So A-Level results day is upon us. Thursday 14th August: the day I find out whether I am destined to go to my chosen university to study journalism or not. Not much pressure then.
Teenage pressure
A-Level results day is a big day for many people: for students who have taken their first year exams, for the family members and parents that have been dealing with their son or daughter worrying for the past month, for the teachers who have watched their pupils grow over the last 2 years, and, most importantly, for the students who have recently finished their final set of exams before university.
I think there is an extreme amount of pressure on teenagers today, from teachers, peers, parents, society and from ourselves. We all want to do well in life, and some of us think that university is the way to succeed. We are all pressured in those 2 years of college or sixth form to choose a career pathway for our entire future.
If I recall correctly, I went from wanting to study sports at university, to wanting to do psychology, then I wanted to do some kind of apprenticeship, but then I decided I wanted to study English at university, then I thought I would be a good primary school teacher so I changed my mind and applied for primary education at many universities.
After putting my firm and insurance choice down on UCAS, months later I realised I wanted to be a journalist, so after many long phone calls and being put on hold numerous of times with UCAS and Student Finance, it has finally all sorted itself out and I am planning on studying Journalism at the University of Huddersfield.
However, this only becomes a certainty if results day goes as planned, or hopefully better than expected.
Endless worry
I know many students like me are panicking about results day, as I've seen countless tweets and statuses all saying how they're scared and worried, etc. We've all had that sick feeling in our stomachs as we either check online for our results or go into our school/college to open up our envelope to see grades we're disappointed with or extremely happy with.
Luckily for me, my college has a website on which we can access our results as early as 7am. So instead of dragging myself out the house in the early hours of the day, I can cry softly in the comfort of my own bed when I realise I've failed all my exams (yes, I am a pessimist).
Of course, there are alternative options for people that get lower grades than they predicted. One of which is Clearing, which may mean they don't get to go to their chosen university, but they'll get the opportunity to study at one with lower requirements.
Whenever someone mentions results day, or asks when it is, I honestly start to feel a little bit sick. I feel as though I have to get good grades in order to make my family, as well as myself, proud. Not only that, but I have worked extremely hard, just like many other students, over the past year just for a couple of exams to determine my 'intelligence.'
Wednesday night is going to be a sleepless one for many people around England and Wales, but once it's all over we can all be truly excited to start university, an apprenticeship or a job the following month.
I hope every student gets their predicted grades or higher, because I can only imagine how heart-breaking it might be to receive lower grades than what was hoped for.
What do you think? Should pupils be worried about their A-Level results? Is there too much pressure on young people to get “good” grades? Have your say in the comments section below.
