A letter to my 18-year-old self

This morning, thousands of 18-year-olds opened an envelope containing what is possibly one of the most daunting pieces of paper they will ever read. The feeling when finding out ones grades on A-Level results day will vary vastly from person to person. From joy and excitement, to disappointment and sadness, and in some cases, a feeling of being lost. Speaking from experience, I'd know.

And so ten years on from receiving my own A-Level results, I decided to write a letter to my 18 year old self, in the hope that it can provide some guidance and relief, to those who for today, maybe didn't quite go as planned...

Dear 18-year-old Will,

It's Thursday the 16th of August, 2007. You're about to find out the results of all these years of hard work. This is it, the end of your school career, and the start of the next stage of your life. What's printed on the paper you hold, will decide your future. It will determine where you spend the next 3 years, your job chances, and whether or not you get to go to uni with your girlfriend.

Okay, it may influence one more than the other two in the long run, but I won't tell you which.

Before you open the envelope, I want you to remember one thing - this isn't it. Yes, the results you get today may determine your immediate future, but they won't determine everything.

So... How'd you do?

You messed up didn't you? You didn't get the results you'd hoped for, far from it in-fact.

You've let people down! You've failed! You wasted the last 2 years! You've screwed up your chances of ever getting a good job!

Yep, people will say all of that, and more. All whilst watching your friends and school mates celebrate and pose for photos, grinning from ear-to-ear, whilst discussing the societies and clubs they'll be a part of at university. It's pretty hard to swallow.

Well guess what, there's some good news... you haven't. You haven't failed, you haven't screwed up your chances, and you've not wasted your opportunity. Yes, these may not be the results you wanted, or the ones people expected, but sometimes things don't go the way you want, and you may have to take a different path to the one you'd planned on.

You're still going to go to university, and whilst it's not that top 10 one you had as your first choice, it's still a damn good institution, in a great city, and after all, what you'll soon learn is that university and your life from here on in is what you make it, so be proud of where you're going.

Don't spend the rest of the evening stressing. Take a breath, and enjoy yourself. Go out with you friends, and celebrate the end of school, and the beginning of a new chapter in your life. Celebrate your friends success, and look back on all the great things you've done over the last 13 years in school.

Actually, these results will make you more determined than ever to get that great job, that life changing experience, and to live in the city you've always wanted to. This could actually be a, dare I say it, positive thing.

Over the next few years, what you'll realise, is that those results are not the end of the world. Sure, things may not be as easy, and you may send in job applications where you're immediately rejected because you don't have AAB. My answer to that? If you're rejected because of three letters, it's not the job for you.

You were always told at school that you had a great personality, were incredibly likeable, and when you put your mind to something, did and incredible job. You always put your hand up, and wanted to get involved, and you were never short of a bit of confidence and ambition. Bear this in mind when in a few years, you go for a final interview for an internship at IBM, and the hiring manager sitting across from you asks, "So tell me about your A-Levels. What on earth happened there?!".

It'll be the question you were dreading. The one you've managed to avoid throughout the whole interview process to date, and now it's come up. Typical. Well guess what? Be honest. It's the best thing you can do, and there is nothing they will appreciate more than seeing your true-self come out. Do this, and you'll get the gig.

You won't know it at the time, but this work experience will really shape your future work life. Work experience like this is one of the most valuable things anyone can have, so make the most of it.

You'll finish uni, and be amazed at what you've achieved at the end of it. But then the real hard work will start - getting that first 'proper' job. The same hard work that would have started had you decided not to go to university, which as a side note, I don't necessarily think is always the wrong decision to make. One day you'll understand that when you see the sheer number of successful people who didn't go, or in some cases dropped out along the way.

Now here's the secret I'm going to tell you... at this point, when looking for that job and deciding upon your future, your A-Level results aren't everything. I know, right? Madness. What's going to get you that dream job, is a combination of a great number of things; enthusiasm, aptitude, understanding, and personality, just to name a few. In other words - you.

There's an old saying you'll learn later in life, and that is that people buy from people. Well guess what, people hire people too. They hire because you're a good fit for a company, because you have the right attitude, because you're ambitious, and because you think differently. They hire because of your values, and your ability to do the job you're applying for. Not just because of a set of exam results.

Education is an amazing thing, but you A-Levels are just a part of that. Later in life, you'll have the chance to further your education in work, with courses and programmes that are tailored to you and your career path. You'll find that education so much more relevant and personal, when you choose to do it at your own time in life.

So yes, you may have not got what you wanted today, but eventually you will. It may just go a little differently to everyone else. But don't worry, you're going to have a great time doing it, and it's all going to work out in the end.

Probably better than you think right now.

Now go and have that beer. You've earned it.

-Will

*views here are my own, and do not necessarily represent that of my current, or any past employers.