Christmas is coming and I’m pretty excited. SANTA’S ON HIS WAY!!! Okay, “pretty excited” is a bit of an understatement... I’ve thought long and hard and I’ve compiled a list of presents that only the big man in the red suit could provide - my dream Christmas wish list. Here’s what I want...

1: A VOUCHER FOR UNIVERSITY

This is a very special one-off voucher entitling me to free University education for as long as I am studying. I’ve been worrying a lot about paying for uni since the fees have gone up, so this would really be a weight off my shoulders. I can’t disagree more with tuition fees and the whole university situation. And it saddens me that as well as costing so much, people my age are under pressure because they think they have to go to university, just because everyone seems to be doing it and not because they want to study. How stupid is that?!

2: TICKETS FOR A TRACY CHAPMAN GIG BACK IN 1988

I’ve just discovered how much I love her music (yes, I know I’m about 20 years late) and my favourite of her albums is her first - so ideally, I would see the gig the year the album came out. Her music is so pained, unlike a lot of modern music which feels like it was written by a lazy DJ with very little to sing about, her songs are just so emotive and honest. Obviously in order to get to that particular gig I would need...

3: A TARDIS!

I’d probably also do some other worthwhile stuff with my time machine, like going back and preventing the most pointless venture ever known - the Iraq war. But mostly I’d use my TARDIS to get to gigs that I’ve missed. Can’t wait!

4: TO BE ALLOWED TO CAMP AT MUSIC FESTIVALS NEXT YEAR AFTER MY GCSEs

I promise I’d pay for the tickets, the tent and the wellies all by myself if I’m actually allowed to go! Can’t think of anything I’d rather do after my exams are over, other than being in those crowds, dancing and laughing with my friends. So hopefully Santa can work some Christmas magic on my parents and get them to agree to that one. Please!!!!

5: MY LAST WISH IS SELFLESS...

I was going to use it to ask for DKNY Golden Delicious perfume which I LOVE (hope you’re reading this Mum), but on second thoughts I would honestly rather wish for poverty to end. If everyone in the world had a home, money for medicines and food then I think I would have spent my final wish very wisely because it’s hard to enjoy life knowing others just aren’t.

YOLANDA SHAMASH is a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl who thinks she might end up journalist or a barrister. Her favourite TV show to date is Psychoville, her favourite book of all time is To Kill a Mockingbird and she’s a huge fan of the group Florence + The Machine. She loves fashion, sings opera, worries about the state of the world’s future, thinks teenagers get a bad press and writes a daily blog entitled www.notallaboutboys.weebly.com