I Flunked My A Levels. Here’s What I Did Afterwards.
BY ARINA RAUF
Besides being a date which is both a palindrome and an anagram, 22/02/2022 also marked an important day for many students – the release of A Level results. You might have heard of many heartwarming stories about candidates overcoming adversities and achieving stellar results, or national athletes who managed to juggle their sporting commitments with their studies and doing well.
Similarly, ETG’s Class of 2021 had about 80% As for students taking group classes, and 100% As for students taking 1-1 classes. It’s a crazy statistic – most tuition centres report 80% As and Bs which is already impressive on its own – yet our graduating batch of students who started and ended their JC education journey during the COVID-19 pandemic managed to do exceptionally well!
But behind every success story, there are also those who did not quite make it – like me. This blogpost is a message (and advice) for such students who feel down and don’t know what to do or where to go from here on.
Self-reflect. But don’t beat yourself up.
I vaguely remember rushing down from work to collect my less-than-spectacular results and having to rush back afterwards. This turned out to be a good thing as I didn’t need to stay and chit chat with friends or teachers and could cry on my way back to work (not kidding). Being disappointed in myself was the least of my worries – I didn’t know how to face my parents and my (private) tutor. But after taking a few days and letting it all out, I had to move on and consider my options. Pro tip: It is also important for your mental health to tell yourself that really, grades are not everything.
What next?
Unknowingly to me at that time, I had to exercise some form of rational decision making.
Should I apply for a course in a local university which I qualified for but had no interest, knowledge, or skill in? And perhaps switch halfway? (In my case, it was Engineering. To switch, you’ll have to do well in the first semester/year and it is also subject to vacancies.)
Or should I bite the metaphorical bullet that is the disapproval and/or negative perception of many (some people still do look down on private university degrees) and apply for a course in a private university which I liked and was good at? (Economics and General Paper were my best subjects.)
How about retaking A Levels? (My subject combination was 4H2 – ELL, Chemistry, Mathematics and Economics. Tough luck finding support for those when my parents weren’t the kind who could or would spend on tuition. Besides, I did not want to go through the horrors of A Levels again, ever.)
Or taking a gap year and gaining some work experience? (Believe it or not, I wanted to sign on and even went for the MINDEF Experiential Programme.)
In the end, I went for the second option, given my interests and benefits. It might be different for you, and I know of my peers who chose the other three options as well. Personally, my decision was based on the reasoning that I would find a job that I liked (higher utility) after graduation, and I did not want to waste my time (opportunity cost!) relearning the same things which had no additional benefit beyond tertiary level (again, higher utility). Of course, I had to forgo certain things like a hall experience, larger-scale orientation, government subsidies and old friends.
Your decisions also have repercussions – or unintended consequences – which you should account for. In my case, enrolling into a private degree programme meant self-funding my entire course of study (monetary costs), which then meant juggling between working and studying (non-monetary costs in the form of limited time for other activities, sacrificing health and sleep). Unexpectedly, I also found a flair for marketing and publications besides enjoying Economics on a deeper level (everything I’m doing now)!
In hindsight
It’s been exactly six years since I was in your shoes and if I could, I would tell my past self that everything would work out in the end. It may not be a conventional, fairytale ending, but I wouldn’t have chosen my post-JC journey any differently. Ultimately, take this time to really find yourself and find out what you truly want in life, do your research (reduce information failure) and talk to people around you before making your final decision!
P.S. If you’re looking for part-time employment, ETG is actively hiring flyer distributors! Simply drop us a message or reach out to us on social media!