a levels

It's coming up to that time where anyone in year 11 is choosing what college/sixth form they want to go to and what sort of subjects they want to do. I'm in my last year of A Levels now and although it is extremely stressful I know what a big decision it is, so after asking on Instagram some people said that they would find it really helpful for me to create a blog post talking about the subjects that I do and how I have found them over the past year and a half. I also thought I'd include some other top tips that I have found really help me throughout college. 

To give you some background I'll tell you that I went to the closest college to me because there's only 1 college in my town even though many people went to one's in Brighton which is about 25 minutes on a train from me so don't worry if you don't like the college closest to you. My college used to have quite a bad reputation but it recently moved site and they got a lot of new staff. Initially I decided to take Media Studies, Photography and English Lit and Lang. Don't worry about if you're not quite sure at first what subjects you want to take because you can always change it before you start! Also don't worry about any of the interviews etc. because you will be fine and just remember that whatever happens something will work out in the end. After getting my GCSE results and going to my induction I asked if I could change one of my subjects, one of the tutors spoke to me about the differences of the subjects and they were really helpful in helping me make my decision. 

I ended up taking Media Studies, Photography and English Literature. I had never done Media or Photography before so I was brand new to these subjects but that was fine because there are people there who have also never done these subjects or some who have slightly more understanding!

Media Studies

In the course that I do for Media Studies (because they're all slightly different), we do 50% coursework, 50% exam. In the first year for our coursework we had to film the opening sequence to a film and then we learnt about TV shows for our exam which was all about how certain groups are represented and also how media audiences and institutions. I found this work okay but I do regret that I didn't do my coursework by myself and worked in a group because the exam board are more impressed if you can manage to get all the work done by yourself so this is what I did in my second year. This year I'm creating a music video for my coursework and so far I'm really enjoying it. 

English Literature

This is my favourite subject that I have taken at A Level, I think this is mainly because I'm not a super creative person and I also really enjoy reading. The books that I have studied are: Frankenstein, Never Let Me Go, A Streetcar Named Desire, Poems Of The Decade, Othello and English Romantic Verse. We have also done a 3000 word essay for our coursework where I have compared 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale. I have really been enjoying this subject and I am also planning on continuing it at university. The main difference that I have found between English at GCSE and A Level is that you have to go into a lot more detail especially when talking about quotes and I think that is something that I wish I would've known before starting the subject because it's taken me a while to adjust to it.

Photography

Photography is the last subject that I take and to be honest, I sometimes enjoy it and I sometimes hate it. I think the main reason for this is that I really don't like the teacher that I've got for the subject and that he really doesn't help anyone with any of their work. I really enjoy taking photos but I think one of the main problems is that I like being able to do it when I feel like it rather than being forced to and I want to take photos of things that I am interested in rather than having to stick to a certain topic. I think this really depends on the exam board that you are on in your particular sixth form or college because I think it may just be that my one isn't particularly good, however I do enjoy getting to learn about how my camera works and how to use the darkroom with film cameras etc. There is a lot of time that you have to put in into the presentation of your work and there's a lot more analysing than I thought there would be. 

I don't really know what else to say in particular about my subjects but in general I would say try and keep on top of your work from the beginning because I ended up falling behind quite a bit in the first year and now that I'm in the second year I am having to keep on top of a lot more work (which is why it sometimes gets difficult to also post regularly on here!) but overall I am enjoying my second year a lot more than I did my first, I think it is because I now have solid friendships in each of my lessons so it just feels a lot better than it did before. Also, I would recommend spending some of your extra time in college in the library or such getting on with some work rather than going straight back home because that's what I do and it really helps me to be more focused and also it gives me more time to socialise during lunch etc. I hope this has helped some of you and if you have any specific questions then feel free to ask me in the comments or message me on Instagram or something and I'd be happy to try and help!

bethany x