Student Success - the fallacy.
In 2018 I finished my A-Levels after a gruelling two years of hard work, stress, determination, failure and result.
I achieved A*AA. Pretty good right?
I can sit here and type a load of nonsense about how I got here, what I did to achieve those grades, why I am so great at education etc.
But that’s not why I am telling this story. I am here to show you how inspiration changed my education.
2016 —Year 12
I’ll never forget the moment I got into my dream sixth form. After ridiculous rounds of bullying growing up, I was eager to leave the school I was at, for a fresh start closer to home but still - somewhere new.
It was a chance for me to start over and by God did I take it.
Despite the hardship I faced in school, I always loved education. Those lightbulb moments that you get when you learn something new and think “ah, that’s actually pretty cool” were one of the only things that got me through my time in secondary. I knew that by moving to my new school, I would (hopefully) have many more lightbulb moments.
Not only was my brain fully exercised with the increase in workload, teaching and subject matter, but I realised that I just had to move on from what had happened and allow myself to be excited by education again. This is a story of how I took the best and dumped the rest.
“A story of how I took the best and dumped the rest”
It was an adjustment, it was a grammar school and I loved the work ethic I was surrounded by. My class-mates knew what they wanted and simply went for it. It was inspiring. As an all-girls school, it was amazing to be surrounded by so many ambitious young women with hopes that I would soon become one of them.
This hope was eagerly sought to become a reality. I was thrown into work (literally) and confronted with the realities of my academic capabilities.
It was a shock to only be receiving D’s and C’s during year 12. With the knowledge that I was constantly working towards my predicted grades, I felt threatened by the possibility of not making it.
But I did…eventually.
2017 — Year 13
Year 13! What a time that was.
Work, work, work - not the Rihanna song as such (though a classic at the time) - it was my daily life. Admittedly, I’ve always been a hard worker (thanks Mum and Dad for that). From a young age, I was inspired by my parents’ determination and the results of their continued commitment to themselves and their work.
My dad, having emigrated from South Africa in the 90s (forgive me I don’t know the date), started his own business pretty soon after and today, runs a really successful cyber-security business. Why this matters is that, though I never imagined running a business myself, he showed me the time and commitment it took to do well at..basically anything.
Thing is, despite my efforts, I still wasn’t improving as I wanted to in Year 13. I was continually getting B’s and C’s in English - my favourite subject. Oh I loved english, I genuinely fan-girled over Shakespeare, Keats, Plath and all the other amazing literary pioneers of their time. My teachers aided that passion, if not were the foundations of it.
Miss Afnan, if you ever read this - you rock and are the reason WeAre Education came to be. This power-house of a woman literally transformed my educational experience. She is what I would deem a ‘inspiration education’ mentor. She allowed me to nerd out on the different contexts and literary works that we did in class and started insightful discussions in class that I fed off. This time, in her class, really did cement my passion for education. She will always have my thanks…and my apologies, for being the biggest literary fan nuisance in class.
These AMAZING teachers of mine helped me far beyond what they had time for. I was relentless, at the end of class I’d ask for a quick summary of why my essays were so shocking and what I could do to reach that A. They were always helpful, until I had one teacher that said:
“Fleur you really should aim your sights a bit lower for university, you probably won’t get higher than a B”
Read that again and think what 18 year old Fleur may have felt, scratch that, ANY STUDENT.
It destroyed me. I dreamt of getting into Warwick University (since I was 15) and thought “well, thats it for me then”.
After kinder words from my other legendary teachers, head of english and friends, I took the best and dumped the rest. I did not allow the comments of one teacher to impact my ability to be excited and inspired about my education.
Sometimes in life, you have to look back and credit yourself on things. If I could speak to my teenage self in 2018, I’d praise her for not letting that comment push me back but rather, push me forward.
The picture you see above is me, on Senior Speech Day in 2018, having been given the English Award.
Though my foundation was definitely not my shade, the denim jacket far too informal for said event and my eyelashes not particularly glued on properly - this was one of the best days of my life. It was a material testament to inspiration education - something I wish all students in every school and in every class around the world would receive.
Why was it the best day of my life you might ask? Because it led to this.
Cue inspirational video….
So, what is student success?
Is it:
• always getting good grades?
• impressing your teachers?
• getting into your top university choices?
• flying through school?
Yes, but its other things too.
To me, its:
• achieving small, consistent goals throughout an academic journey
• feeling confident in yourself when working on academic tasks
• knowing when to ask for help and not being ashamed about it (because why would you! Your educators are there to help!)
• achieving your OWN career and academic goals (not those that society tells you to)
• knowing that setbacks are normal and to be consistent through them
• at the end of it, looking back on your journey so far and being proud of the person you have become.
Confidence is such an integral part of learning. Student's have to first and foremost believe in THEMSELVES before they can believe in their ability. Inspiration education does that, it gives students the ‘know how’ for school, but the ‘I know I can’ for themselves.
One of my favourite quotes is:
"With realisation of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world" - The Dalai Lama.
So, this is why WeAre Education came to be.
My educational journey was filled with self-doubt, failure, trying and trying again. But, having my educators make me believe in myself changed my life. It got me two degrees, three A-Levels and now, a thriving business that focuses on putting the inspiration back in education.
