There was something strangely surreal about walking back through the doors of my old sixth form this morning – more than six years after I had last been there as a student.
This time, however, I wasn't there to collect my own A-level results.
I was there as a journalist, covering results day and speaking to students about one of the biggest days of their lives.
I studied at Braintree Sixth Form from September 2018 until the very beginning of 2020, taking English Literature and Language, Media and Art.
My time there was cut short in a way none of us could have predicted.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought normal life to a halt, meaning I never got to sit my A-level exams. Instead, like many students across the country, I was awarded my predicted grades.
Returning for A-level results day brought back a lot of memories.
In some ways, the sixth form felt almost exactly as I remembered it.
The site itself hasn't changed dramatically, although there were plenty of new faces among the teachers and staff.
The students I encountered were friendly, polite and clearly excited - and perhaps a little nervous - as they waited to find out the results they had worked so hard for.
It was also lovely to spot a couple of my old teachers.
Seeing familiar faces in a place which played such a significant part in my teenage years was a particularly nostalgic moment.
For a brief moment, I could almost picture myself back there as a student, worrying about coursework, lessons and what the future might hold.
But this time, I was standing on the other side of the fence.
Instead of waiting for my own results, I was interviewing students, taking notes, asking questions and telling their stories as part of my job.
Walking around the clean, tidy corridors and seeing how much the sixth form community has evolved made me reflect on just how much my own life has changed since I left.
I never got the traditional A-level results day experience.
Yet returning today gave me something I didn't expect - a chance to see the place I started growing into the person I am now, and to appreciate just how far I've come.
Six years ago, I left Braintree Sixth Form as a student unsure of exactly where life would take me.
Today, I walked back through its doors as a journalist.
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