School has its place, but it’s not everything. There’s loads they don’t tell you…
There is life after GCSE’s
Around exam time school can become a proper stressy place. If you don’t get that magic combo of maths, english, science or have a pretty row of everything above a C grade, you might begin to feel really rubbish about your future.
I’ll never forget the moment I cried my eyes out over the pressure to get everything right when I was taking my GCSEs. I burst into tears in front of my favourite teacher and told her everything that other teachers had told me about how my life will be screwed if I don’t pass my exams. After a hug, she looked at me and said, “listen, there’s life after GCSE’s”. Mind-blown. I didn’t realise it at the time but she was so right.
Yes, always try your best, but if things don’t work out the first time you’ll have plenty of good options afterwards.
Some friendships are convenient
Did you know that each year you are in school for 190 days. From year 7 to year 11 that’s 950 days, that’s at least around 28,500 hours! (not including extra curricular clubs or shopping trips at the weekend…)
My point is, you spend a heck of a lot of time with your mates at school. So it can come as a shock when school is over and your friendship circle gets a lot smaller.
Reality is, once you aren’t bumping into each other in the corridors or at a mutual friend’s party, seeing your friends might not become so easy. Finding out how someone is takes a lot more effort and planning. We all get busy and before you know it, it’s been ages since you’ve hung out with your girls.
I’d say savour the selfies and enjoy school as much as you can. But don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom, some friendships do last through the post-school transitions and it’s those mates who you can truly call your B.F.F’s!
Mistakes can be Good
Make a mistake you get in trouble, right? Nope! Everyone pretends to be a grown up but really we’re all trying to figure out how to function, and one of the best ways to learn what works is to reflect on a mistake and move on.
Feeling sorry for yourself is pointless. So you got something wrong and now things aren’t perfect? It’s really not the end of the world.
Top secret: no-one has it all together. Whatever life stage you’re at you’re allowed to change your mind, you’re allowed to have a fresh start and and you’re allowed to make new steps towards being happy.
Guard your heart but keep it open
In school you tend to hang around people that are pretty much the same as you. You’ll have similar interests, similar styles, and will be similar ages. But when compulsory school is done it’s much more likely you’ll come across people that are opposite and sometimes completely different to you.
All of a sudden what you believe about something is not the same as what someone else you meet thinks. Things that you love someone else might hate and issues you consider important might seem silly to the next person. That’s OK. It doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with them, or that you have to drop what you think and take on someone else’s views.
What’s in your heart is special and what’s in someone else’s heart is special too. You might not agree on everything but don’t forget to love your neighbour.
Dreams come true, but only for those that work their socks off
It’s easy to think you’ll probably never get to be as successful as Kelly Homes or Emma Watson, because they just magically became amazing at what they do, right? Grrrr, no! If you want it, it’s yours. BUT you need to live, breath, sleep and work your butt off to be great at what you do.
AND, if you’re not sure about what you really wanna do, it’s fine. Just don’t be silly and compare yourself to others, you’ll just become a boring grumpy person. Instead focus on doing what you enjoy and try lots of new things. You’ll soon discover the difference between what you like, what you don’t like, and eventually you’ll realise what you love.
