Avoiding Mistakes in Year 12: My Journey to Success

要点：

• The transition from Year 11 to Year 12 is extremely stressful.
• It's important to stay humble and seek help when struggling with subjects.
• Manage your time effectively and avoid wasting valuable study periods.
• Research universities thoroughly to inform your academic decisions.
• Be mindful of the time left in school and cherish the moments.

the jump from year 11 to year 12 was honestly one of the most stressful times of my life. the jump from doing pretty much the same gcses as everyone else to doing three or four very specific subjects at a level was quite a challenge. it was a responsibility because I now had to make choices that would directly impact my life in a significant way. also the fact that I didn't actually sit any exams at the end of year 11 because of lockdown that didn't help. on top of all of the previous stress I now had to worry about setting my first ever external exam at the end of year 12.

that being said, I made it work and I ended up getting Four A's at AS. but of course there were some mistakes along the way, so here is a list of the biggest mistakes that I made that you should avoid in year 12.

the first and probably the biggest mistake I made was just not being humble enough. I found GCSE math quite easy, so I expected that A-Level math and A-Level further math would be a breeze. of course I was wrong. normal math was fine, but further math was a challenge. I've told the story in other videos, but in the beginning of year 12 I struggled with further math for the first two months. I would sit in class trying to learn, but I wouldn't understand a single thing that the teacher would be saying, and honestly he himself didn't understand it either. I was getting B's and C's. I was struggling, but I would always tell myself that I'll get the gist of it eventually.

but then November came and I started seriously considering dropping it. I really had to weigh up whether taking further math was worth it. on one hand, it would hurt my ego because I would technically have failed the subject in my eyes because I couldn't do well in it. but on the other hand, if I didn't drop it, I was risking getting bad grades in the end of year 12 and year 13, which would have hindered my ability to go to the unis that I wanted to.

I eventually decided to drop it and take computer science instead, and I haven't looked back since. it was the best decision I've made in a while. I know so many people that were getting straight Nines in GCSE further math, but then when they got to year 12, all of a sudden they're getting C's in B's in normal math, not even further math. so expect to be humbled and don't let your ego get in the way of you learning. if I knew that earlier, it probably would have saved me a lot of stress, pretty much mostly from further math.

now the second mistake I made in year 12 was not getting on top of my work straight away. the first couple of months of year 12 were genuinely overwhelming. I now had to balance between a jump in difficulty, uni preparations, and a social life. that being said, being stressed is never an excuse for you to just do whatever you want and waste time. I wasted way too many freeze just sitting around with my friends and doing nothing. if I spent that time studying, doing some personal statement preparations, or doing something extracurricular like an online course, I would have been in a much better position at the end of year 12 and also the beginning of year 13.

honestly, if you didn't do it in GCSE then you need to teach yourself the discipline to study when there's no test coming up. this will save you so much time in the future and also make you better at learning in general. even in lessons, the more you study the more confidence you get with the subjects, which means you are more likely to understand it and also enjoy it in future lessons. do some studying every day, even if it's only 15 minutes. those 15 minutes add up quite quickly to tens of hours.

if you've benefited from the video so far, then can you please do me a solid and just press the like button?

now another mistake that I made in year 12 was not researching my Unis enough. there really are two types of people: the first type knows everything about the uni that they want to go to from like year 8. the other type doesn't know the university they want to go to even a day before they send their UCAS application. I'm the second type. if I was able to, I would go back and research everything about universities on my own.

honestly, most of the time the information that you hear from your friends and even some counselors is quite inaccurate about universities, so do your own research. I wish I researched stuff like what country I want to go to, the course that I want to study, and is the university that I want to go to actually well ranked for that course instead of just well ranked in general. I wish I researched that stuff much earlier.

what I ended up doing was breaking up this research across the year, so I would constantly change my mind. I was constantly conflicted; I didn't really know exactly what I was going to do. certainty breeds confidence. if I knew for sure that I wanted to study computer science at let's say Imperial, every decision I make academically and also in life in general will be aimed towards that goal of studying at Imperial. all of a sudden my whole life becomes focused on studying CS at Imperial. but if I'm unsure of what and where I want to study, I'll be slouching, wasting time, and making decisions that won't really benefit me, and so on.

honestly, the summer before year 12, we should already have a rough idea of what and where you want to study. so that as soon as you start your talk, you could just hit the ground running.

now the last mistake I made during year 12 was not being mindful enough. deepness, if you're watching during year 12, then you have less than two years left of high school. you've been at school since as long as you can remember. most of the friends you've made were from school; most of your memories are linked to school. your whole life has been centered towards school, and now you have less than two years of that left. I'm now in year 13, and I'm accepting the fact that in less than a year I'm going to be my own person. that is exciting and also scary at the same time. but I still have a couple of months to enjoy with my friends before we all go in different directions.

the next time you go to school, have that in mind. when you're in class, at lunchtime, or just walking in the corridor, be mindful of the fact that all of this will end soon. I know I'll miss these days and I'll reminisce over them in a couple of months.