LAURA CARTLEDGE:Exams loom again and this time it really does mean sacrifice...

But the time has come to do battle with the, now unfamiliar, foe of revision.

As I prepare to face my exams next week the days of school and university seem a long time ago.

Those dark nights spent in the glow of highlighted pages and surrounded by books are just a hazy memory.

Midnight trips to the local supermarket were a treat.

Then it was back to work in a race to beat sunrise.

At the time, stumbling from lesson to essay to exam to lesson seemed a hard slog.

And it was.

Fuelled only by tea and things on toast I would probably have growled at anyone who told me otherwise.

However comparing that to now...it seems like bliss.

While education isn’t easy, for many of us it is all we have to do at the time.

We have no house to look after and we have parents to look after us.

Plus all of our friends are in the same boat, meaning you can miss out together.

Oh the good old days.

Now, after a day at work the last thing I want to do is, well, anything.

That is – unless watching MasterChef wrapped up in a blanket counts?

Success means sacrifice when it comes to exams.

Which means fun things are the first to go.

Put it this way – you know when I have to miss a night at WI things are serious.

Not to mention I still don’t know who won I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

It will be worth it in the end.

It’s just I can’t see that far over my to-do list at the moment.

I have paper, I have pens and I have the things I need to learn.

Now to combine them so the information sticks in my head, that is a whole other matter.