Not Getting Into University

Results day of 2017 was the most confusing and emotional 24 hours of my life. Watching those around me thrive, receiving confirmation of their university places, was heartbreaking. I was seemingly the only person on the planet who had hit such a low on what was supposed to be a day of celebration...

Jet lagged and panicked, I opened my results alone. Partly because I wanted to be alone, but partly because my family weren't around. Hoping desperately for 3 grade B's at A Level, the website loaded and a B, a C and a D grade stared back at me. Somewhere in my mind, I had expected to fail to achieve the entry requirements for my dream university. But the reality of the situation caused my world to crumble. I hadn't thought to prepare myself a plan in case of failure, as I couldn't bare to think that far ahead at the time. I sat looking at my results for at least 10 minutes through blurry eyes, before I decided a call to the Clearing line might be worth my while.

However this proved to be unsuccessful, as I was told my chosen degree doesn't go into clearing, and hasn't for several years now. As upset as this news made me, I couldn't cry anymore. And so I slept, I slept so I didn't have to think about the circumstances any longer. Unfortunately, you can only sleep for so long, and lo and behold I awoke to the same nightmare. Deciding that sulking was helping nobody, I began the search for the dreaded plan B. Hours later, I discovered what I like to call my saving grace. A college which was offering a course lasting 9 months, and a final chance to become a Speech Therapist at university. It appeared to be too good to be true, but as time went on I enrolled and began my scenic route to my desired career.

At present, I have been attending the course for nearing 4 months and I love it. It feels achievable, and I have more faith than ever, that by September of 2018 I will be a proud attendee of a university. What is more important though, is that there is most always another way. An alternate path is always there, if only we are astute enough to seek it. I feel so lucky that I have been given this opportunity, after the devastation I felt only a few months ago. The moral of my story is to never give up. As many times as I was told that, I never believed I was capable of soldiering on until I threw myself into this endeavour.

Push on and try not to look back, but always give 100%. After all, you don't want to look back knowing that you could've done better.

L.