Going through clearing

Getting my A level results was genuinely the worst day of my life. I have always been that person who was obsessed with revising- I was working so hard to achieve my grades; working ridiculous hours to get my brain to regurgitate information.

Little did I know that I would later be diagnosed as both dyslexic and dyspraxic both of which affect how I learn. When I found out that I had been rejected from the medical school that I applied to I was gutted. It honestly felt like someone had just died; my dream of becoming a doctor in this case. All I wanted to do was run and smack my head repeatedly against a wall as I knew I’d let everyone down.

I wish I had been diagnosed as dyspraxic before I started my A levels as it definitely affects how I process information, not to mention has a HUGE impact on my life. However at my school, you were only considered to be dyslexic if you were failing, and they forget that dyslexia/dyspraxia has nothing to do with intelligence. If I’m honest I’m not sure my school even knew (or knows!) what dyspraxia is so you can’t blame teachers for not picking up on it.

So, after my teacher had given me a pep talk and basically told me that all though it feels like it, my world has not fallen apart, I began to ring universities. I soon had an array of courses at a number of different universities.

Yet I still had no real idea of what I actually wanted to study- I soon narrowed it down to classic subjects- which I felt gave me the best chance of later applying to medicine.  After a bit of coaxing from my incredibly biased chemistry teacher, I settled on chemistry.

Leicester was one of my options, and after speaking to a lecturer on the phone who was incredibly helpful and welcoming, I decided on Leicester. However, building up to moving in, I was very apprehensive, my accommodation was not sorted, I didn’t know anyone, had never been and felt completely unprepared. I just got more and more anxious, and at one point didn’t even want to go at all.

And here I am now. Nearly 2 years later blogging for the same Uni that I had never really heard of until that day. That day will forever be one of the most upsetting days of my life, but I made so many important decisions that day, and choosing Leicester was definitely the right decision for me.