Editorials

#YEAR13PROBLEMS

13 February 2018

By Lauren E. White

Stuff is getting seriously real

Hello, happy half-term and all that jazz. If you know me, you know that in real life the ‘stuff’ in the heading of this piece is not what I’d say in person, so read between the lines and pretend this is a conversation.

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Now that we’ve got the issue of why my voice wasn’t 100% authentic like I always try to ensure, let’s talk about the rest of the heading. It’s all getting real. Like, everything. Sixth Form is basically almost over, life is beginning, we’ve got a ten-year summer coming up and university to start in September/October. And even though we’ve known all of this for a long time now, it’s only just starting to sink in.

Everyone (apart from the few who left it to the very last minute) has their UCAS emails and uni offers and we’re all going our separate ways on applicant open days to choose where we’re going to spend the next three years of our lives. It’s a bit scary. Everyone is preparing to move on with their life and we’re getting ready to leave school.

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For some people, leaving school is a cause for celebration. For the few like myself who have counted on school as a comfort zone for most of the important parts of our lives so far, leaving school is daunting – and not something we’re particularly enthusiastic about. People try to make it easier by saying that it’s a new chapter in life and a clean slate, but it doesn’t make it hurt less or ease the anxiety surrounding jumping into something completely new and shocking. Now it’s becoming real, it’s like we’re in a mad panic to almost slow down time; to savour our final moments and cling on to the time we have left. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that clinging on to something that will inevitably end is not a good thing to do. It will, in the long run, make it even harder to leave.

So, yeah, not great. But, life goes on. See you next week.

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