A-levels can be a very stressful and exhausting time for many students, and it's not uncommon for a young person to feel tired and worn out from the demands of studying and coursework.
But for Ikram Gacem, those levels of fatigue were far more extreme that what her peers were experiencing, and she began to wonder if there was something more sinister going on.
She was just 18, studying in her final year at college, when she began to struggle - feeling tired all the time and sleeping for hours when she got home.
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At first she presumed her symptoms were down to the fact it was her last year.
"I would wake up in the morning, I'd be kind of yawning all the way down to college. As soon as I’d get in, I would go to sleep and then I'd wake up maybe, like eight, nine, and I'd have lots of work to do.
"All the teachers were pushing because again, exams, A Levels. Not only was it a stressful moment for everyone as a Year 13 student, but I feel like I wasn't quite catching up with everything and I was kind of always running behind," she said.
Ikram went to see her GP and says she was repeatedly diagnosed with anaemia as her white blood cells were quite low.
"I tried to take iron tablets but they didn’t do much. I was going back and forth to the doctors and then, and during the pandemic where I was doing work online, it was the same thing… I'd be very lazy, sleep a lot."
The then teen noticed 'a little lump' appear on her right collar bone. She didn't think anything of this for the first week it was there, however when it had been there for a second week, Ikram and her mum decided it was time to contact her GP again.
"We spoke about the topic of cancer two, three weeks before when I was having my appointments and blood tests and so on, and I kind of just scoffed and I was saying to my mum, 'I doubt it, come on like I'm 17-18. Cancer? Don't be silly'", she said.
Ikram had hoped the lump was just a cyst but unfortunately doctors delivered the news that it was in fact Hodgkin's lymphoma - a relatively uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.
"I was very scared, I'm not gonna lie, and because I had just turned 18 no one could come in at all so my mum waited outside the waiting room.
"When I went inside, I saw there was one doctor and three nurses surrounding me. I sat down and from then on I knew it was going to be bad news or some kind of news.
"I started crying immediately [when the GP said it], I don't even think I knew what the real meaning was. I kind of just broke down and then he let me know, obviously it was cancer. I broke down even more. I had no words.
"I couldn't really speak and they called my mum immediately because she was around the corner, but because of Covid rules and the fact that I had just gone 18, they wouldn't let anyone in," she said.
As she was diagnosed at the height of the pandemic, Ikram, who is now 21, had to inform her friends of the terrible news over FaceTime. However, her mum and dad were an incredible support system for her.
Ikram, who was supported by Teenage Cancer Trust at The Christie in Manchester, is now urging young people and students to listen to their bodies and not hesitate to call their GP when something doesn't feel right.
"We just think we're tired because of exams but if it's unusual, check it out," she said.
Ikram is currently two years cancer free and is in her third year of university studying law.
"I continued my studies during my treatment which was something that not many people would have done, but mine was during the pandemic so probably was, generally, much easier," she said.
"I’m feeling better mentally because I have overcome certain difficulties I went through but also physically - just because every day is a challenge, getting to know your body better, it's a challenge that I have to go through and I'm glad that it's turned out the way it has turned out."
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