Thank you google for these cute photos!

So I know in Brunei, the results for the GCE 'O' Level and 'A' Level were out last Saturday and of course there were mixed emotions regarding to this - some were happy but some were otherwise. It took a while for the results to be out too and I know the anxious feeling waiting for your results especially when you've worked hard for it (or because you know you didn't do well) but regardless, waiting for results is energy draining.

To the lot that received amazing results, congratulations to you guys! I’m sure you guys worked your bums off for that and I am genuinely happy for the outcome. Although, to those who didn’t score as well as they hoped – here I am telling you that, this is not the end of the world. We all know how hard you worked but still get the same results? It’s heart breaking but hey, giving up is not an option. If you think that I don’t know what you must be going through then you are wrong.

During my A Levels, I yolo-ed and took subjects that I didn’t have backgrounds at; they were Business Studies and even worse, Accounting. I took Geography and Malay Literature as my optional subjects in high school and for me to jump to the business world; well, all of it were alien to me. I still remembered the day we had to choose subjects for A Level, we were asked to go around and ask for permission from the head of department (or the teachers available that time) of our preferred subjects if we can take the subjects or not.

The Business Studies teacher was kind enough to cut me some slack despite me not knowing anything about business then but the Accounting teacher almost didn’t give me the slot as she said it would be too hard for me and she doesn’t think I’ll be able to do it. I know her intentions were good but what she said made me want to prove everything wrong, even I, someone who doesn’t know anything in accounting, can do it.

The first few months of studying Business Studies and Accounting were awful – I spent my break and lunch time studying and revising for the two subjects. I even texted my friend almost every night to help me with accounting and I’m sure she got really annoyed hehe. All my classmates were very helpful too!

Fast forward to AS exam in June; I was devastated to see bad results for both Business Studies and Accounting after studying my bum off. I almost gave up but as I said, giving up is never an option for me, regardless in anything. So I kept studying, revising, and revising again day by day; I even went to tuition classes for accounting just for the extra revision. My tutor gave me A LOT of past year papers to study/revise from. I don’t remember going out as often when it was close to the exam dates BUT I’d like to advise all of you, please take a day or two to breathe from all your studying, you’ll thank yourself for it.

Anyhow, come results day, I was utterly shocked seeing my results especially in Accounting. It jumped from an E for June AS to a B for my A-Level. Yep, I’m not even kidding. (Note: This is not me bragging, it is merely a statement).

The point is, I want to tell everyone who is currently demotivated due to their results last week, to not give up, ever! I want everyone to keep working hard and giving it their best. It may be hard now but once it’s over, I want you to not have any regrets despite the results. I want at the end of the day, even if it’s not the result you want, you’d go “Well that’s ok, I tried, maybe it’s just not for me” than to say “I regret not studying hard enough!”. 

This might be cliché but nothing is impossible; you still have time to work for it, you still have time to push your grades up. Don’t let your results now demotivate you and please, please don’t compare yourself to others. I know it’s hard not to but it’ll just make you feel crappy and we don’t want that. Aspire to be like them instead of being bitter that they got amazing results. Make them as your motivation instead; if they can do it, you can too!

I know this is somewhat a long post but please don’t give up. It breaks my heart to know that every one of you, who has the potential to go far is giving up NOW because of these results. These results don’t determine your intelligence, remember that too. The world is big; it’ll find a place for all of us. So please keep working hard and do it at your own pace. As Liyana’s post last time, you do you. Don’t let anyone or anything demotivate you, everyone has a bright future ahead of them if you strive hard enough.

I wish you all the best for the future. Not just for the ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level students but to each and every one of you. Don’t give up easily, life is hard, life sucks, we all know that but dance in the rain instead of waiting for it to pass. The feeling of seeing the rainbow at the end is truly indescribable, it’ll be worth it guys.