It’s not the end of the world.

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Today I received a sweet email from a girl who didn’t do as well as she had hoped she would in the A-levels. It really got me thinking back to when I did my Leaving Cert (which is the Irish equivalent of the A-levels/SAT’s etc) and my own experience of feeling like a failure.

My goal was to attend a 4-year degree course in photography which required that I get certain grades in my exams and I also had to submit a portfolio of my work. My portfolio had been sent in before the exam results came out and I received top marks which really made me think that I had a really good chance of getting into the course I wanted. However, it wasn’t to be.. When I got my results I saw that I had failed one of the core subjects which was maths (always a weak point of mine!) which basically meant that I wouldn’t be going to university.

I was devastated. I cried for a few days and really thought that there was no hope for me ever getting to college. But there are always other options! After I got out of my slump I looked into other courses that didn’t require the same academic standard and found myself in a one-year photography course which was a huge learning experience for me both in and out of the classroom!

I decided after the course had ended that a 4-year full-time degree course just wasn’t for me, and since then I can honestly say that it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. As some of you know, I was recently ‘let-go’ from my job in retail, so it’s not like I’m writing this to you guys from my luxurious penthouse apartment at the top of the fashion industry :P . But the one thing I can say is that you will always be happy in yourself if you pursue something you love, and have a genuine passion for.

 

A,x

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  • Florence

    Thats so nice of you!! I havent done my A-Levels yet but I’m not as scared now! hehe :)

  • Rachel

    This is such a sweet post. This is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you so much :)

    • AnouskaPB

      <3

  • Anonymous

    You are a wonderful person. :)

  • http://lovelyprettyworld.blogspot.fr/ Laura

    This post is very inspiring! I can really relate and you just made me realise that maybe I’m not as big a failure as I think I am because I didn’t study like I thought I would or like my parents wanted me to.

    http://lovelyprettyworld.blogspot.fr/

    • AnouskaPB

      Thanks Laura, chin up! x

  • Dan

    Inspiring.

  • http://www.soulofashopper.com Soulofashopper

    Definitely!!!! :) love your post! hope this girl gets over that and does what she likes as you did! xo, Alma
    http://www.soulofashopper.com

    • AnouskaPB

      That’s so sweet :)

  • Louise

    Love this post :) I can completely relate.

    The same thing happened to me regarding not getting enough points in the leaving for the course I wanted to do. I then found out the second course I had wanted didn’t recognise Italian as a language ( I was trying to get into travel and tourism which I found very odd).

    I was upset for a few days but picked myself up, applied for a 1 year PLC course in Travel and tourism and I am now in my dream job :)

    • AnouskaPB

      Hey Louise, that’s crazy I can’t believe they didn’t recognize Italian as a language for a Travel & Tourism course!! Ridiculous! But that’s awesome that you’re now in your dream job, well done girl! x

  • https://twitter.com/#!/A_Erna Adeline

    That’s the sweetest post :)
    I learned that too that after a failure, we can always be stronger. I failed at my baccalauréat (kind of A-Level in France), I was so devastated and one of my teacher told me that I was not able to study and that I would never do what I wanted, that was really mean! The next year I finally managed to have better marks and finally got my baccalauréat, I was so happy, and now 3 years later I’m still studying and I really love it. And now I know that if I failed, it’s not the worst thing, so many people who have great jobs around me told me that I happens to anybody and what doesn’t kill us make us stronger.
    And yes, there is still a way to pursue our dreams! :)

    • AnouskaPB

      Hey Adeline, that’s terrible that your teacher said that to you. I used to go to school in France and they said the same to me, they just have a different way of ”motivating” you I guess! At least now you are happy doing what you love :) x

  • http://leblogdecorona.blogspot.com Corona

    Do you read minds now? lolz
    I really appreciate this post, this is like the perfect moment for it since I was unable to figure out what to do with my life and now that I read this, I think I’m gonna follow my dream of becoming an architect !!!

    So, thanks sooooo much for saving my life !
    xxx

    • AnouskaPB

      Haha aww Corona, I’m happy I helped! x

  • http://leblogdecorona.blogspot.com Corona

    Hey, are you in France yet? ‘Cause we’re all waiting for the photos !

  • Elsa

    So nice of you to write that. I received my A-level results this week also. They were horrible but I tried and it wasn’t meant to be. I cried, a few times in the day and felt like uber shit and mostly, it was because all I ever want is for my family to be proud of me and they still are… no one is going to love you less just cause of your grades, neither should yourself. Often, you don’t need grades to do what you love :)

    Luckly, I’m going to London to study fashion photography still… and that is only because they know you only need passion and some skill… I don’t need to know maths etc to take some pictures.

    • AnouskaPB

      That’s awesome Elsa well done! That’s exactly what I thought when I failed maths, but it worked out for the best in the end :) good luck with your course you will love it!

  • http://futuristka.blogspot.com Paula

    You’re totally correct! It’s like that, that whatever happens, in the end it will always be fine, no matter what you’re thinking at the certain moment.

  • http://rightrough.blogspot.ie/ remi

    It s so nice of you to make a post like that,I will sit my Leaving Cert next year,this is like my last year of secondary school and it s so weird cause I have no clue of what I really want to do after,like I still have a vague idea though and then there is all this pressure with studying so I m trying to relax as much as I can in those 2 weeks before the school begins.

    • AnouskaPB

      Hey Remi, I know the feeling, I actually think there is too much pressure on students to know what they want to do with their life right after the Leaving. But don’t worry about it too much, do your best and you will figure what what you want to do in time :) you have your whole life do do what you want! x

  • http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com Eva

    Supersweet post and I can relate to that. Here in the Netherlands we know 3 different levels of high school and college. Wen you’re in the lowest high school level, called VMBO you can after your graduation go to college. Complete this, do one year on the second college level and continue to university. Unfortunately I’m just not made for university so I had to quit my dream to become a veterinary. But at the end of the day I’m much happier in what I do now. I’ve had to choose which way I wanted to go when I was 15 and i’m 28 now. There can change so much in those years. What I want to say is, never stop dreaming and reaching to what you want!

    http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com

  • http://somebrokegirl.blogspot.co.uk Rae

    Really lovely post :) Everyone should read this after results day! I’m going to show this to a few friends to cheer them up, even though they all did great anyway…
    thank you for being so honest and helpful,
    youre so right

    Rae x

    somebrokegirl.blogspot.co.uk

  • GuguN

    This is such an amazing post :D
    I just received my AS level results and I was so devastated, I cried for days, its felt like the end of everything I worked so hard towards. But now I feel a little optimistic about the future because of this saying and your post:
    The past does not equal the future. Because you failed yesterday, or all day today, or a moment ago, or for the last six months, the last sixteen years or the last fifty years of life, doesn’t mean anything… All that matters is, What are you going to do, right now :)

  • Nida

    thank you for such an inspiring post!! i was in complete despair when i failed my exams, i became quite anti-social….but now i feel it was a blessing in disguise!! i happy now with the choices i have made…although i am coping with a lot of new changes.Thanks again:D

  • Andreea

    Heyy !!! I’m writing from Romania ..x I really love yor blog !! What camera are you using for your photos? This post help me a lot x Right now I’m going through the same thing..I graduated high school and I wanted to attend a university in Stomatology but I failed my exam so I didn’t get in…I really don’t know what to do right now..I have to wait another year..The funny thing is that one of my hobbies is photography and I was thinking of attending a photography course but after your post I think this is what I’m going to do…Thank you so much for these words..You really helped me xoxo

    • AnouskaPB

      Thank you for your lovely comment Andreea, I am sorry to hear about you not getting the course you wanted, but I am so happy to hear you want to get into photography too :) You will love it, and if you don’t there are plenty more courses! I’m so happy I helped!! Love x

  • Jessica

    I really needed this post as I’ve done poorly on my GREs (the American exam that you take to get into graduate programs). Thanks for reminding everyone that things go on and will work out.

    • AnouskaPB

      Thank you for your lovely comment Jessica, keep your chin up and you will find your way :) x

  • http://www.thestylenotorious.blogspot.ie/ Jesse May Fisher

    Hey Anouska!!
    I’m trying to get into a similar field. I have just finished one year fashion Industry practice course and I want to study photography next…I’m not entirely sure I’m ready for a 4 year course. Where did you study your one year photography course?

    Jess from The Style Notorious x

    • AnouskaPB

      Hey Jesse, congrats on finishing your fashion industry practice course! Photography is great fun and a wonderful thing to get into – I just did a one year ”PLC” course which is basically like a portfolio course. I did it in Stillorgan College of Further education – bit of a dive, but it’s still a great course! Good luck in your ventures :) x

  • http://stealing-beauty.com Alexa

    I found this post really inspiring. Sometimes, grades aren’t everything. It’s more about what you’ve lived through and what opportunities you come by, also how you take full advantage of them. That might have been a run on sentence, but I had a flush of thoughts come to my head in one moment.
    People get to high places in life because of their drive to get there, a diploma helps, but it guarantees nothing – everyone still has to fight for what they want in life.