TO THE TEENAGER SITTING EXAMS!

Rows of exam desks glare at you and teachers wander up and down isles to ensure your glance doesn't move further than the paper that sits in front of you. The silence of the clock only reminds you that you are being timed. Your head feels overloaded with the information you’ve tried to remember, and facts and figures and dates are all jumbled around messing with your head big time.

It feels so long ago that you could be carefree like those children walking to Primary School who seem to have no worry in the world. They yet have no understanding of what it means to study and you long for the days where school meant ‘Story Time’ at the end of the afternoon session before the bell was to ring. You can barely remember the joy of sitting on cushions on the floor and getting lost in a dreamworld as your teacher softly read each phrase in the book she had chosen for that week. Each day was interspersed by endless 'playtimes’ and the challenge for you was no greater than remembering to sit still on the carpet as your name was called each morning and the register was taken.

But you have just arrived home and there is MORE study to do. Each day is a struggle as you watch siblings and friends carry about their day as though they have no idea of what you are 'going through'. Your phone grabs your attention and then guilt seeps in because the distraction of social media gave you temporary escape - BUT to the detriment of lost revision time. You get up and pace your room and get distracted again until your head convinces you that the books that lie open on your bed will not go away. OVERWHELM hits as you glance around at the variety of subjects calling your name and you realise there is not actually enough time before the exam to remember all you need to know, let alone learn those things you never grasped in the first place.

As loneliness and isolation and fatigue strike….YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Here at TEENAGE TOOLBOX we UNDERSTAND how unfair it all seems. We know this time is hard. We are standing beside you, encouraging you on and believing in YOU, even when you don’t.

And why would we do that?

Because we know that you have an AMAZING PLAN AND DESTINY AHEAD OF YOU and NOTHING can stop that. Not exams. Not lack of revision. Not the fact that others do better than you nor the fact you you ‘could have done better’.

Here at TEENAGE TOOLBOX we know there is not one direct path in life but we see each road as a series of ‘Stepping Stones’ that need to be crossed. ‘Difficult stones’, ‘easy stones’, ‘successful stones’ and ‘failure stones. BUT NOT ONE STONE IS MORE IMPORTANT THEN THE OTHER because each and every stone will take you to your DESTINY.

This small exam stepping stone right now SEEMS MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING, AND WHILE YOU ARE ON IT IS! It will however soon pass, and so as you struggle today KNOW there is another ‘stepping stone’ just a little way ahead and soon you will be released from the pressure you are under right now.

There is a ‘JOY stone’ ahead and you will be there soon!

TASK FOR THE DAY:

Mark on a calendar or chart a list of days until the end of the exams.

Each day cross one off and CELEBRATE that there is ONE LESS DAY TO GO!

It’s COUNTDOWN………