I thought I was under Pressure. Harder Working Students handling more pressure. Lack of Designers.

This is for my youngest daughter Lucy Allen and all the students currently revising for their exams.

I work long hours, I constantly feel under pressure, the work is never ending and I frequently feel sorry for myself. This last week I changed my mind and kicked my self up the ar#e.

On Wednesday night I went to my last ever parents’ evening.

I’ve 5 kids so I’ve been to a fair few of these.

Lucy, in my uneducated opinion, has taken on too many subjects considering the amount of her after school, and out of school activities.

But she will probably prove me wrong, she’s doing well and the proposed grades look promising.

For many reasons, some through no fault of her own, there are a couple of subjects where the proposed grades have dropped slightly and it will take a lot of hard work to attain the grades, she, and more importantly, her teachers want her to achieve.

After listening to 11 teachers, tell her separately, of the importance to work harder to attain higher grades, to go school during the Easter holidays for extra lessons, to plan a revision time table, to revise during the holidays and evenings I was stunned into a reverie.

If we were talking about just one subject, it wouldn’t be a problem.

But this is multiplied by 11. I got the feeling “we are just heaping all this pressure on these kids”

To me it looked overwhelming. I could imagine students going home feeling completely buried and thinking this is impossible.?

I watched her face as she listened to all the teachers and absorbed all this pressure. I watched her walk back to the car with arm full of books, print outs and notes.

I felt sorry for her and all these pupils living under this pressure at such a young age.

?At 15 to 16 I was not like this, if I didn’t like the way things were going, I’d just hitch hike to the Lakes or Scotland and go climbing.

So, how do you all handle this pressure when you have so little life experience?

So, I salute you Lucy Allen, who is sat on the floor on a Saturday night, surrounded by Art Work. With Macbeth to do next. I love reading, but Macbeth?

Probably never said this, Lucy Allen I’m proud of you.

I salute all the students doing exactly the same. I think you are fantastic and if you all survive mentally, the Country is in safe hands. Chapeau.

Subject choices for career.

I have worked with lots of designers during my life and after seeing how hard it is to find good ones, how it’s even harder to keep good ones, I am really happy with her choices, she is hoping to go to 6th form college to study Design.

She would excel in design, imaginative, creative, understands materials and has been machining things for years.

She’s been helping me in the work shop since I can remember, and it’s been great fun.

So Good luck to all you students currently revising, or fervently writing your dissertations.

And, if you do feel overwhelmed by it all, just pick one topic, do a little bit, have a rest and then do a bit of another subject. Not long before you can enjoy a well-earned rest.

#welldonestudents. #littlebitsoften. #bitesizechunks. #carefulwhoyoucallasnowflake #moredesigners #adriankobylarski