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My Journey to University – Inspired by Results day.

This week is a very important week for many teenagers up and down the UK, it’s A-Levels results week. I remember very well just how nerve-wracking this time is so I thought, inspired by this, that I would do a post documenting and explaining my journey to university. This is hopefully to help those whom may be a little worried about their results to realise that actually, hey, things will work out.

There may just be a different path to travel down, a better one. The one I went down was so worthwhile…

I’m 21 and I finally started university last September (2018). When I started, most of my friends from school were in their third years and preparing to graduate. This was all because of the route I took to get to University.

I did two years of A-Levels. Unfortunately I didn’t do very well. In fact I ended up with an A in health and social care, but somehow I was very lucky as the exam was about mental health, I also got a B in art but then got a U in history.

When I started my A-Levels, I was still an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital. This meant that my timetable was on a part-time basis. I would only go into my school, 2 days per week and would spend the rest of my time studying at the hospital’s school. I did my A-levels at the secondary school where I was a student before my inpatient treatment. I was reasonably lucky in that my teachers all knew me and most were aware of what was going on.
Unfortunately I feel this wasn’t a very good decision on my account though. That school held a lot of memories and I was still very very unwell. The combination of this and a few other things meant I wasn’t in the best place to be doing my A-Levels.
I never went to lessons, instead I would just wonder around all day or hide in the many hiding I had around that school. And trust me, that was a lot. In all honesty, I didn’t really see much of a future for myself so I didn’t care for achieving good grades. Basically, the only reason I wanted to go to university at this time was because everyone else was doing it.

My A-Levels finished in the way they started, I was in tears.

The day I opened that large brown envelope in the summer of 2016. Honestly? My heart fell. All I saw was that I was still alive, and had failed in even trying to make a future for myself. I was surrounded by peers celebrating and I remember just standing there thinking “why do I even bother?”.

After this horrible day I had a decision to make, give up or try again. I chose to try again, instead at College where I could study just one subject and turn over a new leaf. I am genuinely so pleased that I chose to take this step. College opened my eyes to so many new things. I learnt new things, met new people and was able to work on finding out who I was. I was also pushed out of my comfort zone and stretched to achieve my full potential. Most importantly though I was given the freedom to work on my independence and mature a great deal. Of course, College didn’t come without it’s challenges. At first it was incredibly difficult to know that most members of my class were fresh out of their GCSEs and two years younger than me. This was a barrier which thankfully didn’t take a great deal of time to overcome. There was a lot of drama too but that heals with time.
At my College the tutors were incredibly supportive, they would genuinely take time to see you as a person, rather than a statistic which I largely felt whilst at sixth form. I also met a student welfare officer whom helped me more than words can say. She was firm, but fair and we still converse over email from time to time. I owe her so much for quite literally keeping me going.

I did two years at college but achieved the highest grades possible and I found a great deal of self-belief. Essentially it was the best thing I could’ve done.

So yes, I failed my A-Levels and had to travel down a different route to get to where I am. Now though I’m in a clearer mindset, I of course, still have my struggles but I’m doing much better than I was. When you open those results it can feel like the end of the world, almost like you’ve completely failed. But there may just be a different path to travel down, a better one. The one I went down was so worthwhile. After all, I would’ve have met the amazing people along the way, had I achieved a good mark in history. I promise, it will work out.