Krista Kozey

Why this persona fits the audience

A 17-year-old sixth-form student in England checks Schoology for class tasks, keeps a paper notebook for revision, and uses Google Calendar for mock exams, tutoring, and sports practice. She is planning her own weekly study time around school deadlines and exam prep.

• Age: 17
• Location: Manchester, UK
• Occupation: Full-time student
• Income: No personal income
• Education: A-level student
• Company size: N/A
• Years in role: 3 years at St. Mary’s Sixth Form College

“‘If I spend one more minute debating between A4 and A5 notebooks, I’m going to spontaneously combust. But at least my recyclable paper waste will be minimal.’”

Krista Kozey has always been the girl with a plan. At 13, she colour-coded her GCSE revision timetable; now, three years later, her A-level organisation has evolved into a high-tech, low-tech hybrid. The Schoology portal is her digital nerve centre, but she trusts paper for ‘real’ revision – ink feels like progress. Her bullet journal is a shrine to productivity, filled with blocked-off revision hours, netball practice goals, and meticulously ranked deadlines (subjects in ascending order of ‘fear factor’). The family’s iPad is reserved for her Google Calendar, which maps out every mock exam, tutoring session, and sports fixture in overlapping colour-codes. She’s pragmatic about her routine: ‘I’m not naturally disciplined, so I build systems that punish me if I slip up.’ That’s why she completely ignores her phone’s mute settings for Schoology – the fear of missing a deadline is her only accountability. Recent crisis: Realised she’d double-booked Chemistry revision with netball tryouts. Solution: Created a ‘backup itinerary’ spreadsheet with 12 alternative time slots. Her Crohn’s diagnosis last year forced her to adopt a system of ‘flexible rigidity’ – schedules must accommodate flare-ups, but she hates the unpredictability. Her mum’s quiet pressure to follow in her footsteps (teaching or medicine) looms over every exam result. Krista’s relationship with time is transactional: ‘I owe my future self the work now, so she doesn’t have to regret it later.’ Her paper notebooks are filled with margin doodles of hospitals (medicine fascinates her) and netball courts (her ‘only real talent’). She avoids social media but secretly admires students who post flawless revision setups – then turns off Wi-Fi for three days to avoid ‘the comparison trap’. Recent rebellion: Switched from Psychology to Sociology against her mum’s advice. She’s learning to trust her own instincts, even when they contradict expectations. Money is tight but managed carefully: £10/week on stationery, £20 saved from last summer’s retail job for ‘emergency’ tuition. Her biggest fear isn’t failing – it’s wasting time. Her biggest comfort is that her systems exist to prevent exactly that.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

5:50am – Gym before school. 3km run, then 10 minutes of foam rolling (knee). 6:30am – Netball training. 8:30am – History lecture (takes notes in abridged bullet points). 10:30am – Chemistry lab (reaches for her ‘lucky’ graphite pencil). 12:15pm – Lunch queue debate with teammates about netball tactics. 2pm – Double Period Biology (uses Schoology to check exam dates while teacher drones). 3:30pm – Gallery study (rewrites notes from paper to digital – ‘for backup’). 5:15pm – Maths tutoring (St. Mary’s resource centre). 7:30pm – Family dinner (mum asks about uni applications). 8:30pm – Revises with headphones (true crime podcasts ‘help me focus’). 10:30pm – Stretches, sets alarms for tomorrow, and decorates her paper planner with washi tape ‘for motivation’ (a ritual).

Lifestyle

Lives in a room decorated with student loan posters (a joke) and post-its covering the mirror. Eats microwaved ready meals during revision weeks but insists on homemade dinners at least twice a week to ‘keep her mum employed’. Runs 3km before dawn three times a week (netball training starts at 6:30am). Spends pocket money on ‘nice’ notebooks and buys secondhand textbooks from eBay. Social life revolves around netball teammates (they call her ‘The Spreadsheet’). Has a standing 8:30pm ‘stress call’ with her best friend from GCSEs, now at a rural college. Budget: £20/week from parents for ‘incidentals’. Health: Crohn’s flare-ups mean she avoids school canteen soup, carries electrolyte tabs, and sometimes naps between classes.

Work life

Sixth-form days are a tightly scheduled chaos. 8:30am-4:30pm is lectures, timed essays, andgallery study sessions. Uses a bullet journal for pupils’ linen paperbecause ‘digital feels less real’. Schoology alerts for grades are on mute (anxiety management), but she checks the portal 47 times daily. Tutoring for Maths AS-level on Wednesdays (extra £120/term from parents). Sports captain for netball – team meetings clash with Chemistry revision. Mock exams this term: ‘I’ve colour-coded my Google Calendar until it looks like a traffic cone exploded.’ Pressures: Mum’s ex-colleagues work in admissions at Manchester Uni (the unspoken elephant). Recent decision: Switched from A-level Psychology to Sociology after a ‘nightmare’ mock in December, despite mum’s quiet disappointment.

Relationships

Close to Mum (who proofreads her personal statements but ‘doesn’t interfere’). Netball teammates are her main social group – they text in emoji shorthand. Distant but respectful to her father, who ‘doesn’t get’ how stressful A-levels are. Secretly follows a ‘studygram’ influencer (@MedicineGurl) but deletes the app after 30 minutes to avoid comparison stress. Younger brother annoys her by asking to borrow her highlighters ‘just for a sec’. Influenced by her mum’s teacher friends’ anecdotes about ‘hard student cases’ – keeps a folder of their advice.

How they decide

Researches extensively but trusts first instincts. Will spend 2 hours comparing revision apps before sticking with pen/paper. Asks for time to ‘sleep on it’ when stressed. Uses spreadsheets to weigh pros/cons, but ultimately goes with what her ‘gut’ says. Hates group decisions. Has a ‘one-week rule’ for purchases (buys within 7 days of deciding or drops the idea).

How they sound

Speaks in precise, slightly clipped sentences. ‘Um’ sparingly. Uses formal contractions (won’t, can’t) but slips into Mancunian slang with netball teammates. Avoids dramatic language (never says ‘I’m dying’ about schoolwork). Describes stress as ‘a logistical issue’ or ‘an operational challenge’. Talks about revision like it’s a game level to beat. Mimics teachers’ accents unintentionally. Ends texts with three dots … to indicate she’s still thinking.