A-level angst

Seyi Soleye is currently in sixth form and aims to complete an English Literature degree. He hopes to make a living from writing, and is looking forward to a career in the media.

Seyi feared disaster when he was faced with the grim prospect of having to change schools half way through his A-levels. But, as he proves, even the biggest obstacles can be overcome.

I got kicked out of school. Unfortunately, the story's not particularly sensationalist. No sex, drugs or rock and roll was involved - just the fact that my family could no longer afford to pay the fees charged by my private school.

As tempted as I was to throw a Naomi Campbell-esque hissy-fit after I realised that life as I knew it was about to end, I knew I couldn't stew forever, especially as this all happened right in the middle of my first year of A-levels.

So I vowed to get on with things. I had two options: take a forced gap year and apply to a further education college for September; or try and get into another college in the middle of the academic year. I chose the latter because I wanted to get my life back on track as quickly as possible and minimise the effect all this upheaval would have on my future.

"I wanted to give up and live in a cave for the rest of my life"

Exams were imminent, so after finally finding a suitable college I had to force myself to settle in quickly - there was no time to waste. Luckily, I carried on with the same subjects I was studying at my previous school, but the syllabus changes were an issue, especially with English Literature. I hope to do English Literature at university, so I wanted to give the exam a go in the summer in order to have something to show on my UCAS application. Meanwhile, I decided to delay my Economics AS exam till next January, leaving me with more time to focus on three subjects and less overall stress.

The AS-level revision process was chaotic and I felt pretty desperate at times. It went by in a mad blur, but I managed to cram a lot in to a short space of time.

Having experienced highs, lows and times when I wanted to give up and go and live in cave for the rest of my life, I finally sat my exams. I was fairly pleased with most of them, but worried about English. I convinced myself I'd have to retake it to achieve the grades required for my first choice university course. That would have meant even more work at the beginning of A2 year, but I consoled myself with the idea that if my results fell to pieces, at least I had a valid explanation to give to universities.

Results day finally arrived and, to my amazement, I managed three As at AS-level. Now I'm preparing to apply for English at university, revising for Economics AS and waiting to embark on A2 year. As cheesy and cliched as it sounds, I've realised that even though there may be difficulties, if you work hard enough no obstacle should get in the way of your future.

Photo by volunteer photographer Jekaterina Zlotnikova

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