The Odyssey

The last two days I've been on a business training course learning how to run my tutoring business more professionally. The course was the story of the trainer’s Odyssey through his entrepreneurial life. Since then I've been thinking about how the lessons I learned, can be applied to A-level Physics students and how they can improve their approach to their exams.

The journey has chapters. The first is get serious…

1. Get serious

You need to know that the very best investment that you can make is in yourself. Anytime spent learning new skills and acquiring new qualifications is time well spent. A level Physics is notoriously difficult. It's considered to be the hardest of all the A-levels. But, that means that possessing an A level in Physics is a fantastic achievement and well worth having,

In order for you to achieve well in A level Physics, you have to properly commit to doing the work necessary. To help you in that aim, you need to set a very clear goal. Most people don't set clear goals in their lives, but A levels is one of the areas where it's very clear, for most of you, what grade you need to get, in order to go on to the university of your choice. So to a large extent your goal is incredibly clear - which is a very good thing.

2. Get excited

“Life is about doing cool things with cool people”. Maybe you have a higher calling, but when I was 17, “cool things with cool people” was a big ambition. This is much easier to achieve if you have good qualifications and many doors are open for you. Look around and you’ll see the world's a bit s***, particularly for young people, So you really need to give yourself the best possible opportunity to do cool things with cool people.

Attitude is everything. If you are excited, interested and positive about life, it's much easier to acquire the enthusiasm necessary to do the work needed to Succeed. So get excited about your future, about what your life might hold, and be happy doing what's necessary to get there.

3. Get Going

Most people are unhappy with their performance in A level Physics, just not unhappy enough to do anything about it. As they say; every journey begins with a single step.

You just have to get started.

So, don't be the person who, instead of sitting down to do their work; goes and gets a cup of tea and then decides to spend time (oh it's only 10 minutes) surfing TikTok, and then decides they need something to eat, and then decides that they are too anxious to settle, so they're going to walk around the block, and then decides, well there's only 10 minutes to lunch, so it's not worth starting until after, and so on...

Don't do this.

Get going.

Do the thing!

4. Get real

Where do you want to be in five years from now? This is a classic job interview question. I'm asking it here, not to be trite, but absolutely seriously. How can you get to the place you want to be in your life without doing your A levels, without getting your degree? You can either make the grade, Or excuses, but not both. Plan your future and then work to get it.

5. Get the right people round you

In the run up to exams, associate only with people who support your ambitions, your focus, your work ethic. Don't associate with people who put pressure on you to compromise your future. I know it's hard, but really you have a choice: You get long-term pain 🤕🤕🤕 (a diminished life) Or short term pain 🤕 (lack of social life in the run-up to your exams).

Which is better?

You decide.

6. Get a proper scorecard

You need to have a way of making sure you are on track. This is what I mean by a scorecard. Yours might be a list of the past papers you have done. But it should really also include time, so a graph would be a very good way to know if you are keeping on track. 2 past papers per week is a good metric.

And finally…

7. Get away

After your exams, plan to get away if you possibly can. You need to learn how to live again. To reflect. To think. To recharge. To read. To escape. You need to be with the people who matter to you. Plan it now and it will give you something to look forward to.

🍀🍀Good luck!🍀🍀