Hello! Welcome back, it has been a while, hasn't it? It kind of feels weird to say that I am officially done with college. No more A-levels, no more idiotic teachers or an uncaring college. I never have to go back to that place ever again, which feels bliss to say.
If you have followed my blog or social media throughout the past three years, you will know that my time at college wasn't fun. A bit of an understatement there. It was hell on earth, particularly in the first two years. There was many a time in those long and painful years where I didn't think I would actually get through to the other side. At many points, I was happy to walk out without any qualifications.
However, I pushed through and got to the end. I don't know what those grades will be until August. But, in a way, I ain't too bothered because well I know what horrible things I went through and I can be really proud of myself for sticking through and getting to the end. If I get good grades, then that is just the cherry on the top of the cake. For my first official blog post back, I thought I would go back to a good old list style post and highlight just some of the many things, I learnt while at college.
1. People really don't understand mental health
2. Sometimes people who you think will understand mental illness the best, like psychology teachers- actually understand it the worst3. No matter how much you love a subject, learning it at A-level will actually make you hate it
4. The smell of processed and greasy hash browns at 8:45 in the morning every day is enough to put you off that kind of food forever
5. You soon learn not to go anywhere without you're headphones and phone charger
6. Despite it being 2018, colleges still put grades over the mental wellbeing of their students
7. College counselling is not even worth the time of day
8. Despite people choosing what subjects they want to study you still end up with some questionable classmates
9. Putting signs up about mental health charities around the college isn't you caring about mental health it's you passing the problem on to someone else
10. The peace and quiet of the silent area of the library is bliss
11. Apparently leaving lesson multiple times in tears isn't enough to warrant any kind of concern
12. You could have no friends at college, and no one would know
13. A levels aren't that different to GCSEs you just have to learn more
14. If you tell college that you aren't going to a traditional uni, you soon become irrelevant
15. 80% of the things you learn you won't even get tested on
16. Some teachers just don't care and can't teach for toffee
17. However, there are some gemstones amongst the dirt and need to be treasured
18. The amount of flash cards and paper I used in the two years of A levels alone is equivalent to an Amazon rainforest
19. Learning how to PROPERLY revise makes life so much easier
20. Doing revision as you go along instead of cramming at the end will reduce stress levels significantly
21. Some teachers will do anything to cover up the fact they have a bullying problem
22. A 'good' college in the rankings doesn't always mean it's 'good'
23. Some teachers will do whatever they can to make you're life hell
24. You'll end up being you're own rock because there was no one really to rely on
25. Grades and mental health do not have to correlate
26. Just because I turn up to every lesson doesn't mean I'm okay
27. You wouldn't make jokes at the expense of a physically disabled person so why do you do it to mentally ill students?
28. College will drive you the absolute rock bottom
29. Despite college being the worse three years of you're life you will get through
30. And the feelings of joy you will experience when you finally leave... can never be forgotten.
While at college, in my third year, my mental health did really improve. I had a very good therapist and seemed to find the right combination of medication for my needs. (No help, from college though) Although I want to continue to write about mental health, my blog is no longer going to be solely about mental health. I want to start documenting and sharing some of my new interests and other passions.
One of those is reading. While taking a step back from social media and blogging, I really found my love of reading again. For me, reading is my best antidepressant. I 100% want to share more book posts and reviews on here as well as my new booktube channel, a beautiful chaos of books.
Secondly, I want to write about something a little bit more morbid. I love psychology but in particular, criminal and forensic psychology. So, I want to start talking about my favourite murders, disappearances, unsolved cases etc. as well as talking about psychopathy and what actually makes a murderer etc. I know this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it is something I find fascinating and really want to do more research on and share with you guys.
So, that is it for my first official post back. I hope you enjoyed and I hope you are as excited as I am for some fresh new content.
Thank you for reading, as always X
