Prüfung und Pesto

Almost two weeks ago I sat my German A2 speaking exam. During the night I dreamt that I completely messed up, as documented in this tweet, but as morning rolled around, I became unusually calm. We were able to meet our examiner at the start of the day, and it was reassuring to find that she was just as jolly as we'd been told. After this brief introduction, Chris, Nilloy, Daisy and I left, while Rosie began her fifteen minutes of preparation. The remaining four of us returned to the Study Area, where we nervously carried out last minute revision and I correctly guessed that the word for sadness is "Traurigkeit". Over the course of the next two hours, Rosie returned, and Daisy, latecomer Lily and Chris all completed their exams. Finally, it was my turn. When I arrived, I was somewhat thankful to find that Chris was still in the examination room. Upon leaving he seemed content, which was encouraging. Before I could begin my exam, the examiner had a quick break, but she soon returned, and allowed me to choose my card. After this, the invigilator ushered me into the planning room. The time went by rather quickly, but I did manage to plan all three questions, so it was already going better than the dream. Thankfully, the topic was interesting and I had a lot to say about it. I recalled my Exposé faultlessly, then I only needed clarification on one of the questions during the discussion. Afterwards I couldn't stop smiling, and psychology breezed by in the afternoon. Later on Daisy drove Chris, Emily, Georgina and I to meet Rosie for a celebratory meal. Earlier, the examiner recommended that I have a big meal to commemorate the effort I put into the exam, so at the restaurant I chose the Rigatoni al Pesto, which almost put me off pesto for life, then later I shared a lemon meringue dessert with Chris. Coming home we realised just how great a driver Daisy is; her concentration never faltered despite the noise coming from her passengers, Chris in particular. It seems really odd that I'll never do another German speaking exam, but it's also a relief. Now I just have the three hour written exam to complete, as well as six exams from my other subjects... not too much!

Results day 2013

Today I received my AS exam results, and they were better than I thought they would be! Yesterday evening I was feeling rather jittery and anxious, so in order to relax, I painted my nails, using the polish "Galactic" from the Revlon Moon Candy range.

By morning, the nerves had gotten to my appetite; I could only stomach a handful of black grapes for breakfast. To keep my spirits up, I chose to wear my shimmery lace navy dress to school, despite warnings of wet weather. A little after 10am I left the house and walked up to school with my sister, who'll be doing the same thing next week to find out her GCSE results. Em was the one who spotted my name within the piles of paper; she lifted the sheet out, and we found out that I got 4 As! I'm really pleased with my results, but I know I need to put in maximum effort in year 13 so that I can feel joy like this next year too!

4th of July 2013 - A sort of Timestamp

On the way to school I listened to the U2 song 4th of July on repeat, which I didn't do last year. Today was better than I anticipated; biology went smoothly and chemistry was actually one of the best lessons of the year! Maybe slight pessimism does pay off... Today also marks one year since my school prom, so I've been reminiscing a little, but not too much - that was then and this is now and, although the event was wonderful, I'm happy where I am now. Tomorrow I will return to the city of blue-and-dreams-come-true to check out the university, which should be fun.

Exam free!

At exactly 3pm today I put the pen down for the final time on an AS exam (unless I have to retake next year, but I hope I won't). Psychology 2 was a pretty good paper, I was happy that the twelve-marker was on stress because that meant the other stress questions were shorter, and the abnormality section was as good as I'd hoped it would be. I sat psychology 1 two weeks ago and it was all right, but I much preferred today's exam. This Monday I did biology 2, which was my least favourite of all the exams, but I had a good go at it. Chemistry 1 occurred 13 days ago and it was great (for an exam); I finished with 25 minutes to go, but of course used that time to check, and I'm confident I got at least a B. The second chemistry test was always going to be worse, but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared, and the question based on the pre-release document was fine. I now have four days of peace before returning to school to begin year 13, but even during the first week back I still have Animal Crossing: New Leaf and seeing Mark Owen in concert to look forward to!

Prüfungen machen mir Spaß!

My summer exams got off to a pleasant start today with the German Listening, Reading and Writing paper, and this post is the only place I've written "Spaß" today! Some of the questions were difficult, but I persevered and answered them all. The essay topic I chose seemed to be the most popular among my classmates and I found it fairly easy to write about, but I really don't know what grade to expect, as many of my answers seemed to be only half right. My next exam isn't for eight days; in that time I intend to revise (naturally) and complete my post about the incredible Big Reunion concert I attended on Saturday!

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

"Früher habe ich meine Deutsch sprechende Prüfung gemacht."

That should translate to "earlier I did my German speaking exam", as that is what happened at 9:15 am today. I won't go say anything about it's content because some students won't have done it yet, but I was very happy with the cards I had and actually didn't feel too nervous!

February 2013

Somehow I managed to avoid posting on here last month. It wasn't intentional; I think it's just because my studies are becoming more important. At the start of the month I was revising for the chemistry mock, which I managed to scrape an A in, and this morning I did the same in a psychology paper on the stress (biopsychology) topic. My sister spent a few days away in Paris, which she loved, and seeing her off at 5:45am certainly increased my excitement for Berlin October 2013! A couple of days after she returned we went to Derbyshire and I really enjoyed returning to our favourite haunts and trying to work the new camera. The carefree, post-Derbyshire mood continued into the first week back at school, but in the last few days I haven't felt so cheerful. It might be as a result of staying behind after school to construct a biology essay instead of walking home with friends. I'm hoping I'll feel happier soon! :)

First AS exam: done!

I took my first biology exam towards the A-level qualification earlier and I thought it was quite a good paper; I felt very comfortable with the first few questions as well as the two 5-markers. In the end I think my revision was sufficient, and I really hope that will show in my results. I should probably check when the results come out - I think it was March 8th for the German GCSE exams I took in January last year, so I only have about two months to wait! Hopefully I won't have to retake!

When I look at 2012

The end of the year is finally here, and I'm taking the opportunity to look back on 2012.

When you look at 2012, what is it that you see?

(Partly inspired by this tumblr post)
In the future, my 2012 will be memorable to me for the reasons listed here. Enjoy!
FF54B0 32 Emilys Candy

Concerts!
I attended six this year and each one was marvellous for it's own reasons! NKOTBSB kicked off the year back in April, memorable for the insane energy and wondrous excitement (and some crying). I saw Twenty Twenty in May, the evening after my RS GCSE exam and it was awesome; I was into it as soon as the first support act performed "Good Vibrations". July 1st was the next concert date, T4 On The Beach. We woke up at 4:15am and queued in gusty wind and intermittent rain for over 4 hours, but it was worth it to see and hear acts such as The Wanted and Labrinth. In September I went to see Aiden Grimshaw with two of my best friends from primary school; we managed to get second row and the concert experience was great, very comfortable. Exactly four weeks later I was back in the O2 Academy watching Labrinth along with my mum and sister. It was horrifically sweaty but I loved seeing him and hearing the songs live. Just 8 days later the three of us were off to London for the last concert of the year: Owl City. It was wonderful, we met the support act, Matthew Koma, and we weren't at all disheartened by not getting to meet Adam when we stayed outside after the concert till almost midnight.


School changes!
Despite staying at the same establishment, lots has changed education-wise for me this year. I'm now a student because I choose to be. Many of my friends have gone to different places; Rachel now resides in Australia! The last few days of year eleven were lovely, but I knew things would never be the same again. Thankfully, it's not unmanageably different now, and we all seem to have settled in well to our respective courses and locations. Lunchtime in the common room is becoming the norm, and it's pleasant to get to know different people better. Also, signing up to Envision has been a great decision this year, I've already gained great experience and helped to earn £500 for our project via a pitch and video.


NCIS!
I'm not quite sure how my obsession with love of this show began, but I started watching it in mid-February and have been enthralled ever since! So far, I've managed to see all the episodes in seasons 1, 2, 3 and 5, plus most of season 8, quite a lot of season 6 and the first third of season 4 on my DVD box set. In some ways, it has defined my year, [psychology part] each episode acting as a retrieval cue for events around the time I watched them [/psychology part] and I'm sure it has helped my happiness. It's safe to say my exploration of the series has been emotional: on numerous occasions it has made me laugh, cry and almost cry with laughter! I think Kate and Palmer are my favourite characters, but I adore them all, and I don't think it's possible to watch an episode too many times (I've seen one, About Face, 5 times already!).

Turning 17!
My birthday was only 12 days ago, so I'm still getting used to this new number, but I've never been this old before, and I'll never be this young again. It's scary to think that this time next year I'll be an adult... probably best to not think about that for now! My birthday itself will be memorable because I was ill and barely got out of bed. I had my cake today though!

Sixth Form so far

It's been nearly a month since I joined sixth form, and I'm actually really enjoying it! Recently we've been completing September Assessments to gauge whether we should stay on our courses or not, and so far I know I've passed psychology and German, I hope I've done all right in biology, and I still have the chemistry test to do. Also, I've already taken opportunities to enrich my studies, including applying for a university programme to support my A-level studies, and expressing interest in the World Challenge 2014.

I am a sixth former

I've only had 10 lessons, but already I'm getting used being a sixth form student. We have much more freedom than students lower down the school, from having free lessons and no mandatory register in the mornings, to having to provide our own paper and buy our own folders. Also, we're no longer required to clothe ourselves in burgundy sweatshirts, white polo shirts and black trousers; there's something really refreshing about being able to choose what I wear each day, but it also meant I needed more clothes! Here are a few of the items I've recently added to my wardrobe:

Reversible jeans, from George at Asda

The other side, these are great because one garment provides two looks!

Dogtooth cardigan from New Look

Rich purple acid wash jeans from New Look
These are great, and also available in red, darker purple and blue

And some black ankle boots, also New Look, to tide over to the winter

Links:  http://direct.asda.com/george/womens-jeans/reversible-skinny-jeans-not-live-august-sept-launch-and-pr/GEM257093,default,pd.html 

http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/knitwear/black-and-cream-dogtooth-check-knitted-cardigan_252714409 

http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/jeans/32in-red-overdye-acidwash-skinny-jeans_254610654 

http://www.newlook.com/shop/teens/shoes-and-boots/teens-black-cowboy-ankle-boots_254408301?productFind=search

Starting Sixth Form

This time next week I will have completed my first day of lessons as a sixth form student. Today, I had my final preliminary interview, during which I confirmed my GCSE grades and my subject choices for the next two years. Mrs Bird, my interviewer, was very surprised to hear that I managed to achieve an A* in English Language, especially after the marking scandal, and I was relieved to find that my A-level subjects (psychology, chemistry, biology and German) still fit into the timetable matrix. Also, us students were permitted to choose our tutor groups, and I managed to swindle a place in 12.1 with three of my best friends, plus the same tutor as I had during my mandatory schooling!

GCSE results day

At 8:00am today, most of my jitters from last night had subsided, and I only had one hour to wait to discover my GCSE destiny. The minutes passed swiftly; before I knew it, I was at school, nervously approaching the results desk. Overhearing somebody say that the documents were organised in alphabetical order, I slowly gravitated towards the left-hand side, and landed directly in front of my name. That was all I noticed as I snatched the stapled sheets and held them closely to my chest. Eventually, I summoned the courage to look, and was flabbergasted to find this:

• History: A*
• Religious Studies (full course): A*
• Biology: A*
• Chemistry: A*
• Physics: A*
• D&T Graphics Products: A* (I didn't expect this at all; a B would have been great)
• German: A*
• English Language: A*
• English Literature: A*
• ICT: Distinction
• (and Mathematics A* from March)

In total, that's 10 A*s and 1 Distinction, which is the highest grade attainable on the OCR national course and has the point equivalent to halfway between A and A*. I am absolutely delighted with these results; when I began Key Stage 4, over 23 months ago, and even as recently as May, I was rather frustrated by my high target grades, but now I have actually achieved them! My friends did very well too, getting lots of As and A*s between them. I'm especially happy for Jasmine, who has overcome a lot to become one of only 1.6% of students in the country [x] to achieve an A* in Health and Social Care. Now I have A levels to look forward to.

Pre-results day jitters

Tomorrow, in roughly ten-and-a-half hours time, my fingers will be grasping a crisp, freshly sealed envelope and battling against the shaking that will most likely overcome me, to tear the seal and discover my destiny. I'm feeling very weird at the moment, a bit light-headed, chatty (very unusual), energetic and shaky. It's reminding me of the night before Em's operation; I think being over-nervous manifests itself in this way with me. I'm sort of giddy, it's really weird. I'm looking forward to being on the other side, but I don't want to go through the difficulty (or discovery) to get there. It feels too soon, too big, too scary, too imminent. But it must happen. It's got to happen, and it will happen.

I will find out my GCSE results tomorrow, once and for all.

EDITED 2012-08-23 12:43PM: There was no envelope.

Prom

It's been four days since the class of year 11 formally waved goodbye to compulsory education, and the celebration certainly didn't disappoint! We had pictures taken at school, then twelve of us, in a sea of blue and purple, squeezed into a fire engine limo and were whisked away to the venue.

Posing in front of the limo

The event itself was brilliant! We lapped up the American-style buffet, before heading to the dance floor.  There, we grooved to classics such as the Macarena, as well as recent chart hits and nostalgic requests. All too soon it was over, but the memories still remain, assisted by the flurry of photos uploaded within hours, and videos, including this keek.

Prom preparations

On Wednesday 4th July 2012 (in 5 days 6 hours 10 minutes!) I will be attending my school prom. I've purchased all the necessities (dress, shoes, bag and of course, TICKET!); whatever else should be sorted by tomorrow, I'm doing my own makeup and having my hair curled at a salon. Here's a picture of one of the shoes I'll be wearing, I absolutely adore them!

It's officially over!

My GCSE exams are over!

I have no more revision to do!

In the last 32 days, I've sat 10 exams, enduring over 14 hours of sitting within the confines of the sports hall. One day I spent about 4 hours 20 minutes scribbling away and peering at my watch in the place, but now it's over!
Now I can look forward to 2 and a half months of no school; I hope I can find things to keep me entertained!

The memories

Tom,
I've known you since year seven, when I walked home with you and Chris, and I remember that the pair of you made me laugh a lot!


I wrote that from memory, almost word for word on Thursday, when I began my passage in Tom's memories book. It was the last time we'll ever walk home together (I still find that difficult to believe) and I took the opportunity to ask him to write in mine; he let me return the favour. We were sat next to eachother on the wall that surrounds the local pub, busily writing away. I only peered up to see Katie join us.

That was on Thursday; yesterday we left for real.

After a 41-day absence, here I am!

I didn't actually realise I'd gone over 1 month without posting here! It makes it look like I've been busy revising for my exams, doesn't it? Well I have...

They start in 3 days.

Eep.

I'll be back in another 41-ish days.

Cardiff Blue

LA Blue became "Cardiff Blue" on our return journey from the Welsh capital on Friday night.
We were there for a school trip, to view a performance of J.B. Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" in a genuine three dimensions, at the swish New Theatre. Prior to our arrival, a resilient wasp had caused much commotion on the coach, withstanding half a dozen smacks, courtesy of Jamie from Em's tutor group. We eventually approached the theatre on foot; I took this opportunity to scoff the meagre morsels that made up my dinner, my final bite coinciding with the start of the show.
I thoroughly enjoyed the performance; highlights included the dramatic collapse of the Birling house, which woke a few of my school mates up, and the additional symbolism which had been carefully woven into the play.
Back to the end. The chill air of a Cardiff night bustled us back on to the bus, which lacked any evidence of the demon in black and yellow stripes. Eagerly, I grappled for my iPod and set it to play a series of bright, carefree tunes. The sky may have been pitch black, and my cheeks coral red, but nothing could fully detract from the blue…