Option A
1) Get the very best GCSE and A-Level results you can. I know teachers and parents seem boring when they bash on about how important they are, and I was the first to stick 2 fingers up and nip outside for a crafty fag at school, but its so true that your school education is the foundation for the rest of your working life.
2) While studying for your GCSE's/A-Level's, investgate other options open to you. Get qualified in something else outside aviation, do a few years of meanigful work in this chosen field so that you can fall back on it if ever required.
3) Assess the state of the industry and your desire to get into flying with a mature and level head.
4) If after all the above your heart, head and gut still want it...GO FOR IT! You only live once.
OPTION B
1) Continue at school as normal.
2) Throw caution to the wind, get a huge loan and GO FOR IT! You only live once.
For the record, I did a mix of the two which has served me ok so far...other than qualifying in the midst of the worse recession for almost a century.
Now, I'm no aviation guru, I don't have umpteen thousand hours and perhaps I could have made some better choices along the way. But we're all only human and as any pilot worth their salt will tell you, its not a crime to make a mistake but its always criminal not to learn from it. So my best advice would be to do as much research as possible, speak to as many experienced and inexperienced pilots as you can. I guess what Im trying to say is to get the big picture before you do anything.
Finally....NEVER let ANYONE tell you somethings not possible. Work hard enough and use your loaf. When you go back to school after the easter break just go in every day with the thought that its your dream to lose if you dont work at it.
Cheers
FS
