Year 13 and fundraising

Year 13 was the best year of my life so far.

I have to admit it was very very challenging. But hey, what is pleasure with out pain?

At the start of the year I knew that I was going to have a lot to manage. However, my two main priorities were studying hard for my A-levels and raising money for Project Trust. The amount I needed was £5,500 just to go and a further £2,000 for various other things such as vaccines . With my priorities set and a plan for fundraising the year started out smoothly. This soon came to a very chaotic end.

I realised that year 13 was not just two things - Fundraising and Studying - it was so much more!

Birthdays - Everyone turns 18 in year 13 so that means clubbing (that takes up at least a day of recovery time)

Work - I had a Saturday job that started at 10 and finished at 6 meaning I got home at 7 - Exhausting.

Friends - funnily enough they like doing things with me.

School - SO MUCH WORK essays, projects, group tasks, research tasks.

Fundraising - Events take up a lot of time and letters that I was sending to Trust funds were not getting any replies.

Wanting to meet up with people that I couldn't took up emotional time in my brain.

I was barely managing to do any of these things well. I was getting tired and I was getting sad. It is hard to describe what it feels like to be worried that you are not going to be able to go on your gap year or even get into university.

On top of this my Abuelo (Grandad) in Chile was really ill with cancer. This meant my dad had to go there for 3 months to look after him and my Abuela (Grandma).

AND on top of that ... my mum got really ill. She could barely move and had to take a large amount of time off work. My sister did not live with us at the time so this meant I was having to also cook, clean and nurse for my mum. Trying to fit in studying meant that I did not have a spare moment to focus on Project Trust and I felt completely swamped and stressed. Luckily for me I am blessed with having amazing friends. One of which cooked one meal a week for me and my mum. This helped a lot!

Eventually my mum got better and my dad returned from Chile. I was able to do less in the house, focus more on my school work and go out and enjoy myself a bit more. However, I still had not received any money from Trusts towards PT. It was at this point that my parents sat down with me and said they did not think that it was likely I would be able to continue with PT. This was absolutely devastating hear especially after I had tried so hard for so long.

The next day I went to speak to my friend Celia who was also doing PT. She told me that she had been having the same problem as I had for a while but it was because the trusts I was sending letters to were redundant. I needed to look further afield. My parents agreed to help me and we spent time readjusting my letter and leaflet to be sent to other types of trusts.

This is a photo of my leaflet.

This seemed to work! Soon the cheques were rolling in and PT was back in eye sight. I decided to scrap fundraising events as they took up too much time and did not produce that much money. This was the only manageable way of getting through it.

So that is how I did it.

Not having to worry about PT meant I was able to spend more time with my friends. This meant my relationships with them flourished. We motivated each other to keep working hard but also had a huge laugh about all of our stresses. We have experienced so many things with each other and honestly the person that I am today is due to them. I respect and love every single one for everything that they are and everything that they do. Each one got amazing A-level results and I could not be more proud!

A-Levels

A-Levels are HARD! They affect you mentally, emotionally and physically. Enough said.

Luckily I got the results needed in order for me to Apply for PPE (Philosophy, politics and Economics)

Year 13 summer was MAD! Lets just say I have enough memories to last me a life time!

Honesty

Okay here it is. My gap year is getting close. With only a few months to go! I can not give justice to how excited I am for it to start. This is partly because I am not a literature student so I can not describe feelings in a way that you could relate to. But take my word for it I am super siked! However, I am also equally scared. It is rather dawnting knowing that as soon as I go my life will be completely different. For 8 months I will be living a whole new life in a whole new place and even when I get back I will be straight off to university to live in a different city with a whole bunch of people I have never met before! I think what scares me the most about it is that I won't have my friends and family to lean on! No Alana Mullins to shout jokey abuse to me when I am feeling sorry for myself and no Freya Smith to pick up all the things I have dropped or left on a bench and no Rachel Bullock to make me keel over with laughter... and no Rosanna Boxall to listen to my worries and interests and discuss everything about everything with. My sister is to me the best and most loving person in the world. She has done so much to support me in everything so living without her will be hard. My parents are wonderful and never fail to make me feel safe or to make me laugh. To me, being without all these people is a very scary thought. BUT my passion to care for others less fortunate than me and my need to see the world spurs me on! Every day I become more grateful and more happy for everyone in my life and every opportunity that is given to me.

Most looking forward to?

The thing that I am most looking forward to at this current moment is meeting my PT partner. Project Trust sends you off with one other person who you will do most things with. I have no idea who they are or what they are like but I am sure they are amazing! They are going need to be if they are going to deal with me for 8 months!

That is all for now! See you after I have done my teacher training course.