Blind Panic

So for many of us in the UK it is Exam season, for a few of you the exams have already started, and for a few of us A2 students the exams are about to begin.

PANIC!!! That is the general feeling that everyone is getting at the moment.  We are told from an early age that these exams will define who we are and what we get to become, but is this the case? and how much do we really need to pass these exams.
We have three pressures on us at this moment in time:

1. parental pressure - pressure coming from our parents pushing us to succeed and not fail them.

2. peer pressure - the pressure of competing against people of similar ages to you.

3. self pressure - the pressure that we put on ourselves in order to achieve what we want.

But these pressures amount to the confusion of why we need to pass; with so many opinions flying around it is hard as teenagers knowing what is expected of us.  The worst feeling is not knowing what is to come after these exams, do we all really need to go to university in order to get a good job?

Now the answer as you are reading this will most likely be yes.  In many ways you are not far from the truth, it does help you to succeed in the job or university interview process.  However, some of the greatest successes come from those people who did not necessarily pass their exams, for example Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg and David Beckham.  Admittedly their success is based off of talent or luck but this does help, I feel, help us as the people taking those exams to calm down. 

I feel that as a generation we are pushed more and given less of a chance to prove ourselves, those who are not necessarily exam smart may have better common sense then the rest of us.  We are discriminated against with the view that exams are getting easier rather than being rewarded when we succeed.  This is where this 'blind panic' comes from, we are pushed so hard that we feel that if we do not attain those grades A - A* then we have failed, but this is simply not the case. 

We teens should focus on our strengths and what we enjoy as much as what is expected of us because we are the future of the world, we could be the politicians that lead the new world, the next biggest boy band or solo artist, the greatest athlete to ever exist or even the most successful business entrepreneur in the world.  Whether we chose to innovate or continue a previous idea, these exams will not define us, they will not represent who we are and they will not hinder us in life. 

I do however, wish you all luck in your exams, I do not wish you to stop trying but I wish that you see a different perspective and that you realise that there is always a different option for you.