeseIsVeg

22

Original post by StrawbAri

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my Foundation Year study blog!!

This blog is going to document my journey through my foundation year programme and (hopefully this time) to University. The ups, the downs and the challenges of trying to get good grades and struggling with Bipolar Disorder (As seen in the title

)
This is the second part of my journey to univeristy as my first try didn't go so well :redface:

A bit about me

First off, I'm StrawbAri.
Most people know me on here as Strawbs or Ari.
I'm 18 (19 in December :eek4:

) and I suffer from Bipolar Disorder (Not medicated and Diagnosed in 2012)

I wrote my AS Levels in June 2016 but did horribly in them. It was like my world had come to an end. My hopes and dreams of applying to the best unis and going to Oxbridge were dashed in a matter of seconds. I had worked so hard for those exams but for some reason my efforts were all wasted. It sent me into a horrible depressive episode for close to two months.

My AS Levels were in Maths, Physics, Computer Science and French. I re sat Maths and Computer Science in October 2016.
My A2's were in Maths, Physics and Further Maths on the CIE exam board. (Further Maths on CIE doesn't have AS) and those didn't go so well either. I missed both my insurance and firm offer and now I am doing a foundation year and re applying to uni.
The subjects I'm doing this year are Maths, Chemistry and Physics. I've also got Communication Skills and IT which are compulsory.

I know this blog is going to help motivate me to work as hard as I can this year because it definietly did help last year!

My Current Results and Achievements

My IGCSEs

Spoiler

My AS Levels

Spoiler

My A levels

Spoiler

My Goals + Results

Goals

Spoiler

Results

Spoiler

Uni Tracker

University - Course - Requirements - Status

Loughborough University - Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering - TBA - Not Yet Applied

University of Southampton - Electronic Engineering - TBA - Not Yet Applied

To Be Decided
To Be Decided
To Be Decided

Applied On:
Firm:
Insurance:

Key

Black - Not Yet Applied
Orange - Pending
Green - Offer

Red - Rejection

I am going to be updating this blog daily hopefully starting tomorrow :smile:

Tagging the wonderful people that supported me last time:

Spoiler

Links to Blog Updates

Spoiler

Feel free to ask questions about studying, tips, my mental health and everything in general

Hope you all enjoy reading this!

Come to soton! :rave:

u got this strawbs! we love you! :party:

Reply 5

Just Me!

9

My father and I are both Bipolar, will follow with interest!

Love how open you are about it, kinda refreshing

Good luck lovely :lovehug:

Reply 7

furryface12

Subbing

somehow only discovered your last one after it'd finished but will try do a bit better this time!

Reply 8

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Posting to subscribe :h:

Reply 9

OP

Original post by CheeseIsVeg

Come to soton! :rave:

u got this strawbs! we love you! :party:

Thanks so much cheese :lovehug:

Soton is the only place for me tbh. How are you finding it?

Original post by Just Me!

My father and I are both Bipolar, will follow with interest!

Love how open you are about it, kinda refreshing

Thank you so much! :smile:

And haha I only learnt the importance of being open about my MH on tsr actually.
It's also nice knowng I'm not alone :hugs:

Original post by CoolCavy

Good luck lovely :lovehug:

Original post by furryface12

Subbing

somehow only discovered your last one after it'd finished but will try do a bit better this time!

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Posting to subscribe :h:

Thanks so muvh guys :hugs:

Reply 10

10cking

16

Cant wait to see how this year goes for you.You have GOT THIS! <3

Reply 11

LeapingLucy

19

Good luck StrawbAri! I really hope this year goes better for you 😀😀😀

Reply 12

EmilySarah00

19

Good Luck!
Will be really interesting to read about a foundation year :yep:

All the best

OP

Blog Post #001

Recap

Hey Guys!
So I made this blog last year but then vanished :colondollar:

Essentially, I was meant to start posting at the beginning of my first term but then my mental health took a downward spiral and I was quite ill. That and the added pressure of schoolwork... well things were a bit of a mess.

Now It's a new year and I'm considerably in a better state of mind than I was last year (and by that I mean I'm not on the verge of insanity :lol:

)
Second term started on Monday and I will (hopefully) start uploading every weekday from tomorrow.

Last term went terrible but I managed to make it out with four As and a B which still shocks me till today. I'm hoping this term goes better for me and hopefully I can stay on top of my work and manage my MH.

Sorry to all the people I most likely disappointed by not posting like I said I would :redface:

Reply 15

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Heyyyy, please don't worry at all - focusing on your mental health was completely the right thing to do! I am glad you are in a better state of mind though :redface:

Reply 16

furryface12

Those grades are brilliant even without being so ill! Glad you're feeling a bit better, and good luck :smile:

Reply 17

OP

Blog Post #002
11/12/2018

Hey Guys!
So I was meant to start yesterday but I.. uh.. forgot :colondollar:

It's mot as detailed as I'd like but hoepfully that improves as time goes on.

School

Today has been quite stressful tbh. First lesson was communication skills and it was basically just the teacher going over what we learnt in first term. I had a free second period and iI was meant to use it to study physics (gravitational fields) but ended up spending it at the uni counselling stressing over my UCAS application. Basically my tutor hasn't written my review yet because he's been 'busy'. I spent the rest of the period having a super deep coversation about our futures and relationships. Next class was chemistry and we did work on the equilibrium constant and I was so so confused. Essentially I got lost halfway through the lesson then just decided to sleep through the rest of it. Probably not a very good idea but I paln on getting a friend to explain it to me later or just watch Khan Academy videos. Foruth period was a free as well so used th\at to get the physics work done.

Homework (5:45am-6:45am)

I has a physics assignment from the day before on gravitational fields from the day before so I completed it. Fortunately for me it had no calculations in it and all the questions were just based on stating laws and defining stuff.

Physics (3:00pm-4:00pm)

This was the work I did during my free. I just read through the gravitational fields chapter in my textbook and then highlighted the important info.

Chemistry (7:30pm-8:30pm)

I finished up readng chapter 7 (Entalpy change and Energetics) of my chem textbook. I really had a hard time understanding the section on bond energies so couldn't even figure out what to highlight as important info. Ended up watching some tutorial videos from Allery Chemistry (I reccomend this channel as it's such a big help for me tbh). I FINALLY understood what I was doing then did some sample problems on using bond energies to find the enthalpy change of reactions.

Maths (9:00pm-10:00pm)

Watched some videos from examsolutions.net on vectors and then made a summary note.

General

Today was quite stressful. Feel really on edge and angry about the delay with my reference but my tutor prpomised he'd send it off tomrrow so I suppose I just have to hope he does. Felt a bit good about being productive in terms of work today though. So many feelings I've been bottling up and I'm glad I have this blog now so I can vent some of it. Most likely will do that tomrrow as I'm so tired right now and typing is stressing me out :yawn:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 18

OP

Original post by furryface12

Those grades are brilliant even without being so ill! Glad you're feeling a bit better, and good luck :smile:

Thank you so much! :smile:

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Heyyyy, please don't worry at all - focusing on your mental health was completely the right thing to do! I am glad you are in a better state of mind though :redface:

Aw yeah tbh it was :redface:

Thank you! :smile:

Reply 19

loveleest