Higher Photography | My Final Images

After months of literal blood sweat and tears, back in May I finally completed my Higher Photography portfolio. I'd seen the standard of some of some of the portfolios that had previously failed, they were incredible! So, as I'm sure you can imagine, I was beyond stressed about how I'd get on.

But it turns out that all my worry was for nothing, as last Tuesday (9th August) I got my results! I got a B in Higher Photography! So I've decided to share my photos with you- my theme was Travel and I really hope you enjoy this post!

These photos were taken at a variety of locations, including Newcastle, Edinburgh and my hometown of Hawick. Again, I hope you enjoyed this post- if you're keen on photography and are considering taking it as a course at any level- do it! I picked up so many new skills and tips from this, so don't hesitate!

Results Day

So as a Scottish student, I received my exam results on Tuesday last week. I'm aware that a lot more results are being revealed in the coming days, so I just wanted to do a mini post to bring together my advice for this stressful time.

-Despite common perception, exam results really don't have to define your entire life! Where there's a will there's a way, and I can almost guarantee that no matter what that piece of paper says, if you want it bad enough, you WILL get to where you want to be in life!

-Don't stress over what other people will think. It's natural for parents, teachers and peers to want you to succeed, but no matter how things go they will always be willing to support you.

-Speak to people if you have queries about the aftermath of your results. Your teachers and parents will always be keen to help you! You can also contact universities etc directly- most will have a specific hotline or email address for results day. Check their websites for more details.

-Don't be afraid to use clearing. Last year, 1/8 of people accepted into universities got their place this way. It's not a subject I'm totally aware on, so if it applies to you, I'd recommend checking UCAS website.

-Ensure you get some sleep! It's inevitable that stress will make it hard to get a full nights rest, but regardless of how it goes, results day takes a physical and emotional toll on us all!

-Above and beyond all of these, remember to think positive, be positive- and positive things will happen! I can't reiterate enough the fact that results don't define your whole life- there's always another doorway to success!

Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln- what do all these 'household names' have in common?
All 4(and countless more) had a rough road to success, overcoming many obstacles to get to where they wanted.

So, never give up, and in the words of Dory, just keep swimming!

Mid-Year Review | How's My Life Going?

So as a few of you may remember, I did a post back in January about what I hoped to achieve this year.

I decided to take this opportunity to reflect on these aims, and see how I've come along over the last few months!

My first goal was to become more confident. This is quite a tough thing to evaluate as I don't think I'll be ever someone with complete confidence, however now that I've sat back and thought about everything I've done this year, I'm really happy to say that my confidence has grown slightly! I think the key to achieving this is just always believing in yourself and always trying to have a positive outlook on life.

Another goal was to see NCL Richard Squad more often. Unfortunately this hasn't really happened as we all have a lot of commitments, but this just means that when we do manage to see each other, it's even more special.

My third goal was to become more healthy, and, as expected, chocolate won this battle. I managed to eat healthily for about a month before resorting to good old mars bars. There's always next year, right?

I also aimed to read more books. This has definitely been achieved, and I've read such a wide variety of fiction books! I think my favourites would have to be Behind Closed Doors and Me Before You.

One of my main goals was to see Brad as much as I could. This happened in a bit of a whirlwind, as I met the boys 4 times in the space of 5 days back in April, but I haven't met them since, and don't have anything guaranteed for the rest of the year. I'm being optimistic about Fusion Festival and the possibility of book signings though- and you should too!

I aimed to start to use a better routine for my hair and my skin, which I've half achieved. I've become much better at looking after my skin, using a good routine every morning and evening. This particularly helped at exam time, preventing any major stress related breakouts. I'm still working on the hair routine though- any tips would be welcome!

Probably the most exciting thing I've achieved is finally getting myself a part time job. I'm really happy about this as it's something I didn't think I'd achieve, but now I have I can finally have some money to buy myself the things I want.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to find any work experience in media, because any time I contact somewhere, they tell me I need to have had experience.I mean where's the logic, I need experience to get experience?!

I've managed to improve ever so slightly on guitar, using the little free time I have to teach myself some new chords. Here's hoping that by the end of the year I'll have come even further!

Now, exam results are something that terrifies the best of us. The lead up to results day was quite possibly the most stressful time EVER, But, it turns out I was stressed for no reason, because I received far better grades than I'd ever expected. They may not have been 'the best of the best', but that wasn't what I aimed for, I wanted grades that made ME happy- and that's what I got!


So that's how my 2016 has gone so far. I'm proud of myself for how far I've come. I really hope that by the end of the year I'll have achieved even more. I'm also going to do my best to get into more of a pattern for uploading to my blog- whether or not that happens is something that only time will tell!