A few new things… (pt. 2)

Another while since my last post, so I thought an update on my brilliant(ly boring) life might be due.

[Me in life, just generally really]

Passage of time

First of all, I really understand that months of gaps here and there is not a ‘regular schedule’ (much like my sleep routine) - I hear you. I do be working on it, chill dude.

But quit shockingly (for me), it’s been quite some time since my last long post like this, and I believe that I got up to the end of January in my last little timeline. Perhaps it would be best if I started with where I am now and worked back to then.

A levels + results + STEP

These were probably the ‘main events’ of my year, though I suppose I enjoyed them a fair bit as well. Not only were they a semi-abstract way of assessing my ability to learn and retain academic knowledge, but they also doubled as the mechanism through which I could secure my university place.

Maybe I’ve overelaborated that description. Basically, they’re national exams that loads of people have to do.

The exam stage

As it happens, I’ve written a fair few posts on these bits already starting here.

In general though, it more or less felt better than the GCSE phase - with fewer but trickier exams. Results, however, became a much more stressful branch.

Results

Does it really matter if you’re happy?

Yes, obviously. Standardised exams are the only route to a brighter future. Anyone who says different is probably wrong.

Nevertheless, I was pretty happy on 15 August (results day). Funny story, the Edexcel grade boundaries for Edexcel Maths/FM came out several hours early. Seeing that scores of 90%+ needed for FM A*, I got pretty stressed - not that I thought I wasn’t good enough, but because such high boundaries lead to worse quality qualifications – candidates, like me, have less margin for random error as opposed to genuine error. Super stressful morning that was.

Got my place for MEng Maths and Computer Science (GG41) at Imperial College London confirmed happily.

*** 4A, woohoo**

STEP

Yeah, to be honest, I sort of overdid it.

My offer only required me to get a grade 2 in STEP 2. Me being me though, I decided that just would not be good enough, however achievable. So I grinded out STEP past papers and revision alongside my other A levels, even doing STEP 3 when I totally did not need to.

As one of only 3 people in my school doing STEP, and one of only 2 doing STEP 3, it was quite a small club, but perhaps the most fun club around. Definitely way better than all those people having so-called fun doing stuff like football at lunch.

All paid off though, results day for STEP felt pretty overwhelming. In my heart, after the papers, I was hoping for a 1,1. Getting an S blew me away.

Revisioning

Hard work pays off, need I say more?

Actually maybe I do. It has to be the right kind of hard work. E.g. for STEP, you build up your toolbox; for A levels, you memorise knowledge; for engineering style things, you try stuff and hope for the best. Etc, etc.

Doing bad stuff, even a lot of it, will not yield. Some people find that out the hard way.

Mocks

Again stressful stuff.

If you asked people who were around me at the time, they might rattle off stuff like:

• “He really needs to chill”
• “He NEEDS to sleep - I mean his eyes are red all the time”
• “Oooh I dunno, he might not pass his practical endorsement”

That last one, maybe justified…

But mocks really are no chill - in my eyes, they’re pretty much the real thing…

…except in the most important way.

Other applications

I focused on my academic work, after all that’s what school is for. Though, in the earlier terms I did waste my time on the stuff below.

Dyson

• Applied for the degree apprenticeship
• Got past all the initial screening stages, including the bizarre online interview
• I mean if a real person heard my answers, I’d have been immediately gone, but AI seemed to condone me
• To be honest, found some of the mental agility stuff quite fun :)
• Reached the in person days (top 8% of applicants)
• Got an offer of some kind
• Turned down said offer as my UCAS stuff was just way better for me!

Cyber stuff

• Applied for some state-funded CyberFirst bursary mainly because of the free money they offered
• Took the first few bits a bit too seriously
• After finding out that it was all an elaborate scheme to lock you into a boring, legal cybersecurity job in future, stopped putting in effort.
• Unsurprisingly got rejected, though no reason was given and I had completed all set exercises to an excellent standard.

Other things

Does not matter what else I went for.

Academic stuff was the most important to me at the time, and it always should be.

Cycling

Loads of this :D

Good for MH, plus a handy way of getting to school.

Unfortunately, much less good when some spokes come off of the back wheel, which then starts wobbling uncontrollably. It then transpires that the back wheel was almost ready to collapse.

I speak from experience.

See it, fix it, sorted

Mental Health

I hate talking about my feelings, and for good reason too. Talking about stuff as fickle as feelings, even now, it feels a bit wrong to me. But being a key aspect of mindfulness and self-reflection, I’ll grudgingly acknowledge it.

These past few years have undoubtedly taken a toll on my MH. And other than getting enough sleep, there wasn’t much I could do about it either.

Do I regret it?

No

Should I have taken better care of myself?

Probably not, the regimen led to the necessary outcomes.

As you can see, my attitude was not, and still is not, MH focused. Why should it be?

Loads of people will disagree with that!! And when I’m 10-15 years older with a head of grey hair, I’d probably disagree with myself too.

Au revoir les jours d’école

Adiós.

As some may have already noted, I look forwards, not back!

I will, however, remember my schooldays quite fondly.