Why Clearing Is The Beginning And Not The End

A-Level results are coming up fast and I’m sure many of you are waiting anxiously for August 13th. I can remember the run up to my A-Level results VERY clearly. I already knew I hadn’t got the grades I needed to get into my Firm or Insurance, but part of me still wished and hoped and prayed.

I was completely fine up until the night before when the panic kicked in full throttle. What was I going to do? Did I even want to go to university? Was my life over? Okay, the last one was a bit melodramatic but you know what I mean. I woke up early the next morning and went straight on to UCAS Track. And there it was : You are in Clearing. Your Clearing number is ... . Of course my heart sank but I wasn’t surprised. As I mentioned before, I knew I hadn’t got in.

My results weren’t bad at all; I’m sure many people would be happy to get ABB, but they weren’t what I was predicted so for me it was a huge slap in the face. I snuck out the house before anyone could wake up, and plodded off to my sixth form to get the paper results.

The only people I spoke to that morning was Zara, a good friend, and my tutor. After I collected the Envelope of Death (my results), I went to the ‘Clearing Room’ and began looking for places at universities that I had never visited and never considered, Leicester being one of them.

I looked at all the universities offering Maths courses but none of them appealed to me. I knew a few people in the year above who went to Leicester so thought it couldn’t be that bad; I decided to just bite the bullet and call. To my surprise (and delight) they were still offering places to students! They gave me an offer and I accepted it without a second thought. By 11am that morning, I had gotten my place at Leicester and I could finally go to see all my friends who were celebrating getting into university.

2 years down the line and I can now tell you that Clearing was the best thing that ever happened to me. If I hadn’t come to Leicester, I wouldn’t have gotten on to my course (Mathematics with a year in the USA), I wouldn’t have gone on a study abroad in my 2nd year (since most other Uni’s only allow you to go abroad in year 3), and I wouldn’t have met the people I did, or ended up at Utah State University.

I believe everything happens for a reason. I was meant to come to Leicester because I was meant to go to Utah State and I was meant to meet the people I did. It was fate. Destiny. Written in the stars. I had the most amazing year of my life, and I’ve come back to Leicester more confident, more focused and more determined to succeed than when I came in.

So on August 13th if you don’t get into any of the universities you wanted, don’t be too disheartened. The only thing you can do is try to make the best out of a bad situation. Trust me, you will end up at the place you’re meant to be, and it might even be the University of Leicester. If so, I hope to see you here in September.