Not having a mental breakdown part 1- year 12 GYG
Hello and welcome, no I'm not ok. But that's fine. Anyway, I did try and do a GYG at the beginning of September. That didn't go to plan. I'll probably try to link it in here at some point. I'm in year 12, as you may have guessed. I'm currently taking:
- Drama and Theatre Studies (AQA)
- Economics (Edexcel)
- Government and Politics (Edexcel)
- Mathematics (AQA)
- EPQ (OCR)
I hope I'm not the only one who didn't believe people when they said that A-levels were more stressful than GCSES... How times change. I had my tutor this year saying that I have the busiest timetable of anyone in my college, which out of ~2500 people, I think is quite impressive.
Having to revise and work is very strange for me, in GCSE I was somewhat phobic of both of those notions. If I had done more, I probably would have done better in my GCSEs but I got what I needed and I'm happy with them. I got:
- Biology: 6
- Chemistry: 6
- Computer Science: 6
- English Language: 9
- English Literature: 6
- French: 6
- Geography: 5
- Maths: 8
- Physics: 7
I also did the FSMQ Additional Maths but I got an E, so we don't talk about that.
At uni, I'm undecided between doing a more economics-based and more politics-based degree. They're definitely both areas I want to look into.
Last week I got my first A-level predictions, although they are somewhat baseless:
- Drama: B/A
- Economics: A/B (I don't know how/if this differs from B/A)
- Politics: A
- Maths: A/B
We'll see if we can move them up by the next round of meetings in June.
I will probably have various posts after this, summarising my year so far. It's been a long one, although interesting and I'm quite excited to share it. I do hope that you enjoy this journey with me.
- Drama and Theatre Studies (AQA)
- Economics (Edexcel)
- Government and Politics (Edexcel)
- Mathematics (AQA)
- EPQ (OCR)
I hope I'm not the only one who didn't believe people when they said that A-levels were more stressful than GCSES... How times change. I had my tutor this year saying that I have the busiest timetable of anyone in my college, which out of ~2500 people, I think is quite impressive.
Having to revise and work is very strange for me, in GCSE I was somewhat phobic of both of those notions. If I had done more, I probably would have done better in my GCSEs but I got what I needed and I'm happy with them. I got:
- Biology: 6
- Chemistry: 6
- Computer Science: 6
- English Language: 9
- English Literature: 6
- French: 6
- Geography: 5
- Maths: 8
- Physics: 7
I also did the FSMQ Additional Maths but I got an E, so we don't talk about that.
At uni, I'm undecided between doing a more economics-based and more politics-based degree. They're definitely both areas I want to look into.
Last week I got my first A-level predictions, although they are somewhat baseless:
- Drama: B/A
- Economics: A/B (I don't know how/if this differs from B/A)
- Politics: A
- Maths: A/B
We'll see if we can move them up by the next round of meetings in June.
I will probably have various posts after this, summarising my year so far. It's been a long one, although interesting and I'm quite excited to share it. I do hope that you enjoy this journey with me.
Drama:
Drama was a subject many people would have preferred I didn't take. I didn't do it for GCSE and frankly, a lot of people where I live don't particularly respect it. If it's not hard sciences, it just won't do. Halfway into year 12, I don't regret it at all, very fun subject, honestly the people in my classes are so lovely and due to the nature of the subject you really are able to get to know the people in your classes much better, which has allowed me to make connections in a way that most people I know were unable to.
So far, we worked on and did a workshop on the Shared Experience play 'Bronte', about the family of the famous novelist sisters. Performed it back in November, really fun. It was very interesting to see how different groups of people perceived the same play in shockingly varying ways. We've got another one on the Caucasian Chalk Circle in March, which is a play by Brecht. Both of these plays we have to answer on in the final exams.
Our teachers have also started talking to us about more playwrights, practitioners and styles, they also encourage us to do so and have loads of resources to help us. As this time next year, we have to perform a 45-minute piece of theatre based on one of the practitioners on AQA's list. The y13s just had theirs last week, it looks fun but really bloody stressful.
Another part of the course is doing a review of live theatre, so we go out to loads of shows throughout the year, mainly in the city I live in but some of the more recent ones have been further afield. So many styles and tastes, they've mostly been brilliant, very eye-opening. Yes, I do get to miss some lessons but most of them are in the evening.
I don't think any of my friends realised how varied the Drama course is, to be fair neither did I. I don't know any other A-level with such a great and wide-ranging array of requirements within the course. The final element, which we're currently starting on, is our coursework. We have to right 3000 words across 3 plays. The first on Chekhov's 'The Seagull', then with 'Midsummer Night's Dream' and the final I believe is of our own choosing. We do perform extracts of these plays, although they're not actually marked.
It's such an enjoyable subject, with brilliant teachers. I'm very lucky that my college has its own theatre, which is something I'll talk more about in time. I had meetings with one teacher from each A-level subject last week. Now my drama teacher seemed very happy with my progress and my effort in class. It was probably the only subject where I got predicted pretty much exactly what I expected, he gave me a B/A, or an A/B, whatever you prefer. Hopefully, as the year goes on, a can really begin to stand out and if the end of year exam goes well, get predicted an A or A* for UCAS.
Drama was a subject many people would have preferred I didn't take. I didn't do it for GCSE and frankly, a lot of people where I live don't particularly respect it. If it's not hard sciences, it just won't do. Halfway into year 12, I don't regret it at all, very fun subject, honestly the people in my classes are so lovely and due to the nature of the subject you really are able to get to know the people in your classes much better, which has allowed me to make connections in a way that most people I know were unable to.
So far, we worked on and did a workshop on the Shared Experience play 'Bronte', about the family of the famous novelist sisters. Performed it back in November, really fun. It was very interesting to see how different groups of people perceived the same play in shockingly varying ways. We've got another one on the Caucasian Chalk Circle in March, which is a play by Brecht. Both of these plays we have to answer on in the final exams.
Our teachers have also started talking to us about more playwrights, practitioners and styles, they also encourage us to do so and have loads of resources to help us. As this time next year, we have to perform a 45-minute piece of theatre based on one of the practitioners on AQA's list. The y13s just had theirs last week, it looks fun but really bloody stressful.
Another part of the course is doing a review of live theatre, so we go out to loads of shows throughout the year, mainly in the city I live in but some of the more recent ones have been further afield. So many styles and tastes, they've mostly been brilliant, very eye-opening. Yes, I do get to miss some lessons but most of them are in the evening.
I don't think any of my friends realised how varied the Drama course is, to be fair neither did I. I don't know any other A-level with such a great and wide-ranging array of requirements within the course. The final element, which we're currently starting on, is our coursework. We have to right 3000 words across 3 plays. The first on Chekhov's 'The Seagull', then with 'Midsummer Night's Dream' and the final I believe is of our own choosing. We do perform extracts of these plays, although they're not actually marked.
It's such an enjoyable subject, with brilliant teachers. I'm very lucky that my college has its own theatre, which is something I'll talk more about in time. I had meetings with one teacher from each A-level subject last week. Now my drama teacher seemed very happy with my progress and my effort in class. It was probably the only subject where I got predicted pretty much exactly what I expected, he gave me a B/A, or an A/B, whatever you prefer. Hopefully, as the year goes on, a can really begin to stand out and if the end of year exam goes well, get predicted an A or A* for UCAS.
Economics:
Economics is probably the subject I feel most confident in. I love my teacher, he's an absolute legend, if a touch insane. It's a very large course, probably the subject I spend the most time on. There's 2 topics we do in the first year, essentially introductions to microeconomics and macroeconomics. We have ~200 page booklets on each topic made by our college and we are set roughly 8-10 pages a week on each, which creates quite a homework regime but it's very helpful in terms of remembering and understanding the topics.
There is a heavy workload and a lot of content but luckily the content itself is largely fairly easy to understand so far. It's also very relevant and current. In my tests I've largely been getting A*'s and A's, although the last one, I really did much worse on, I think I got an E, thanks to misplaced revision and a nightmarish 10-marker. So when it came to predicted grades, my teacher predicted me A/B due to my average percentage in tests. Although, given my work in class, which he rated very highly, my knowledge and my previous performance, I think he would agree with me that I am able to push for an A* or A.
I really find a lot of the content very fun and am definitely considering taking it to uni, either on its own or as part of a joint or multi-faceted degree. It's certainly the subject I feel most confident in my knowledge of and it's probably my best shot at an A*.
Economics is probably the subject I feel most confident in. I love my teacher, he's an absolute legend, if a touch insane. It's a very large course, probably the subject I spend the most time on. There's 2 topics we do in the first year, essentially introductions to microeconomics and macroeconomics. We have ~200 page booklets on each topic made by our college and we are set roughly 8-10 pages a week on each, which creates quite a homework regime but it's very helpful in terms of remembering and understanding the topics.
There is a heavy workload and a lot of content but luckily the content itself is largely fairly easy to understand so far. It's also very relevant and current. In my tests I've largely been getting A*'s and A's, although the last one, I really did much worse on, I think I got an E, thanks to misplaced revision and a nightmarish 10-marker. So when it came to predicted grades, my teacher predicted me A/B due to my average percentage in tests. Although, given my work in class, which he rated very highly, my knowledge and my previous performance, I think he would agree with me that I am able to push for an A* or A.
I really find a lot of the content very fun and am definitely considering taking it to uni, either on its own or as part of a joint or multi-faceted degree. It's certainly the subject I feel most confident in my knowledge of and it's probably my best shot at an A*.
Politics:
Probably the easiest of my subjects, honestly a lot of people in my class really don't put that much effort in and still seem to do alright. Although probably my favourite course content, whilst I like all of my subjects in different ways, Politics is probably the one I have the most passion for and certainly the most knowledge about. What does worry me is that is solely essay-based and I'm not always the best at pressured writing. It bears a lot of similarity to GCSE English, which whilst it all turned out well in the end, English is a subject I've always struggled with, even in Primary school when we used to call it Literacy.
Our course thus far has been structured by our teachers into two sides: Political ideologies and Political systems. Although this is to change in the near future. We did exam questions on each of these sides in November, the former was 24 marks and the latter was 30. At that time, I got 11/24 in the Ideologies and 13/30 in the systems, which was somewhat disheartening, E's in both cases, given my knowledge appeared to be the best of anyone in my class. However, we had another round of examinations recently, I got my systems results back last week and this time I got 24/30, which I believe is an A. I put some degree of effort into researching the exam technique for the essays, assisted by one of my teachers. I think that really helped me move up the bands. I'm still waiting to get my ideologies essay back on socialism, I hope I get it next week.
I wasn't informed of the 24/30 until the meeting with my teacher. So I was very surprised when I had seen before that he predicted me an A. Politics was a subject that I was worried was going to be predicted a B or C for, I certainly didn't expect to get my strongest prediction in it. I think I can do very well in Politics and thankfully, my teachers are beginning to agree with me. I may even be able to push towards an A* for my end of year exams and final predictions.
Probably the easiest of my subjects, honestly a lot of people in my class really don't put that much effort in and still seem to do alright. Although probably my favourite course content, whilst I like all of my subjects in different ways, Politics is probably the one I have the most passion for and certainly the most knowledge about. What does worry me is that is solely essay-based and I'm not always the best at pressured writing. It bears a lot of similarity to GCSE English, which whilst it all turned out well in the end, English is a subject I've always struggled with, even in Primary school when we used to call it Literacy.
Our course thus far has been structured by our teachers into two sides: Political ideologies and Political systems. Although this is to change in the near future. We did exam questions on each of these sides in November, the former was 24 marks and the latter was 30. At that time, I got 11/24 in the Ideologies and 13/30 in the systems, which was somewhat disheartening, E's in both cases, given my knowledge appeared to be the best of anyone in my class. However, we had another round of examinations recently, I got my systems results back last week and this time I got 24/30, which I believe is an A. I put some degree of effort into researching the exam technique for the essays, assisted by one of my teachers. I think that really helped me move up the bands. I'm still waiting to get my ideologies essay back on socialism, I hope I get it next week.
I wasn't informed of the 24/30 until the meeting with my teacher. So I was very surprised when I had seen before that he predicted me an A. Politics was a subject that I was worried was going to be predicted a B or C for, I certainly didn't expect to get my strongest prediction in it. I think I can do very well in Politics and thankfully, my teachers are beginning to agree with me. I may even be able to push towards an A* for my end of year exams and final predictions.
Maths:
You know how I said I enjoy all my subjects? I lied.
Maths... I don't hate it. I just really don't like it. So yeah, on revision, I do hate it. I'll be honest, I only added it to my programme in late august after I realised that it would be helpful if I were to do Economics at uni. I was always good at maths as a child, especially the mental maths element but with time, other interests developed, GCSE maths I found relatively easy although entirely boring. Then additional maths I didn't really understand as I had a very bad teacher and had no external resources to use. It was a surprise that I didn't get a U tbh.
Whilst this year has been better than last, It's my least favourite class. Some of the people are quite rude honestly. In tests, whilst I've not been doing terribly, I've been below average in most of them. The topics I've at times really hit a wall on and last week, I found out that I got a D in my last proper exam, a drop from the C I got in November. Yet somehow when I saw one of my teachers this week, she predicted me an A/B, citing that I've got a lot of potential and she thinks that by then i'll be there. At best I was expecting B/C, more likely a C. I'm glad she's optimistic for my chances but I don't share her sentiment.
You know how I said I enjoy all my subjects? I lied.
Maths... I don't hate it. I just really don't like it. So yeah, on revision, I do hate it. I'll be honest, I only added it to my programme in late august after I realised that it would be helpful if I were to do Economics at uni. I was always good at maths as a child, especially the mental maths element but with time, other interests developed, GCSE maths I found relatively easy although entirely boring. Then additional maths I didn't really understand as I had a very bad teacher and had no external resources to use. It was a surprise that I didn't get a U tbh.
Whilst this year has been better than last, It's my least favourite class. Some of the people are quite rude honestly. In tests, whilst I've not been doing terribly, I've been below average in most of them. The topics I've at times really hit a wall on and last week, I found out that I got a D in my last proper exam, a drop from the C I got in November. Yet somehow when I saw one of my teachers this week, she predicted me an A/B, citing that I've got a lot of potential and she thinks that by then i'll be there. At best I was expecting B/C, more likely a C. I'm glad she's optimistic for my chances but I don't share her sentiment.
EPQ:
Forgot to talk about the EPQ yesterday. Not going to pretend I wanted to do it, it's compulsory at my college however and it's the only good state sixth form in my area. I'm doing mine as a stand-up comedy performance, so not a particularly traditional route. I'm very lucky in that my college has a theatre which they've allowed me to use for the event. I've even got a date: July 14th.
I started off very poorly and just as I had really clawed it back, I've now seemed to fall into a position of things piling up, which is a big problem, one which hopefully this half term will help me with. I didn't get any predictions with my EP, my teacher seems to be happier than she was with me earlier in the year but if I'm honest, I'm still not particularly hopeful for it, I just hope I don't **** it up completely that it might impair my chances with unis.
Forgot to talk about the EPQ yesterday. Not going to pretend I wanted to do it, it's compulsory at my college however and it's the only good state sixth form in my area. I'm doing mine as a stand-up comedy performance, so not a particularly traditional route. I'm very lucky in that my college has a theatre which they've allowed me to use for the event. I've even got a date: July 14th.
I started off very poorly and just as I had really clawed it back, I've now seemed to fall into a position of things piling up, which is a big problem, one which hopefully this half term will help me with. I didn't get any predictions with my EP, my teacher seems to be happier than she was with me earlier in the year but if I'm honest, I'm still not particularly hopeful for it, I just hope I don't **** it up completely that it might impair my chances with unis.
Current goals (as of 18/2):
Drama:
- Learn lines for the seagull
- Continue to practise for Caucasian Chalk Circle
- Read plays independently
- Do introduction to 'The Seagull' section of coursework
- Study the essay techniques required for varying sections
- Make notes on various plays to help with Live Theatre Review
- Research more practitioners
- Do Key quotes 6
Economics:
- Write notes on Micro sections 2 & 3
- Finish notes on Macro section 1, write notes on Macro section 2
- Study longer-answer essay technique
Politics:
- Compile notes for Liberalism, Democracy & Participation and Political parties
- Purchase textbook
Maths:
- Compile notes on how to solve problems on all topics finished before Christmas
- Work to get at least a B for my next exam (end of March)
- Learn more about exam technique and the types of questions that can be asked
- Go over topics I didn't understand so much of, at home
EPQ:
- Do more research into comedians
- Research psychology of comedy
- Create a Bibliography
- Get back into a good routine with my diary
- Write more material
Drama:
- Learn lines for the seagull
- Continue to practise for Caucasian Chalk Circle
- Read plays independently
- Do introduction to 'The Seagull' section of coursework
- Study the essay techniques required for varying sections
- Make notes on various plays to help with Live Theatre Review
- Research more practitioners
- Do Key quotes 6
Economics:
- Write notes on Micro sections 2 & 3
- Finish notes on Macro section 1, write notes on Macro section 2
- Study longer-answer essay technique
Politics:
- Compile notes for Liberalism, Democracy & Participation and Political parties
- Purchase textbook
Maths:
- Compile notes on how to solve problems on all topics finished before Christmas
- Work to get at least a B for my next exam (end of March)
- Learn more about exam technique and the types of questions that can be asked
- Go over topics I didn't understand so much of, at home
EPQ:
- Do more research into comedians
- Research psychology of comedy
- Create a Bibliography
- Get back into a good routine with my diary
- Write more material
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