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Life after School Risikat -Tanwa Balogun Risikat tells you what life in the big, bad world is all about Many of us can’t wait to leave, to get out of the ‘hell hole’ which we are forced to enter each and everyday – school. With those teachers that you can’t stand, constantly on your back about your homework. To get out into the real world and start earning for yourself some cash, be an independent adult with freedom. ….. But the reality is once most of us leave school we wish we were back there, many won’t say so, but it’s true. Secondary school for many of us was like/is a second home where we chill with our friends, mess about. Secondary school is like our first taste of the adult world and once we’ve had a taste of it we want more. School acts as a guard, which protects us from the adult world. Many students don’t realise how their lives will change after secondary school. They think their life will be the same but they’re wrong. Friendships don’t last, people change and you could find you’re on your own. I’ve just recently school to go to Bromley College to study for a B Tec in media and now that I’ve left I sometimes wish I was back at school. Don’t get me wrong I like going to college, but it’s like it all happened too fast. I’ve only been going to college for a short time and I have already seen the difference between it and school. Teachers (lecturers) are not always on your back to do homework. Or if you don’t go to a lesson on time the teacher won’t wait for you. If you skip a class, teachers won’t provide you with notes so you can catch up. I had to do a lot of growing up to adapt to this environment. School provided us with the walls to guard me from this crazy world and now those walls are not there. Sure you might be thinking that I’m a sort of crack head, who should shut up, but for true, ‘it ain’t easy’ when you go to college your moving into the adult world and will be treated like one. Tamwa’s Top tips to get on at College 1) You need self-discipline 2) You need to adapt to a new environment 3) You need improved communication skills 4) You have to be respectful 5) You need to keep a clear mind Out Of School Katie tells us what it’s like when the school gates are closed to you Back in July, when I was due to be doing my mock exams, friends of mine were pestering me to come back to school because I would have no future. It has now been seven months since I have been out of school. I am now supposed to be in year 11. I never really got on at school. I was always distracted. I did try my best to concentrate but peer pressure to be rude or chat back to teachers got the better of me. Basically I got in with the wrong crowd. Now I wish I’d stayed on at school because during the day I have nothing to do. A typical day is waking up at about 9:30, watching music channels, having a bath, shopping with Mum and going out with mates. I would come in and go to bed around 12.30/1.00 P.M. I would love to get out of this routine but it’s hard because colleges don’t really want to take on kids that should still be at school. It’s either that or a matter of funding. It was at this time that I got involved with connexions (see bottom). I thought I’d found a place to go in Bermondsey called Bosco. It seemed ideal at first but then funding for my place came into consideration. You’d be surprised at how much it costs to pay for a child’s education for a year (£4-6 000). I hope I get the chance to do something with my life up until September when I can go to college because now it looks as if I’ll have no GCSE’s. This could see me ending up in dead end job. I thought staying off of school would be fun but when it hits you that you can't have a future, it’s no laughing matter. Looking back on it all, I’ll have to admit that it has been difficult, but my Mum has been there for me and has supported every decision I’ve had to make. Right now the future is looking brighter than it was in May or June. And I’ll go on from here with hope for the future, to fulfil my ambition of becoming a journalist. Panel I got involved with Connexions so that I could do something during the Summer Holidays. When I decided that I didn't want to go back to school (April 2002), my form tutor at Walworth organised someone to help me with other options that might be open to me. A young woman named Anna Price (PA) came to my house once a week to discuss what I could do with my future. When July came, just after my work experience (at the South London Press), she suggested I joined the Uproject for the summer. The Uproject was based at Bellenden Old School in Peckham. We were put into three groups for three weeks. In those three weeks we made a video, a CD and wrote and acted out a play. Through Anna, I am now trying to get into college or work based training. I am really interested in preferably being a journalist or perhaps a photographer, in fact anything media based. I am now on my way to getting involved with the Peckham's Magazine and maybe also their web site production project. Without Anna's help I wouldn't have had the choices that I have now. I would be sitting at home doing nothing really. By Katie |