First month: When it feels like forever

It might be your last few days or literally the last day, but either way the end of the first month of your A-levels is pretty much here! We are proud of you here at BLOSSOM and you should be proud of yourself. If you had a great month, we are so glad to hear that and we wish you even better months these two years ahead. You’ve already leapt through a hard obstacle! If you had a not-so-great month, don’t worry we’ve also got your back…

The first month of A-levels could literally breeze past you but when you’re living it daily it’s easy for it not to feel like a breeze. But of course this wouldn’t be BLOSSOM if we didn’t have some things for you to get you out of this rut!

1- I’m still so overwhelmed. The workload never seems to stop and I just can’t keep up.

It’s true, it’s going to come to a shock to you the amount of extra work you’ll have to do and if you don’t have the right tools in your tool box, things can start getting a bit out of hand. But here’s the thing, the work given to you can be done otherwise it wouldn’t have been given to you. We admit sometimes there are weeks where the amount of assignments you get are actually ridiculous but technically they should all be do-able, some time-management will help here. For example, we suggest as soon as you get homework you do it on that same day, whenever you have a free period or when you get home. This is great because not only are you reviewing your lesson by doing the homework but it’s immediately something that won’t loom over you during the week. If there are other things that are stopping you from being able to work (e.g. family issues ), perhaps stay after school for an extra hour to get as much work done as possible or talk to your teachers for some support.

2- How can I do my homework and revise for all these tests?

Use up all your free periods if this situation that arises. In reality, a free period in A-levels isn’t really a free period. There’s usually something for you to do. So we suggest perhaps doing your homework during your free periods so that when you get home you can focus on revising for your tests.

3- I’ve been at this for a month now and I still don’t understand what’s going on.

You are still in early stages so there’s no need to panic yet but at this point we would really suggest that you go and ask your teachers for help. Even if you think your teachers don’t like you that doesn’t mean that they can’t help you with subject related content – it’s not personal, it’s their jobs. Write down exactly what you don’t understand and go and ask for help. We highly encourage you to this now, in the first month, so that this confusion doesn’t carry on throughout the year. Also, during your A-levels you’re going to need to get used asking for help. A lot of this is new territory; all of us need a guiding hand sometimes, no shame in that.

4- I’m so stressed. I feel like I have no study all the time even if I have no assigned work.

The trick with A-levels is that you do have to work consistently but not to the point of no return. When we say consistently we mean review your lessons every evening, do your homework when it’s given and keep your notes up to date. NOT revise every day as if your exam is tomorrow. At this point in the year, you should not be exerting yourself to the point of exhaustion, take at least two nights off a week and if you really have nothing to do, DON’T FORCE IT. It just means you’re really organised, congrats! In the first month, the most you should be stretching yourself is by flicking through the textbook for your next lesson, nothing else.

A whole month already, look at you! Come on; look at how far you’ve come from the first week already! Before you know it you’ll be halfway through the year wondering where all the time has gone by. At BLOSSOM, we all know you can persevere and do this, you’ve got it into you, and you always did!