As I pen this down, I’m currently whiling away a month’s worth of vacation before I leave dear Malaysia to read Law at the University of Cambridge. A Levels and Taylor’s feel like chapters from a lifetime ago, though it has only been a couple of months since I left behind the days of (freezing cold) classrooms, study sessions in the (freezing cold) library, and Facebook in The (freezing cold) Web. At the request of the editorial team, I’ll relive those days and the little bits that come after, in the next page or so!
Truth be told, I found that A Levels was a period marked with little external pressure to excel. Almost all of it came from within, from a personal want to succeed, rather than “reminders” (read: nagging!) from parents or lecturers. I’m ashamed to admit that I felt very little drive to work extra hard, prior to receiving conditional offers from universities. Once that ultimatum was laid out on the table, though, it was definitely time to kick into gear. However scary and daunting it seemed, my conditional offer from Cambridge was a good source of motivation. It set out a clear goal: secure that admission.
At the risk of sounding clichéd, there is no secret recipe! I’ll take some liberties here to say that I think we A Level students are quite fortunate, in that our 100% exam-based programme allows for some extra help from last-minute mugging. That said, I most definitely do not advocate neglecting day-to-day work! As best as you can, stick to the usual cocktail - attend classes, listen to the lessons, do the work, ask questions; understand before you memorise. Find what works best for you, and keep at it.
No doubt it was a gruelling period, the A2 exams. But before you know it, you’re saying your goodbyes to everyone and it’s all over. As for the freedom and euphoria that comes after, well, I won’t even attempt to put words to it!
Pre-result night was quite uneventful for me. I went about doing things as always, slept at a none-too-decent hour (as holiday culture dictates!), and woke up the next morning with my heart in my throat. Cue: huge sigh of relief. In all honesty, I never expected to score straight A’s. That element of worry was ever-present; the thought of scoring 4A’s was more of a hope and a goal, rather than an expectation. So needless to say, I was no less than relieved and thankful, upon checking my results. It was a nice ending to a short chapter.
As things have worked out well for me academically, I cannot say that I regret the college path I’ve chosen. From a non-academic point of view, I’ve met some of my closest friends today, while I was a Taylorian. It was certainly 18 months well spent.
That said, there were plenty of times I was told that I had “little chance of gaining admission into a place like Cambridge.” The elite universities in the UK are known to favour “traditional” A Level subjects, such as the natural sciences, Mathematics, English Literature and History. Of my four A Levels, I only had two “traditional” ones as versus the mass of applicants with three or even four of such. It’s difficult not to doubt your choices when faced with such a discouraging situation. But, as mentioned, things have thankfully worked out well. So, while I would not advocate taking up a large proportion of “non-traditional” subjects if you are looking to apply to such universities, I absolutely would not discourage it either. If it’s where your passions lie, if you feel it’s right for you, go for it. It is far from impossible.
Now, as for what comes after, I cannot say – I have yet to find out myself! Life after A Levels is an exciting time, albeit an anxious one. I have certainly heard enough stories from my seniors of the hard work that awaits in university, but I hope I haven’t been a killjoy to all you juniors reading this! You know the cliché: work hard, play hard. To that, I raise my glass!
Elyse Ong
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