[vegancap]

I hate that this happened to you, I'm so sorry. As a fellow Brit, I know how brutal kids here can be, I've been attacked (broken nose, kicked in the head and face), and I was so fortunate not to have any lasting damage (that I know of...). I share your pain in terms of the justice system, out of the four times I was attacked, only once was it properly investigated and went to court. And that was only because the guy was dumb enough to do it in front of a CCTV camera and didn't even bother to flee. That was the least serious attack as well.

Hopefully your condition will improve, your brain's still developing and still very malleable still, so, hopefully it can repair over time and you'll start to feel sharper again.

What I will say, it sounded like you were exceptional to begin with, so I'll hazard a guess that you'll still have a more than competent set of skills, in spite of what happened to you. So, you'll probably still have a fantastic career even with this setback. You're still so young, and most people you age aren't even thinking of their careers, or even have employable skills (I didn't start programming until I left uni at 21, for example). So you have time on your side, big time.

So, just make sure you look after yourself, focus on healing as much as you can. Don't push yourself too hard, be patient, make sure you have the support you need from friends and family. Do things you enjoy, life's not all about careers and jobs, especially when you're young. It's great you're so motivated and thinking about these things at your age. But, don't make this the be all end all, enjoy your younger years.

Also, reframe the way you see setbacks like this. You might not go to Oxbridge, and that might suck, but you don't know what you'll do instead. Often, when I miss out on something, I find a way to turn it into a positive, I find a way to make the most of negatives and turn them into positives. Who knows, you might skip uni altogether, start a business and have more success than if you were to get into GCHQ or Oxbridge or whatever. You might have hated those two options once you got there, you just never know.

Focus on your recovery, I wish you all the very best of luck with everything. Genuinely.

[AdviceAlt]

There's CCTV footage of the attack on me as well. The problem isn't proving what happened, it's sentencing. The police (after 3 months of waiting...) told me not to bother, and I spoke to a magistrate who said they'd get a slap on the wrist. Additionally, the attack was retaliation for my friend going to the police a few days before. I decided that the risk of another attack, combined with the additional stress of going to court, to get a slap on the wrist wasn't worth it. I might look into civil court - it seems there's a 3 year expiry, which would allow me to wait until after A levels.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm not really sure what to say - reading this thread has really helped me, particularly your comment. I've seen time as my second-biggest problem throughout the last year, and it's good to hear from you and others that I can afford to slow down and still be alright.