Are GCSE's worth the stress?

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Four years ago today was my last day of Year 11 before I broke up for 'study leave' aka a clump of GCSE's and then my three month long summer. It was also my Year 11 prom- four years has just completely flown by! 

So much has happened to me in the last four years in terms of my education and my career- all things that I literally never expected to happen. In Year 11 I knew I would be going to uni, but not sure where or what I would study. I had a boyfriend whom I was trying to plan everything around. The end of school seemed very, very far away and so nothing was bothering me too much.

To cut a long story short I did okay in my GCSE's. I didn't get any of my predicted grades but I got nothing below a C, and even achieved a C in my maths, something no one thought I would ever be able to do, so that was really something. I was able to do nearly all of the A Levels of my choice, except Psychology due to a C in Science, not a B *sigh* but this turned out to be a blessing as the Psych teacher ended up leaving and causing all sorts of problems for the class. I replaced Psych with Business- and it seems everything really does happen for a reason, as I now run my own business!

After my A Levels, and getting accepted into the uni of my choice, I took a gap year, ended up studying a random course at college and then rejecting my uni placement in favour of going straight to work and studying a journalism diploma online. I turned to blogging, became a radio presenter with my own weekly show, trained to be a TV presenter, have worked with several notable people and companies and done many extraordinary things...and now I run my own magazine too. But you all know this already.

What I'm trying to say is this; please don't worry about your GCSE's. To me, and to almost everyone I know, they have not impacted upon people's lives in any way, shape or form. I am not the same person I was four years ago, I don't have the same dreams and ambitions as I did four years ago- my GCSE's are pretty much irrelevant to me. 

Now, I'm not saying don't try, don't revise, don't work hard. Do! A C grade in Maths and English at least is compulsory and is something you need in life for almost all jobs. But what I am saying is don't stress. If you need a break from revision, it's okay. If you go to a party during your "study leave", it's okay. If you revise for an hour or two less than you should have because MIC was on and you had to watch, it's okay. 

GCSE's really don't hold much importance, definitely not as much importance as an A Level or a college course in higher education and it's really not worth getting worked up over, stressed or worried about. One year on, four years on, you won't even be thinking about them, I promise. 


Good luck to everybody taking exams, I hope you all do as well as you'd like- but if you don't, don't worry. Everything truly does happen for a reason and if something falls through, its only so it can make way for something way better- trust me!

Love from,
Florence Grace


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