The Student Room Group

Should I leave year 13?

I’ll try to make this as short as possible, but I might ramble at some parts, so sorry about that. To start off, I’m 17 and studying at a college, but I’m basically on the brink of failure. I was sm better during the first year, but now everything has gone downhill because of many factors, such as my mental health, relationships, epilepsy etc. Now my attendance is horrendous and progress is almost non existent. It all adds up with the amount of coursework and revision that needed to be done, which eventually lead me to feel depressed and unmotivated. I’ve got a controlled assessment in two days, and an exam just after new years. I know I’m going to fail, so I want to stop torturing myself with so many breakdowns and piles of work. I know there are other options, and I’m open to a lot since I don’t have any particular hobbies or interests. So should I leave? If so, what should I do after?
Original post by vietphung
I’ll try to make this as short as possible, but I might ramble at some parts, so sorry about that. To start off, I’m 17 and studying at a college, but I’m basically on the brink of failure. I was sm better during the first year, but now everything has gone downhill because of many factors, such as my mental health, relationships, epilepsy etc. Now my attendance is horrendous and progress is almost non existent. It all adds up with the amount of coursework and revision that needed to be done, which eventually lead me to feel depressed and unmotivated. I’ve got a controlled assessment in two days, and an exam just after new years. I know I’m going to fail, so I want to stop torturing myself with so many breakdowns and piles of work. I know there are other options, and I’m open to a lot since I don’t have any particular hobbies or interests. So should I leave? If so, what should I do after?

Why are you at college? Did you go just because everyone else was, or because you had a particular goal in mind, either for college itself or beyond?
Reply 2
Original post by DataVenia
Why are you at college? Did you go just because everyone else was, or because you had a particular goal in mind, either for college itself or beyond?

at the time I didn’t have any other plans apart to go to college and get alevels done, plus that’s what my mum wanted too, and she’s quite strict with it
Original post by vietphung
at the time I didn’t have any other plans apart to go to college and get alevels done, plus that’s what my mum wanted too, and she’s quite strict with it

If you left college you'd need to immediately start thinking about getting back into education again, or getting into some training/apprenticeship programme, or just directly entering the world of employment.

Given that it sounds like you drifted into college, with no particular objective in mind (other than keeping your mum happy), the first thing you need to decide is what you want out of life. Then you need to come up with a plan of how to get there. College might be part of that plan, or it might not.
Reply 4
Original post by vietphung
I’ll try to make this as short as possible, but I might ramble at some parts, so sorry about that. To start off, I’m 17 and studying at a college, but I’m basically on the brink of failure. I was sm better during the first year, but now everything has gone downhill because of many factors, such as my mental health, relationships, epilepsy etc. Now my attendance is horrendous and progress is almost non existent. It all adds up with the amount of coursework and revision that needed to be done, which eventually lead me to feel depressed and unmotivated. I’ve got a controlled assessment in two days, and an exam just after new years. I know I’m going to fail, so I want to stop torturing myself with so many breakdowns and piles of work. I know there are other options, and I’m open to a lot since I don’t have any particular hobbies or interests. So should I leave? If so, what should I do after?

So your in difficulty with college. The first thing to do is surely to ask for help from the college. Find out what they can do for you. Do you have a personal tutor? If so go and see them.
You mention mental health and epilepsy. That's medical stuff - go and see your doctor. If you haven't got one, get one. Walk into the closest surgery and seek their help.
If your having difficulties the last thing you want to do is try and solve them alone or take no action. Things get better if you share. People will likely help if asked and then later in life you may be able to help someone else.

Basically the world and our species is both awful and beautiful - it just depends how you choose to look at it. You just need to take the first step.

Good Luck.
Original post by vietphung
I’ll try to make this as short as possible, but I might ramble at some parts, so sorry about that. To start off, I’m 17 and studying at a college, but I’m basically on the brink of failure. I was sm better during the first year, but now everything has gone downhill because of many factors, such as my mental health, relationships, epilepsy etc. Now my attendance is horrendous and progress is almost non existent. It all adds up with the amount of coursework and revision that needed to be done, which eventually lead me to feel depressed and unmotivated. I’ve got a controlled assessment in two days, and an exam just after new years. I know I’m going to fail, so I want to stop torturing myself with so many breakdowns and piles of work. I know there are other options, and I’m open to a lot since I don’t have any particular hobbies or interests. So should I leave? If so, what should I do after?

I can completely relate to you as I have epilepsy and I really struggled with my mental health during my A-levels and first couple of years at uni as a result. I knew I was going to do terrible too because my epilepsy is drug-resistant and I was in and out of hospital a lot or at home unwell and I just didn't have the time to learn anything and I felt awful, it's crushing. What I did though was I asked sixth form if I could stay on for an extra year, so I had extra time to process things and do my exams. Maybe this is something you could ask for? I would also speak to your teachers. See if they can give you extra time on assessments and essays. This helps to make everything much more manageable. Just remember though, you are doing brilliantly despite how bad you think you are doing, we have so much more to deal with as epileptics and I can guarantee you that just getting through your A-levels with everything we go through is AMAZING!!

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