What to do over the summer break, and a slightly frivolous quiz.
😊 Welcome
Summer time should be a time for relaxing and chilling out. Not for me this year though, my wife and I are upping sticks and moving from Bangkok to Rome. Exciting, but stressful!
And it’s not so different for students who are upping sticks and heading to university. Except that if you are awaiting your A-level results, you don’t know for certain where you are heading.
And that’s what today’s article is all about. How do you approach the summer holidays, taking the time to relax, while preparing for all the different possibilities.
There is also stuff in there for year 12 students who are looking a little further ahead with their choices.
I’ve also done something quite revolutionary this week. I’ve included something totally frivolous. You know, just for ‘fun’.
It’s a little “say what you see quiz”. So have a go, challenge your friends, and see who comes out on top!
✍️ Summer next steps
James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) once said “You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to know your next step”.
As you finish your school year and head into the summer break, you are probably caught right in the middle of a dilemma:
On one hand you are tired, you want a break, and you really don’t want to think about school or university.
On the other hand, your future, and the pressure from parents and teachers to get some decisions made, or some back-up plans in place, is stressing you out.
So, how do you handle this dilemma?
Well, the answer is simple: instead of feeling you have to have everything figured out completely, just have two or three things in place that you can take action on over the summer.
Whether you are in year 12 heading into year 13, and are making some initial university choices, or whether you are in year 13 and heading off to university, I have three suggestions of really practical next steps that you can take to make sure you keep moving forward with your choices.
😄 Say what you see
You know those quizzes where you get a few pictures and you have to guess what the word or phrase is? (They do it on House of Games amongst other shows!)
Well, today we have a ‘say what you see’ quiz all about UK universities!
Just name the university from the picture clues!
For example, the picture below would be… Oxford. See?
(Answers can be found at the bottom of the page).
📢 And once again… Udemy: How to write your UCAS Personal Statement
Before we finish for the summer, I hope you’ll allow me one more plug for my personal statement course on Udemy.
With the Personal Statement changing this year, there is a lot of uncertainty around what universities are looking for. So this course is my six-step guide to nailing your Personal Statement in the new format!
That’s all for this week!
And it’s also all for this academic year. Like many of you I’ll be taking a bit of a break - albeit while we move to the other side of the world!
So have a terrific summer, and I’ll be back with more useful stuff about applying to university in the autumn!
Jonathan
