grades, grit, and goals: digital-haunting's year 13 gyg

Hi,

My a levels are:
- English Literature AQA
- English Language AQA
- French AQA

Last year, I did an AS in psychology and got an A. I am also currently undergoing the UCAS application process to study English Literature and Creative writing and I have a part-time job.

I will try to update fairly regularly! Will post what studying I do and what works for me.

Goals:

•

Even though I'm not on the early application deadline, I want to apply through UCAS asap just to get ut done and out of the way (ofc make sure my personal statement is not rushed though)

•

Work hard on all of my neas/coursework so there's less pressure in the exams

•

Work hard in general- not leaving homework to the night before, making flashcards etc

•

French grammar is a big weakness of mine so I'm going to try and study little and often

Update: I forgot to say my grades which is the most important part lol. I got BBC in my mocks with the B in French. My UCAS predicted grades were BBB but they should go up to AAB as I have done work at an A grade before. Im not really happy with them but considering other struggles I had they're good. I definitely want to do as well as possible and grow my grades

digital-haunting (i have no clue what to put as my username, so we're sticking with this lol)

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 1

flowersinmyhair

Volunteer Team

Good luck!

Reply 2

digital-haunting

Original post by digital-haunting

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to quickly introduce myself to everyone reading so you know a bit more about me before I properly start my GYG blog.
I am a year 13 student (how did the time go so fast 😫) who is studying at the sixth form of my secondary school. To any yr11s debating whst to do next year, I personally love this as it's so so much easier to travel to than college and it is definitely a different dynamic than main school. (If anyone wants more on this just let me know :smile:

)
My a levels are:
- English Literature
- English Language
- French
I am also currently undergoing to UCAS application process to study English Literature and Creative writing and I have a part-time job.
That's all for now but stay tuned if your interested as I intend to give regular updates on my study journey as well as advice from what works and doesn't work for me so we can all grow our grades!
Molly x

18th September

Hi! It's been a bit longer than I wanted to update in but last week was crazy! A mix of lower than expected predicted grades for UCAS and new coursework deadlines was not it combined with work and a ton of homework as well. But everythings hopefully solved-ish now and I can relax a bit. I've seen people do this differently but a bunch of people do daily study updates which seems cool.

Yesterday (first not too hectic day in a week lol)

•

+ I used my frees to write an essay in 2 periods which i was very proud of especially as I was in my sixth form's quiet study room with 2 boys who were having a load conversation about *interesting* topics

•

+ french period 3, lunch, french again? Fir some reason yr13 are squeezed in around the rest of the school for timetables and mine is weird

•

+ went home just after 2 as i had no lesson p5 and had a break mostly on my phone whoops (only 2 lessons today 🫨)

•

+ did some of a poetry MOOC for supercurricular and personal statements- learn from me and do it in yr12

•

+ cooked dinner and banana bread because we need to destress with hobbies that arent phones and tv right?

So yeah im happy with all that. Im going to go in during my frees 1 and 2 again to do some homework and make flashcards for English lit. Then i have 3 periods of lit, doung something different in each one 😅. And more of my poetry mooc after school.

Reply 3

digital-haunting

Sooo it basically went downhill very fast from the last update, and i ended up having a panic attack and going home from school early yesterday. With homework, 4 out of 5 lessons a day, and stress around uni applications, Thursday and Friday weren't great for my already bad mental health.

However, today has been pretty great. I have no idea how, but i have been feeling pretty motivated with only one dip into negative thoughts. I literally mediated. Im not that type of person usually. I've also been reading, did french homework, finished my poetry mooc (!!!), did loads of chores, and then had a killer workout. Tbh i think good food and actually working at my retail job was a good distraction yesterday afternoon, so that's good.

Not sure what to do this evening, but hopefully, I'll update again soon.

Reply 4

digital-haunting

Quick update: yesterday, I started some poetry flashcards on quizlet for the work I missed on Friday. They take ages though so i definitely still need to work on them. I also made brownies and tried to start a study schedule but that also needs more work. Im scared to write study sessions in my planner because I know I'll be very disappointed in myself if I end up not doing it. Anyway, I have a full day if school today (Mon 23rd Sep) and will update tonight.

Reply 5

digital-haunting

24th September:
I got ready early so did 45 mins of French conjunction as it's a weakness of mine. Then I went into school early to study but realised that my morning lesson had also been cancelled, so I spent all morning making flashcards on yr13 english language content. Then I had french in the afternoon. After school, I did two hours of French homework.

Starting this week, I have been using and colorcoding my planner. I have a weekly to-do list on a post-it note and write in study sessions after I have done them. Any appointments or lessons I write in beforehand. This has been working really well for me so far!

Reply 6

Radish_02

Original post by digital-haunting

Hi,
My a levels are:
- English Literature AQA
- English Language AQA
- French AQA
Last year, I did an AS in psychology and got an A. I am also currently undergoing the UCAS application process to study English Literature and Creative writing and I have a part-time job.
I will try to update fairly regularly! Will post what studying I do and what works for me.
Goals:

•

Even though I'm not on the early application deadline, I want to apply through UCAS asap just to get ut done and out of the way (ofc make sure my personal statement is not rushed though)

•

Work hard on all of my neas/coursework so there's less pressure in the exams

•

Work hard in general- not leaving homework to the night before, making flashcards etc

•

French grammar is a big weakness of mine so I'm going to try and study little and often

Update: I forgot to say my grades which is the most important part lol. I got BBC in my mocks with the B in French. My UCAS predicted grades were BBB but they should go up to AAB as I have done work at an A grade before. Im not really happy with them but considering other struggles I had they're good. I definitely want to do as well as possible and grow my grades
digital-haunting (i have no clue what to put as my username, so we're sticking with this lol)

hey! I'm in y13 doing aqa French and aqa English lit too!! French is lit killing me idk why it still hasn't clicked for me yet it's so annoying, just letting you know that there are so many of us in the same boat!! best wishes