Elise Paramore

Admittedly, I should be working on assignments but instead I'm writing this post. There has always been an emphasis on reflection throughout my education, and this is a result of that. 2019 has been a strange year for me. I have had some of the most amazing memories, with some of the best people but then had some of my lowest points which I have had to pick myself up from, and soldier on. This year has taught me that life isn't always the happy-go-lucky entity that it appears to be, and that everything that you want to achieve you have to give your all into. On reflection, I have begun to understand even more who I am and want to be as a person, and that life throws you challenges to learn from, and become even better. Anyone who knows me on a personal level will understand the event that caused this realisation. It sucked at the time however, I've come back stronger and more appreciative of the people around me, their support and encouragement that has boosted me to ke...

As of today, I officially have only 1 GCSE exam left to sit. I can't believe I am actually able to say (type) that. Just over a month ago, I sat my first exam. One of twenty (although I technically have twenty-one in total, as I had a practical drama exam), and now I have completed nineteen out of those twenty. That is an unbelievable thought. And if you had asked me a month ago, how was I feeling, I would have told you that I was so nervous and stressed. Ask me now, I still feel like it isn't real. The whole exam process is bazaar. You spend two years learning content, exam technique and how to apply that knowledge. Then you spend weeks revising that content. And then you have a half an hour pep-talk, recapping two years of content. And then you sit an exam. And that's it. Totally finished. All in the space of a few hours. I personally find this whole process so crazy. It's an unfair reflection of ones abilities and mental capacity. For some people, including me, exa...

I've been thinking a lot recently about this. Does putting in work and effort get you results? There are obvious things such as exercise, where you'll get results if you work out frequently but there are some things which make me wonder. For example, relationships. Now I am no expert in any way, but I've had a little bit of experience in this area. So in the majority of relationships, two people will work along side each other to have a relationship. Makes sense, right? So why is it that putting in effort in this case, doesn't always get a good result. You could try and try and try to make things right, or keep happy but sometimes it doesn't work. And I guess you could argue that it is just fate and what will be will be but the amount of effort that people put into these things for them just to go away is so hard to accept. There are many occasions where I've put in effort and have gotten results. Occasions such as mock tests where I've revised and I...

Expectations. Something that we all have or have set against us. I'm at the point in my life where my expectations are incredibly important. Expectations of what I need to achieve to get to college, what I expect from the colleges that I am looking at and the expectations of the people around me. Whilst I feel like I am able to cope with the pressures and expectations of the people around me, I struggle with not living up to my own expectations. We expect so much of ourselves that when we fail we are impacted more by what we think rather than what the people around us expect. I suppose that we have grown accustomed to pressure and just feel bad when we don't live up to our own expectations. I believe that we have our own expectations, for our own personal reasons. But I also believe that we should lessen the extent of the pressure we force ourselves and the people around us under. Expectations are there for a reason however I personally believe that I should think about the...

We make choices everyday. Whether they are the little things, like what drink am I going to have with my lunch or how should I do my hair or the substantial things such as how you choose to react to a situation which could so easily be escalated. There are other types of choices to which influence our futures and can change the course of what we want to do and what we actually do. This next week I make some very important choices which will influence my future. Today I had to take some headshots ready for an entry workshop which I will be doing later on in the week and it made me think that the decisions that I am about to make, will influence everything about me. Whether I go onto study performing arts full time or whether I go to a normal college and do A levels. Whether I stay with my friends in my comfort zone or whether I step out of that zone and meet new people. I think that these decisions are so important but at the same time we shouldn't sweat it. I personally am lucky ...

We've said goodbye to another year and welcomed in 2016. A new year, a new me? Not the approach that I am taking. I'm sitting here in a messy room, drinking Fanta and wondering what the next 366 days are going to bring. I believe that this year is going to be one of moving on and making big changes that will influence the course of my life. But it will also have those days where it's just normal life. The day-to-day doings that everyone will do the vast majority of the year. I didn't want to set any resolutions this year. I always find that by the end of January I've broken them or realised that what I want to do is far to unrealistic for what I can do considering that I am a teenager and I have little means of transport or finance. But what I do want to do this year is make the right choice. Or at least the choice that I believe will positively impact on my life and the lives of the people who have to deal with me. I have some very crucial decisions to make thi...