Well, I was great at science at GCSE, it was a piece if p1ss. Then I got to A-level and for some reason I just couldn't get it. I tried hard (OK, maybe not as hard as I could have) and nothing seemed to sink in. I barely scraped into university but when I got there it all started to sink in, especially in my final year. So, all I'm saying is, enthusiasm is the most important thing, so keep at it

I have some sciency conversatios with Mickey and apparently he even learnt a bit of Russian or something. Maybe he's one of the few v.gifted people good at both. Lucky bugger.

Actually Mickey, what is your job? Is it sciency?

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I have some sciency conversatios with Mickey and apparently he even learnt a bit of Russian or something. Maybe he's one of the few v.gifted people good at both. Lucky bugger.

No, I just kept trying to learn Russian. And half a dozen other languages, because it looked like fun. Never actually successfully learnt any of them though! I think it's safe to say that languages are not my thing.

Think it helps if you learn one at a time

GCSE science has been easy, it's just that I don't want to go into anything medicine related after spending so much time in hospitals, and nothing else in science really interests me. I love being able to travel and talk to people, so I really enjoy languages. Maths is great too, I love the way everything always has a right answer.

Maybe you just haven't been given enough suggestions. Science is sooooo massive. When you're a bit older you could do VSO work (volunteer work overseas) where you can live anywhere in the world. My mate did environmental science with 3rd world politics at uni so she can work with communities to help them have a less harmfull, more sustainable (that's more ecofriendly to you) impact on the environment. She's learnt a couple of local Zambian dialects, etc. That's just an example. You can do anything you want with VSO, they just want willing hands. Good way to travel and work if you need to get experience. That's just one thing. When you're young, and hell, even at the stage I'm at now, the hardest thing is finding ideas of what you can do with yourself.

I'm finding GCSE Science(s) really difficult. Perhaps I'm just thick. I also have the problem in knowing too many people who are good at both - so annoying!

You are not thick. It'll click, especially if you can find the right book, or get the right person to explain certain things to you. Eventually it'll just click into place. At the end of the day, if you're not destined for science, fine. That's not the end of the world. But don't go telling yourself you're thick.

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But don't go telling yourself you're thick.

Too late!

I've tried and tried and tried so many times to grasp the various concepts, especially in Chemistry, and I find myself becoming more and more frustrated each time. I don't know why electrons want to share with one another; I don't know how to draw covalent or ionic bonding properly; it does still take me ages to balance equations properly. And then, when I look at everyone else around me, in my science group, getting it, I just find it worrying! Why can't I grasp it, too?!

Thankyou, though.

Maybe you're just not meant to be a chemist. I wasn't great at it myself, at least at GCSE level. Part of it was the teacher - we'd all trail out of chemistry and into physics, and spend the first ten minutes of physics getting the chemistry lesson explained to us. Plus if you're not interested, especially, it's not going to come all that easily. Don't worry about it. Pass the exam, that's all that counts. Alternatively, stroll through Amazon and find some good chemistry books that explain these things properly, and then read them. You'd be surprised how much sense it'll make then.

It's passing the exam I worry about. We have a reasonably good teacher, in the sense that she knows what she's talking about, but she's also incredibly scary and she talks too quickly. Because we're ''top set'' she also believes that we should all be able to do it just like that. Argh. And chemistry doesn't even make sense!

I was the same with my A levels, it just didn't click, I totally bombed and got an N in Chemistry , but look at me now, got a 2:1 in my degree, finished a Masters. You're not supposed to be good at everything, even if you're only good at one thing that's fine. Some people are terrible at school but when it comes to doing practical things like fixing a car or carpentry they're a genius. Who cares what they got at their GCSE's! It doesn't make them thick, it makes them good with their hands. I'd rather be able to fix a car than balance a chemistry equation.

I was in top set for maths with my mate and near the end they said, "Right, you're going to get a B, you can stay here and do it the hard way or move down a group and do it the easy way". Guess which one we chose? It was so much better, a lot more relaxed. What you have to ask yourself is, why haven't your teachers spotted you struggling and moved you to a more suitable group, not whether you'll pass or not. Suppose it's too late now as you're already sitting/have sat the exam but they should have had a chat with you sooner.

You're probably just one of those people that stress before they get their resluts and actually you'll be fine. We'll soon see.

I was the same with my A levels, it just didn't click, I totally failed and got an N in Chemistry , but look at me now, got a 2:1 in my degree, finished a Masters. You're not supposed to be good at everything, even if you're only good at one thing that's fine. Some people are terrible at school but when it comes to doing practical things like fixing a car or carpentry they're a genius. Who cares what they got at their GCSE's! It doesn't make them thick, it makes them good with their hands. I'd rather be able to fix a car than balance a chemistry equation.

I was in top set for maths with my mate and near the end they said, "Right, you're going to get a B, you can stay here and do it the hard way or move down a group and do it the easy way". Guess which one we chose? It was so much better, a lot more relaxed. What you have to ask yourself is, why haven't your teachers spotted you struggling and moved you to a more suitable group, not whether you'll pass or not. Suppose it's too late now as you're already sitting/have sat the exam but they should have had a chat with you sooner.

You're probably just one of those people that stress before they get their resluts and actually you'll be fine. We'll soon see.

I was the same with my A levels, it just didn't click, I totally failed and got an N in Chemistry, but look at me now, got a 2:1 in my degree, finished a Masters. You're not supposed to be good at everything, even if you're only good at one thing that's fine. Some people are terrible at school but when it comes to doing practical things like fixing a car or carpentry they're a genius. Who cares what they got at their GCSE's! It doesn't make them thick, it makes them good with their hands. I'd rather be able to fix a car than balance a chemistry equation.

I was in top set for maths with my mate and near the end they said, "Right, you're going to get a B, you can stay here and do it the hard way or move down a group and do it the easy way". Guess which one we chose? It was so much better, a lot more relaxed. What you have to ask yourself is, why haven't your teachers spotted you struggling and moved you to a more suitable group, not whether you'll pass or not. Suppose it's too late now as you're already sitting/have sat the exam but they should have had a chat with you sooner.

You're probably just one of those people that stress before they get their resluts and actually you'll be fine. We'll soon see.

I hope so. I dunno about the teachers not noticing, to be honest. My science teachers don't actually bother with reports, they just give us a sheet of paper, tell us to write our next steps, and then leave it at that. I'm in my first year of GCSE's and we're doing the modular tests - all but two I've already done, getting three C's and one B.

I was all set to talk to my Physics teacher about the coursework too, but alas, he wasn't there today and I couldn't find him!

on the topic of books - im reading a burry/angel book called heat and its really good

Never really got into the buffy/angel books, even though in general I like vampire fiction.

Well Becky, if you're in your first year of GCSE's you can change sets no problem, and if your teachers aren't willing to take your education in hand then you'll just have to do it. Have a talk to them about the possibility of moving sets and see what they say. I was fortunate enough to go to a school where most of the teachers were good and really took an active role in helping you learn and getting the best of your abilities. I coped better in Maths being moved down a set, I felt a lot more comfortable, and becasue I'd been in the top set I was ahead of everyone in there so I could take it easy for a few months while they caught up The thing you must take in is that this is the only chance that you'll get to do this stuff, don't let lazy teachers f'ck it up for you.

Abs is right, if you're really not happy you should ask about moving. We still had people moving a few months before the GCSEs started.

For some reason Physics teachers are just better at explaining chemistry than chemistry teachers - they just make it more simple About the electron sharing in covalent, by the way, all we were told was that having a full shell of electrons makes the atoms stable (or happy as our teacher said), so they share to get the full shell. It's like a relationship with people, they share things with eachother and it makes them happy. Our teachers have strange analogies...

Yeah, but whatever gets them to understand has to be good

reading Dhampir at the mo' by Barb and J.C. Hendee. The vampire side of it is a little bit too traditional for me, sometimes I like it when they move away from the garlic and holywater, but on the whole a good read.

I've got The Gallifrey Chronicles! I've got The Gallifrey Chronicles!

Talk about The Little Book That Hid... Everywhere is having to get extra copies, it's been rivalling Harry Potter for pre-orders at Amazon, everywhere is selling out so fast they can't get enough new copies in to satisfy people... Time was BBC Books' Doctor Who range sold just a handful of copies to the weird people who lurk in Waterstones, arguing about whether or not the NAs are canon.

Damn you RTD!

Goodness only knows what the newbies will make of TGC, though. It's not exactly straightforward... and it's the conclusion of an arc that's been running for about thirty-five books... Must be them pushing sales through the roof though. Or possibly the Daleks, looking for ways to improve their Doctor-battling technique.

Good for you hon, it's been a long wait!

Just read another book called Undead and Unwed. Bloody(scuse the pun) hilarious. Any girl that likes sarky one liners, hunky men and shoes will love it.

Abs - Sounds great! I need to read more.

On the science front, thankyou for all your advice and comments! I went to see my Physics teacher this morning, for general coursework help, and he's said that he'll take home my work for me and have a look at it over the weekend. At least that's one of the troubles taken care of...

Currently reading 'A Crack In The Line' by Michael Lawrence. Not very far in, as of yet, but it's alright.

Earless, did you say your name was Katie? Anyway, yes very funny book, only took me a day to read and want to get the next one called Undead and Unemployed.
They're not too pricey from Amazon, not sure if you could get them in a shop, not seen them about. Suppose you could order them from Waterstones but that'd probably mean they were a bit more pricey.

Hope it gets sorted out for you Becks, and while you're at it you can give your Chemistry teacher a piece of my mind from me. I actually began to quite like Physics in my second year of GCSE, which is weird because I HATED it at first.