Adam shares five tips for staying busy over the summer to reduce any anxiety about upcoming exam results.
- Adam Jones
The summer of 2018 was very difficult for me. England’s success at the World Cup was one of the few highlights of the summer. Why was my summer difficult? I was waiting for my exam results all summer after finishing on the 18th of June. It wasn’t until the 16th of August that all the uncertainty was swept away, and that I was definitely going to university! Here’s five things you can do to keep yourself busy and reduce any anxiety about results during that time of uncertainty:
1. Spend time with your family and friends
During your hard revision amidst all your exams, you may not have spent as much time with your family and friends. As well as needing their support during the exam period, they could help you to cope with the anxiety of an upcoming results day. You may have the opportunity to go to events or go out with your family and friends, perhaps even going on holiday with them. If you don’t spend a lot of time with them at the moment, now could be a good time to start. They are there for you so you can share your worries with them. They’ll listen to you. Please don’t go through this worry alone, it will not do you any favours!
2. Find work experience in the summer
Spending too much time at home is something that will also not do you any favours. Currently, I’m doing an internship after finishing my first year at university. Not only is this stopping me from worrying about things that I would be if I was stuck at home, it’s also allowing me to gain experience for when I finish university. You should try and do the same when you finish your A-levels. This is something I regret not doing this time last year. An internship/work experience is one of those things that you can put on your CV.
3. Build up your portfolio
This is similar to the last point, but you can build your portfolio from home which may feel easier. Creating a website could be very useful as a portfolio. You could use this website to express yourself, show off some of your best work and display your passion for the theme you’ve chosen to base your portfolio around. From there, you can promote your work on social media. This work could be a useful asset to have in the future. The summer is only the start of this portfolio creation, you can add to this as you go through university.
4. Find alternative options
Don’t place your eggs all in one basket! Sometimes, things don’t exactly go to plan. This was like my AS level results day, when I performed very poorly and thought that I wouldn’t be able to get back in to sixth form. If you don’t at least research alternative options for if your Plan A doesn’t quite work out, you may worry about results day. Finding alternative apprenticeships and preparing for UCAS clearing might be a wise thing to do. This will not do any harm and only make it even more satisfying if everything goes to plan! I thought I would never get in to my first choice university but somehow, I did. There’s one lesson I learnt from that, something I would like to share with all of you: believe in yourself!
5. Always keep in mind that you can re-sit
If you do not get the results you were expecting, always remember that you can re-sit. The only reason I managed to get to university is because I decided to resit two of my AS level exams in my A-level exams year. These improved results helped push my overall grade up.
If you’re worrying about possibly falling behind and being older than everyone when you get to university, don’t worry! On my course, most of the people are the year above me in school, whilst being in the same university year as me. This is because some people come from 3-year BTEC courses or have re-sat their A-levels. Re-sits could help you get to where you want to be, they certainly helped me! You may not need to re-sit, but remembering that it is an option could just help to ease some of the anxiety over results day.
You can find more information and advice about looking after your mental wellbeing here
Hello! My name is Adam. I study Journalism and Media Production (BA Hons) at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. Being a keen blogger and having several experiences during my academic studies, I hope that I can help people along the way whilst enjoying writing for you
Informative, Thumbs up!
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