Grades

Today is a happy day for me, we finally finished the whole course of AS Psychology and, with exams just around the corner, I thought it was only fitting that I write about grades.

From the age of 5, we're judged on our abilities - whether that be the ability to make friends, the ability to cope with stress or the ability to pass exams - and we often punish ourselves from the outcome. But why does that one little letter or tick on the paper matter so much?

After you leave school, you realise that your results really don't - and won't - affect your later life. That doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't try hard, it simply means you shouldn't stress over it.

Stress causes you to panic and panic has no place in the exam hall.

Preparation

Instead of stressing, you should plan to pass. You need to set time aside to revise but don't make drastic changes as this will make you stress even more. Just take a little bit of time everyday when you'd usually watch TV to read over your notes or create new posters. 

Never leave it until the last minute, even though you may think revision close to the exam will keep it fresh in the memory, please ensure you do some revision weeks and weeks in advance. Revising the night before or the morning of will stress you out and cause major panic.

You need to find what works best for you. For some people, mind maps will work best. For some people, mind maps are too confusing. It may take a while, but experiment with different techniques. If something doesn't work for you, there's no harm in writing it again in a different way!

Here are just some techniques that you could use:

1. Mind mapping

2. Booklets

3. Questions

4. Drawing

5. Posters

Once your revision is done and you feel happy (make sure you are confident in your own knowledge before you go into the exam) all you need to do is pass that exam!

The Exam

Exams are stressful and scary for everyone but if you stay calm, have knowledge and know how to answer questions, you should be fine. Besides knowledge of the subject, the one thing you need to know is when and where you exam is. Turning up late never looks good and the repercussions will stress you out even more.

Ask your teacher or exam office where the exam will be and go searching for the location a few days before the exam so you're not searching around when the exam happens and always ask what time it starts. Whether you're the kind of person that turns up late to everything or you're always on time, tell yourself the exam starts 10 minutes before it actually does so you get there with plenty of time. If you need to get the bus or any other unreliable public transport, leave 30 minutes for any delays that might occur because "The bus was late" never sits well especially on exam days.

One thing you can't prepare for in an exam is where your seat is - unless your school is very organised and you're always in the right place! - but don't worry, the exam invigilators (those annoying people that wander up and down the aisles) are there to help you so ask them where they think you might be sat and they'll provide another pair of eyes to search for your name.

Every school or organisation is different and may have a different set or rules but the most common are:

1. No phones [if you have to bring your phone, take the battery out or turn everything onto silent and then turn it off so you have no chance of it going off]

2. No pencil cases [most places will say only clear pencil cases or will ask you to empty them so don't be surprised]

3. No communication [even eye contact with someone else can be classed as communication so keep your eyes on your paper until the exam has finished]

Depending on the subject, there will be a certain way to answer questions, your teacher should be showing you how to answer questions during your course but, if they don't, it is easy to go online and find old papers and mark schemes or talk to other people who have already passed the exam.

Now you've done the exam, the worst is over. All that's left is results day!

Results Day

For some, this will be a good day but for others it won't. Don't have too high expectations about yourself but don't play down your abilities! You may be pleasantly surprised by your results and if you're not, talk to your teacher about re-sitting the exam. Most teachers will encourage you to do so because they want you to reach your full potential but if a re-sit isn't possible, just try harder on your next exam.

You do have to remember that these grades are just letters on some paper but don't forget how important they are for your future. Grades from primary school will help you get into secondary school, grades at secondary school will help you get into college, grades at college will help you get into university and grades at university will help you get a job.

So remember to prepare, stay calm, practise and you'll pass.

Good luck!

georgiadaisyiv

Body Image

Body image is a huge part of everyone's life and our own views of our bodies are often distorted. Girls look in the mirror and see big bellies, big thighs, small boobs and no bum when in reality they are beautiful women created the way God wanted them to be and that is all that should matter.

Too many derogatory words are thrown out nowadays by careless people who - most likely - are insecure about themselves. People don't realise that words are a human's deadliest weapon and what they say can destroy someone else.

When a boy looks at a girl, he may see things he likes and no matter how many times he tells her that, she will never believe him. This is because when she looks down, she sees this:

A body that she may not be proud of, a body that she may wish she could change.

No amount of excerise or dieting or surgery will ever make this image go away and you know what, it doesn't need to be.

Why is being skinny such a great thing anyway?

Why does everyone want to be skinny?

Why is skinny an acceptable word to describe people?

I don't want to be skinny. I want to be me. And that's what you should want to be too. No one should feel that their body is not good enough because God made our bodies for a purpose not for pleasure.

If you want to eat that extra slice of pizza or that extra bar of chocolate - go ahead! 

Who said anyone else had the right to tell you want you have to do?

Who said skinny is best?

As long as you're happy, that's all that matters.

So go grab some chocolate, get a good movie and have a day off!

Please never feel like you're not good enough because you're everything someone wants.

georgiadaisyiv.

The Future

Most young girls spend their life dreaming about becoming a princess and meeting Prince Charming. Of course I had these dreams too but, being a bit older now, I need to have a more realistic dream.

Although I still slip into dreaming of being swept off my feet, my dreams have become a little more reachable. I have 3 main paths in my life which I think I could take and, one day, we'll be able to look back and hopefully see which path I have taken.

Path 1

On this road, I hope to leave college with all 3 (and a half) A-levels at the grades I want - at least all Bs - and go to Liverpool John Moores University to study Criminal Justice. After getting my degree, I want to take a few months off to relax and visit America. Hopefully I will somehow settle into a job there, meet Prince Charming, set up a cheerleading team, be a successful lawyer and have a happy and healthy family.

Maybe the America bit won't come true but I wouldn't mind the rest of it happening!

Path 2

This time, I again hope to leave college with all my A-levels but I'd quite like to take a year out after college to work at a Summer Camp in America with my best friend, then we'd go on a road-trip in the Campervan we've always dreamed of having. Somehow Prince Charming will find his way into my life and I'll either stay in America or stay in the UK and go to univerisity as in Path 1.

Path 3

This is the back-up path where I might start my own business which produces and sells cheerleading bows and set up a cheerleading team that unites a range of religions. In one sense this will be the easier path as it isn't venturing into the unknown like the other paths may be.

I'm not really sure which path I'm going to choose or whether I'll mix them all together, all I know is that I hope for a happy, healthy and secure life filled with people I care for and who care for me back. I just can't wait until I can drive (6 more months!) have my own house, do my own shopping and really start acting like a grown-up.

Of course I know not to expect an easy journey to get to this but I'm ready for the ride!

I am so excited to look back at this when I'm old and haggered and realise I made my dreams come true and I'm glad I can blog the whole way through it!

That's all folks,

georgiadaisyiv

All About Me

As this is the first blog of mine anyone will ever read, I've decided to start with a post All About Me - and I hope, in few years time, we will look back at this and remember where it all started.

So to begin with, my name is Georgia and I am currently 16 years old. I was born in the city of Wolverhampton but spent the start of my childhood in the small town of Hereford. We (my mum, dad and little sister) moved back to Wolverhampton so I could start school where I already had a place reserved (how posh!). My mum is still working at that school a good 11 years on!

At this time, my hair was VERY CURLY and was beginning to get VERY DARK (I was born with quite blonde hair but it grew to be much darker). I obviously have very little memories of these times although I do remember moments of trauma like on my very first school photo day when I was showing how good I was at skipping until I fell onto the hard gravel and busted my face up. Somehow that picture never made it home!

Looking back on days at primary school, it was a pretty awful time. There wasn't a lot of money in my school and so we often had to 'make do' with second best. I don't remember a lot of things about school other than when new things were built and I soon forgot what it was like not to have them. I remember having dirty toilets, wobbly tiles and a selection of pegs for entire classes of 30+!

I was quite popular in school - mostly because my mom worked there - but I think it was because I was so keen to make friends. Up until Year 5 (age 9-10) I don't remember any major arguments but once we reached our final years at primary school, the divides started to show. There were 3 main groups of girls - the biggest group often lead by me, a smaller group lead by someone I actually got quite friendly with in secondary school and a selection of girls who used their older brothers to scare the rest of us - which usually lead to some kind of playground war.

My two last memories of primary school are the end of SATS and the Leaver's Assembly. I'm pretty sure our last SAT was Literacy (English) and I distinctly remember being handed a yellow ice lolly by the Head-teacher who said "Now that wasn't so bad was it?" through her misshaped teeth. My memory of the Leaver's Assembly is strange; I remember everyone stood on stage crying and me with dry eyes thinking "I can't wait to get out of here" and then later crying in the classroom simply because everyone else was. I then remember having to stand up to present the teachers with some flowers (which they didn't know about) and stumbling over my words saying "tanks" instead of "thanks". This definitely made my Most Embarrassing Moments list!

The next school related memory I have was the first day of secondary school. This is a memory that has stayed with me for a VERY long time. I remember pulling up in my dad's little car and waiting to see if I recognised anybody. When a saw a girl from primary school I quickly got out of the car and we walked into the school together. I remember how big and scary it felt just from the outside and I remember it smelt like fish and chips (it continued to smell like this until the very day it was knocked down). I never seem to remember my first day of anything other than getting there as I think I focus too much on not making a fool of myself.

I liked secondary school almost as much as I liked primary - i.e. not very much - most likely because of the lack of money but also because of the lack of excitement. Every day for 4 years we did the same thing and saw the same people and - nearly - ate the same food. We rarely went on trips as something always managed to come up (like that year when everyone went out for 'activity week' and the Year 10s had to go on work experience) and if you were lucky enough to be offered a trip, it was usually because you'd been recognised as 'Gifted and Talented' (a load of Sugar-Honey-Ice-Tea) or you had behavioural issues. I did get to go on one special trip though to the Rock Assembly in London where we saw Diversity, Parade and several other acts that were cool at the time but I don't remember what I did to deserve that! I also went on a trip with the gymnastics team to London to watch an ex-pupil compete but that honestly was it.

After leaving school with a selection of GCSEs (1A, 5Bs and maybe 2 Cs), I decided it was time to move on and I started at a Sixth Form College to do A-Levels which is where I am now. So far I am enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone. I just hope it was the right thing to do!

In the future I simply hope to have a good job, a loving family, enough money and happiness in myself. I am thinking of going to university but I am also thinking of taking a gap year off with my best friend so we can travel America but I'm really not sure! I say all the time that I want to be independent but I was someone to make decisions for me.

And this is where today's post will end. I hope this wasn't too boring to read and I hope one day we will read this back and seek comfort in where we first met.

That's all folks, goodnight.

georgiadaisyiv

My First Time

Despite the title of this post, this has NOTHING to do with anything naughty. Instead, it's a list of questions about all the firsts in life.

So here we go.

First tweet?
Apparently it was "Had enough of doing what people want me to do." on October 14th 2011.
First Facebook profile picture?

How embarrasing!

First love and do you still talk?

Probably a boy who I went to primary and secondary school together so we do talk but not everyday but if I bumped into him I'd be happy to speak.

First person to text you today?

No-one has texted me today :(

First ride on an aeroplane and where was it to?

Most likely Italy when I was 2 and my mom said I refused to put my seatbelt on so I was a bit naughty!

First best friend and do you still talk?

I think my best friend was a girl at playgroup in Hereford but I haven't spoken to her since I was there 13 years ago!

First concert?

Girl Aloud at age 13.

First broken bone?

I've luckily never broken a bone!

First piercing?

I had my ears pierced at age 10 and that's the only piercing I have!

First foreign country you went to?

Most likely Italy when I was little.

First detention?

Probably in Year 4 (age 8-9) because I was talking when we were all in a line or something like that.

First sport?

I didn't do it as a sport but just as a skill but probably swimming. My first sport beyond that was gymnastics or trampolining.

First kiss?

I kissed a boy in nursery once but that doesn't count, I think it was in Year 6 (age 10-11) when I went to a boy's house and he kissed me there.

First word?

I said my first word at 5 months old which was "da da".

First phone?

I think my first phone was a light pink LG Cookie slide up thing. I only got it because my best friend had one!

Phew, that took a while!

georgiadaisyiv

Why blog?

On January 24th 2014 at exactly 2:32pm, I decided to set up a blog. I was mostly inspired by Zoella who I first heard of on YouTube. After seeing one video of Joey Graceffa, I was immediately drawn into the hidden world of the YouTuber. I went a little crazy subscribing to Sprinkle of Glitter, Zoella and their second channels and I also started following their friends like Jim Chapman, Tanya Burr and, of course, Alfie Deyes. I highly recommend following all of these channels as it has brought me great enjoyment in my life!

Now, back to me. As I said, I was inspired by Zoella and seeing her video about using YouTube and her blog to help deal with her anxiety influenced me to start. I have never been officially diagnosed as having anxiety but I know my own body and I know that something isn't right. If you don't want to read my story then I suggest you scroll down very fast!

My Story
I feel that my anxiety started around age 15 when a new girl started at cheerleading (I know that sounds crazy) who I really did not get on with. We tried everything to be friends but nothing worked. Unfortunately, I have quite a public tolerance of people so I was always stunting with this girl. Any cheerleader will know that stunting is one of the most nerve-wracking part of cheerleading and it is CRUCIAL that the team trusts each other - of course, me and this girl had NO TRUST in each other whatsoever.

For most of the time she was there, I would go home crying with frustration. Why did I have to be with her?! I promised myself if I was put with her for the next competition I would stand up for myself and politely ask the coach to switch me into another team but - thankfully - that day never came.

Anyway, she caused me to have anxiety as every time we went to cradle (move down from a stunt) I would panic even though I'd done it a million times before with other teams. I could feel my heart beating faster than it should, my hands would shake, my head would be running at a crazy speed and I'd often end up having to remove myself from class to calm down. I realised this feeling wasn't going to get any better by itself so I had to do something. I had a real good look at myself and decided to just throw myself into it - unfortunately this lead to an argument which I, admittedly, started which made the coach threaten to bench the both of us. Obviously, neither of us wanted this.

After she left, I felt like I could relax, but then I started college. Because my college is so far away, I spend a lot of time travelling by myself. For most people this would be beneficial but for me, it made my anxiety worse. I'm not sure whether this affected things but I started getting really into NCIS - an American crime drama for those who don't know - and although I love it, it was making me really paranoid so I spent most of my time travelling to college looking behind me and reacting to every little sound. I live in a city where one look at one person could virtually end your life and I am very aware of this which makes my anxiety much worse.

Most people who suffer from anxiety also experience panic attacks. I, luckily, don't have any physical panic attacks but I've realised that my head is full of mental panic attacks every single day.

Although my anxiety is very mild, I can understand what others are going through and I find things other people (like Zoella) do to help settle theirs really works for me. This is why I started the blog as Zoella uses YouTube to talk about her anxiety and I found talking in my head or talking to other people takes my mind off my anxiety.

That really is the only reason I started blogging but also because it's something fun to do when I'm bored or need to relax. I will try to blog something everyday except for Sundays when I spend the whole day at the cheer gym.

That's all folks,

georgiadaisyiv