It has all come to an end. The 5 years that are known to be dramatic, developing or even dangerous – they have all come to an end. From waking up early in the morning for school to spending long hours in school to hanging out with friends to doing homework to revising to texting friends to bantering with teachers, secondary school can be chaotic. However, if you top that off with a pandemic, several lockdowns and numerous tests, it can get even harder. But we came out and realised that we can survive in the hardest of times, which gives hope for the future.

Today, which is Friday 7th May 2021, was my last day of formal education in secondary school which essentially means my last day having lessons with my whole year group in school. From next week, In Sha Allah, I will be starting my exams while on study leave.

In this article, I will write a somewhat unfiltered memoir of the last day of secondary school, some motivation for the exam season and some parting words.

My Last Day of Formal Education:

When I reached school, I hung out with my friends in form time. All of a sudden, I saw some individuals start to take out a seperate school shirt from the one they were wearing and pass it around to their friends for them to sign. As you can see from the photo above, I did the same and I started signing shirts. 

My first lesson Geography consisted of doing some work and hearing the roaring excitement from girls around me (I do go to an all-girls school after all). The second lesson Spanish had the same effect – everyone ran around signing shirts until the assistant headteacher had to tell everyone to calm down.

After chatting on break with my friends, I tripsed to science where no one did any revision whatsoever and instead indulged in taking photos and signing shirts. It was an overwhelming experience to ask for signatures and to also write inside jokes on others’ shirts and yearbooks.

My last porper lesson of secondary school was actually PE. We played a game and then rushed out for lunch to do – you guessed it – more signing shirts.

At 1:30pm, we rushed to maths, grabbed some worksheets (we do have exams after all) and walked to the hall for our end of year assembly, with some parting words from the staff. 

In the last 40 minutes, everyone spent time together with their shirts and I took some photos with my friends.

It was emotional, reflective and a learning experience.

Exams Next Week:

Next week is, In Sha Allah, exams. I have exams for about three weeks, all from multiple subjects.

This year has been detrimental to everyone’s grades, but I am proud that we have still reached here. All you could give was your best during a global pandemic so work hard but don’t beat yourself up about it. I want to prioritise my mental health, pray to God, revise and wish for the best.

Remember to talk to people if you require help.

Try to revise every day because little and often is better than nothing.

Journal – it helps to bring clarity to your thoughts.

Smile more often – be grateful you are still alive in this chaotic world.

Pray to God – He is the One who can make or break you.

And remember, work hard but these grades don’t define you

Thank you so much for reading today’s article. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it. 

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Thank you again for reading, and have a lovely day!