Tuesday 29 June 2010

Tetris

What did I do when I was so determined to avoid revision? Played a flash version of Tetris on the internet.

I've now finished my exams, with months to space and a blissful, carefree disposition. What do I do to pass the time? Play a flash version of Tetris on the internet.

Heh.

Monday 28 June 2010

REBOOT

After reading through my past Blog entries, I realised they were all rubbish and by no means reflective of my true ability, so, in a rash action, I've removed all previous entries and am going to start things afresh.

At 10:30am tomorrow, by A-Level exams shall be finished, and I shall be free.

I am truly disappointed in myself in the respect that I really should have worked harder last year. I was not prepared for the up-scale in difficulty of A-Levels at all, thus my AS results suffered the consequences of my own laziness and ignorance. This year has been spent entirely trying to stop said grades from falling any further into the realms of personal failure, as, even as they stand, like with the past blog entries, they don't reflect my ability.

It's a real shame such pressure and importance is put on A-Levels as I find them very very flawed. 4 or 3 subjects alone is far too narrow of a margin for one to concentrate in advancing their education because the paths open to you at the end of them, depending on the subjects you've taken, becomes scarily limited. Let's be honest, only a handful of college students know for sure what direction they want to take in life, and, from my experience, the importance of your A-Level choices is not expressed enough by High Schools to their leaving students.

Some say you should take the subjects you like, but, being honest, more often than not, taking the subjects you like at A-Level conflicts with the requirements the career you ultimately desire requires. Leaving you in a problem that's hard to escape.

I don't want to get into mark schemes and syllabuses, because the rant will be far too long. Many academics and government officials complain about A-Levels being easier, and commenting on the best syllabuses to use etc. With all due respect, they aren't the ones who have to do the syllabus are they? I have always and will always stand by my view that those who have the most valid opinion on the education system are the students who are right in the middle of it. Exams are meant to be a challenge yes, but being misleading, ambiguous and sometimes downright nonsensical is not being challenging.

And how is it fair that my coursework should get marked down up to around 20%, falling almost two grades, because an unrelated student taken from a sample has been generously marked, or perhaps has made a silly mistake? Does their work reflect mine? No. My grade should be the result of my work, the hours I put in, being evaluated. Of course, individually marking every single students work will be time consuming, but guess what? That's your job, exam boards, that's precisely what you were created for. It's shocking how their ability to cut corners can affect my future. The worst thing is that no one does anything about it.

Socially, the last two years have been fantastic. College has allowed me to meet so many new people. However, in terms of education, my love of learning has been greatly diminished by the experience of flawed A-Levels. However, complaining about it is as useful as online petitions, so it's not like my opinions will have any sort of impact. Shame.

Well, roll on three months of care free summer, at least.