“I should just let it go/’Til they learn how to grow/And how to liberate//Silence is easy/It just becomes me/You don’t even know me/Why lie about me?”

“Silence is Easy” by Starsailor. I really don’t need to explain…that’s One Tree Hill for you.

I’m leaving for an eight day venture on Monday on one of those ridiculously expensive “intensive driving courses.” At the minute, my head doesn’t really care about learning to drive. Essentially, I’m excited to take a “quiet break” from my life before college starts. I began packing today which made me realise how much of a superficial idiot I am - worrying about whether to pack straighteners or my hi-tech hair drier, fearing the possibility of having to survive on takeaways  and being miles away from a ridiculously large TV. Then I realised a bit of minimalism would do me good. I’m essentially spending over a week in the middle of nowhere, away from distractions of a city life I’m used to. So I’m packing plenty of books (I’m currently 27 pages into ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne Du Maurier and thoroughly impressed!) and my trusty Macbook, with the hope of completing a few assignments for college.

Speaking of college, AS results came out. I’m not overjoyed, but I’m not crying (unlike over GCSEs a year ago). Essentially, I could’ve done better but I got quite hard done by. Remarks and retakes are definitely on the cards. Anyway here’s the breakdown for the year.

Politics
Jan ‘09: Contemporary Politics of the UK  (85/100) (A)
June ‘09: Contemporary Government of the UK (95/100) (A)
Final Grade: (180/200) (A)

Verdict: Wasn’t quite expecting to do as well as I did, I worked far harder for the first exam AND found it a lot easier. I actually despised the second unit, it was one of the dullest modules I’ve ever had to endure in my life. Alas, I’m ecstatic with my 90% overall.

Economics
Jan ‘09: Markets & Market Failure  (88/100) (A)
June ‘09: The National Economy (73/100) (B)
Final Grade: (161/200) (A)

Verdict: “I only need 72% in this exam to get A.” That was essentially my motto for Economics, I really should’ve worked harder. Irritatingly, I loved Unit 2 as a module, but I knew I messed up the written half of the paper and wrote a god awful essay due to bad timing. My gut feeling is I got marked harshly, but can’t risk a remark as I’m so close to losing a grade. So that’s a retake there.

Critical Thinking

June ‘09: Introduction to Critical Thinking (85/100) (A)
June ‘09: Assessing and Developing Argument (72/100) (B)
Final Grade: (157/200) (B)

Verdict: The teaching for this subject was bad, so I couldn’t take is seriously. The first exam was a joke, and the second one was pretty solid. Alas, I’m annoyed I missed an A by 3 marks. Considering getting the first paper remarked just because I felt I liked that one more, but then again, I don’t really care about it that much.

Maths

Jan ‘09: Core Mathematics 1 (80/100)
June ‘09: Core Mathematics 1 (81/100) (A)
June ‘09: Core Mathematics 2 (76/100) (B)
June ‘09: Statistics 1 (81/100) (A)
Final Grade: (238/300) (B)

Verdict: I retook C1 after scraping an A in January…an hour and a half paper on the last day of exams…for one extra mark. I’m really disappointed actually, I’m determined that I did better in Statistics. Tripled checked the paper as well, that’s going for a remark for sure. Am epically pleased with C2 result though, the exam was “like beings severed through the head with a chainsaw.” Retaking that. 2 marks off an A…so so sad.

English Lit
Coursework: Creative Study (58/80) (B)
June ‘09: Victorian Paper (81/120) (C)
Final Grade: (139/200) (C)

Verdict: ONE FUDGING MARK OFF A B!! I was actually thrilled at this result, honestly expecting a U. My exam consisted of two arguments that had barbaric thesises, and the bulk of my “evidence” contradicting each of other before finally…not concluding because it was all shit. One exact sentence which sums up the depth of my analysis was “This poem contains a metaphor.” I wrote that as part of an AS level essay. I’ll retake. Plan to get a remark on coursework in search for that extra mark though…I had faith in that.

Urgh, the more I think about my grades the more I hate them. Well, it’s all done I suppose. Roll on next year, and the seven (!!) exams I’m taking in January. Remind me why I put myself through this again…pfft.

Well, I’m about half way through my summer break from college so this seems like a good time to check in. My birthday was a week ago, got a lot of really really nice swag from my friends and generally had an epic time seeing people I’d nearly lost contact with. Pictures are on my Flickr, I really need some kind of Flickr integration somewhere because I’m actually starting to use it again. I should probably add a nice, pretty footer.

I also passed my driving theory test at 8am on Saturday morning despite being epically tired and very very stressed! I got 96% for the multiple choice (86% being the pass mark) and 79% for the Hazard Perception (58% being a pass). Considering I was aiming to scrape I am pretty pleased with that.

One thing I’ve noticed recently about myself is that, I’m getting a little more stressed then I usually do. But it’s not work-related or anything like that, in fact, I have no idea where it’s coming from. I’m losing confidence, feeling anxious/panicky and not having the drive for things like I used to. Little things are keeping me positive but on the whole it’s all a bit…blargh. On the plus side though, there’s zero zero male drama. I was going down a very bad path and I’m glad I put my head first and saw my way out of tricky situations that I ended up in out of boredom.

Right, that’s a quick summary of my life. Hopefully I’ll have my driving licence at the end of the month. Can’t afford a car or insurance so it’s all a little bit pointless, it’s for the bragging rights really. I’m also planning to make a really really lovely electronica playlist sometime, because every summer I end up listening to ridiculous amounts of electropop and it’s good shit I’m telling you.