Blessed and Studying

Grace, 20. Studying Psychology and Sociology in a Bachelor of Arts

[buspir-deactivated20230127]

the notes are broken 😂

[calvin-reads-problem-sleuth]

Reblogging partly for awesome computer shortcuts, and partly because I wish to once again take part in a Post That Broke The Notes. 

[holydarkhallelujah]

Hey just for the record, the period font size thing is only unnoticeable if you have a period on every line in the paper. Otherwise, it fucks up the spacing and your prof can DEFINITELY tell.

[muststudy-deactivated20250929]

TOP TIPS FOR YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT

Hello! I’m about to start uni in a few weeks so I thought now would be a good time to share my top tips for writing a good personal statement. There is no ‘special formula’ for writing a good one but these are some tips I picked up from family, friends, online articles, teachers and universities themselves:

WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT?

you need to say why you want to study that course - how your interest developed, how you’ve pursued it (e.g. extracurricular activities), how you’ve drawn inspiration - basically demonstrate a lot of enthusiasm but be specific

give evidence that you’re right for the course - demonstrate with examples that you have researched it, understand what it entails and have the correct skills

say what you’ve done outside of the classroom - further reading and opinions (but try to be original - don’t talk about books that are really well-known in your subject)

explain why your experiences are relevant to the course and to a future career - reflect on experiences, don’t describe them!

give examples of transferable skills - teamwork, time management, problem solving, etc. and then expand on the most relevant skills - success in projects, how you grew from particular experiences, biggest challenges you’ve faced, etc.

also show you’re a critical thinker and mention long term plans

AN EXAMPLE:

as an example, here’s what I wrote about in my personal statement:

a public lecture I’d been to at a local university and how this inspired me (you could watch a TED talk online and discuss it)

how I was interested by the lab equipment and research I’d seen at a university when I went on a taster day

hobbies I have and how I was interested in my subject outside of school (books, magazines, podcasts I like and why)

a line about my EPQ and how this follows on from a podcast I listened to

how I’m finding my A level subjects (e.g. I enjoy science practicals)

how my AS levels helped me (e.g. AS history really helped me with essay writing)

what I learned from tutoring some GCSE students and volunteering at a charity shop

how I found shadowing a PhD student at a local university - how this inspired me and motivated me in my chosen subject

TRY TO INCLUDE:

paragraphs and GOOD GRAMMAR!!!!!

balance of academic and extra-curricular 

evidence you’ve done research

show genuine engagement 

lateral thinking - link to a more obscure theme that you find interesting 

honesty and a desire to study 

what you want from course 

positivity

CURIOSITY! 

make it interesting, thoughtful and personal - say what inspires you

DON’T INCLUDE:

academic achievements - unis know what qualifications you have and which grades you’re predicted so don’t waste your characters! 

quotes - this is YOUR personal statement, not Winston Churchill’s!! 

lists - you need detail and explanations 

clichés - you have not wanted to be a doctor for as long as you can remember! 

sweeping statements 

‘passion’ and other commonly-used words 

stilted vocabulary - use language that you actually use (but not slang)

exaggeration 

humour - it’s a dangerous move to use humour 

negativity 

irrelevant facts - it’s not a school essay!

OVERALL:

show not tell - “I’ve been able to develop my communication skills by tutoring three GCSE science students” is better than saying “I’m a good communicator” 

DRAFT!!!! you will not be able to write a good personal statement in one go - it took me months of regular drafting and re-writing to get mine even close to being finished! 

get help! ask friends, family, teachers, etc. to read it and give feedback

don’t be too precious about it - you will have to cut bits out, shorten sentences, lengthen sentences, delete words, re-arrange the structure, etc. so try to stay open minded!

one uni I visited on an open day suggested using the ABC formula: A is for Activity (say what you did), B is for Benefit (say the skills you gained from the activity) and then C is for Course (relate it to the course and say how it prepares you) - I didn’t use this myself but I have friends who found it useful!

be specific! don’t say “I love French” - say “I love how learning new languages helps me to understand the world around me….”

I hope this is helpful and good luck! Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have! :)

[theteadesk]

ahh this is so helpful!! (i’m planning to apply to uk unis ahaha)

[getshitdonetbh]

You sent your CV and got a call back? Congratulations. But now you’re facing the most frightening part of the job: the interview. 

No honestly, I’m joking, this isn’t as bad as we were told. And here’s what I learnt from it.

1. Stay NATURAL

You almost have the job. Don’t try to impress them too much, just stay faithful to who you are. Wear casual clothes, not a lot of make up, tie your hair (or at least brush it) and if you are wearing nailpolish, check that it isn’t cracked. Honestly, wearing cracked nailpolish during an interview just says that you’re messy and not organised. Don’t forget to smile, no one would like to hire someone always grumpy!

2. Do your homework

Remember the description of the job? Well that’s very important, state all the criterias that was asked in the description and make sure to tell your interviewer that you’ve got all the qualities the job requires. 

Learn about the company, when was it created, do they have other shops, what do they sell/do, what are the prices and what type of people will you have to face. Google is your best friend for that.

3. Get ready to answer questions

It’s D-Day, you’re sat at the table and the interviewer is here. Get ready for the questions. Nothing exciting to be fair. “Why do you think you’ll be good at this job?” “What brought you to apply to this job?” “Did you know about *the company* before?” 

And then they will ask you about your skills. Learn your CV and don’t hesitate to repeat it and add more details. For exemple: “I know how to work in a team very well because ….*add previous experience*”. They sometimes ask you how people would describe you or what are your flaws/qualities. Be honest. 

If you don’t have any experience, put everything on your skills and link them to school. Interviewers know if you have experience or not. They will also understand that you’ve been focused on your studies and that’s okay. Don’t try to hide it, be proud of it.

4. Interview your interviewer

Your interviewer will ask you a lot of questions but at some point he will ask you if you have any questions. And now, honey, it will be your time TO SHINE. Fire away, honestly it’s very embarassing to have nothing to say, it’s a bit like “oh well, just taking the job, not really fussed about anything”. Find something! Are you allowed nailpolish, do you have a uniform, what time do they open, are they closed during holiday, what will be your salary, do you have days off, will you have a training session, etc… Ask everything on your mind, it will show your interviewer you’re at least interessed by the job.

5. Don’t rush anything

The interview is almost over. The interviewer might ask you when you can start. Never say “right now”. Say “tomorrow” or “next week” instead. Wait a bit, talk to your family/friends about the job to make sure you’re making the right decision. If you can, wait until you can have at least a glimpse at the contract because sometimes the interviewer doesn’t tell you everything about the job (how many hours, how much you’re paid). Wait for them to call you back. And when leaving, you can mention “that you’re looking foward to hearing from them again soon”!!!

I hope this masterpost was helpful and that you’ll nail your interview. If you have any other questions, you know where to find me! Reblog to help your fellow friends if you thought this was useful ✿

Check out my other masterpost on how to improve your résumé or my masterposts.

- Aly xo

[wareofstockholm]

My latest Instagram posts! From tomorrow I’ll be busy with the introduction weeks at uni (nervous!), I’m sorry but I won’t be as active as usual for these two following weeks. 🎈

My instagram: pretty.notes

[charlieslowartsies]

when you don’t do a warm up and go straight into lineart and your hand does the thing

[timelord-named-the-artist]

Thats a sign of inflammation of the wrist called carpel tunnel . I had surgery because it got so bad I couldn’t draw anymore.

[charlieslowartsies]

Yikes D8. That’s why it’s so important to do stretches and draw with your whole arm (ok, arguably hard with a tablet versus a big gorgeous easel) and etc but I forgot today bc I am a moron and it was great

[sidneyia-deactivated20210826]

?????

people warm up to draw? like… how?

[kesslersymbolic]

not an artists but climbing hand and lower arm exercises;

trying to find more and better diagrams for other stretches but yeah it’s super important if your gonna be using your arms a lot.

[nightmaze]

Adding this important video for all the artists out there, take care of your hands ♥

[academedic]

school mindset

essays - make each essay you write better than the last


 small assignments - aim for 100s, expect 100s, get 100s


 homework - pretend they’re assignments


 homework that’s not graded - pretend! they’re! assignments!


 tests - study for 100s, expect less


 long term projects - act like it’s due in four days -even when it’s not- until you’re done with it


 group projects - do not get angry


 presentations - pretend you’re obama

disclaimer - this works for me, it may not work for everybody, do not push yourself too hard!!

[studying-chan]

This is such a great way to treat college work!

[joiekeery-deactivated20171123]

tag urself as a student

i.d.g.a.f:  goes to school unbothered, doesn’t give a shit about makeup or looking nice, constantly has a water bottle filled, when they’re not taking notes they’re sleeping in class, goes home and actually studies/does homework, bottles up emotions, wants to travel

covfefe: lives their life on coffee and tea, always participates in class discussions, likes to observe, challenges themselves sometimes a little too much, needs more sleep, always trying to make plans to fill up their schedule, likes aesthetics

netflix & procrastinate: honestly wants to do well, gets distracted easily, when they’re focused they get shit done, pulls lots of all nighters, tells everyone ‘im fine’ when not fine, accidentally skips breakfast, loves their friends, gets anxiety over tests and quizzes

pastel: is always organized, loves to journal, actually listens to the teacher, people think they’re always super sweet, wants to visit japan, loves animals, does research for fun, looks over work 948208 times before turning it in, watches horror movies and then regrets it

complaint department: acts like they didn’t have enough time to do homework (they did), blames others for their problems, doesn’t study then cry when they get a bad grade, secretly is very insecure, is always out “sick”, acts better than others for no reason sometimes

chilly child: is very relaxed but knows how to work, is nice to their teachers, tries to avoid half-assing things, loves autumn, likes studying with other people, is very self motivating, tries not to focus on the letter grade but rather how hard they worked, and tbh they’re just tryna enjoy life, 

[master-of-study]

I’m Netflix & procrastinate + pastel haha

[studyblvsh-blog]

OneNote is literally god’s gift to this earth. [ header art ]

I downloaded OneNote onto my mac air through my school’s office365 [which is a microsoft email login thing but is easily accessible on any kind of device and you can just delete the email acc later if you want]. OneNote can be accessed on a laptop, computer or ipad/tablet. i believe OneNote is available on the appstore as well?

I use OneNote as a digital bullet journal / planner and to write down all my study notes. i also have actual books for my study notes but i tend to prefer OneNote.

OneNote is super easy to use! think of it like an actual book:

1. DESIGNING THE COVER

When you open OneNote for the first time it will ask you to create a Notebook. You can name it whatever you wish and even choose the colour of it! You can have as many Notebooks as you like, so go wild !!

2. CHAPTERS

In your Notebook, you can have “chapters”, called sections or tabs. Depending on whether you use OneNote as a bujo or for study notes, these tabs can look like this:

3. PAGES

Time to fill your chapters! These pages will contain all of your content. Whether that’s a weekly spread in your bujo or a page on DNA molecules in your humanbio Notebook. You can have as many as you want! Pages on OneNote tend to look like this:

Once you click on which page you want, it’ll open !

4. SPREADS [for planners]

Spreads are completely personalised and customised depending on you! Anything you do in your physical bujo you can do on OneNote. Habit checker? Tables? Homework diary? Inspirational quotes? Cute doodles? Day-to-Day planner? 

This is just an example of mine, you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT with yours !!

5. STUDY NOTES

My study notes are basically just what my teacher says during class or puts on the board, which is why they’re almost always in bullet point form like this:

But obviously, you can edit your notes to be however you’d like them !!

6. OTHER INFO

One feature i really like about one note is the fact you can make the paper look like whatever you want. such as blank paper, margined + lined paper, graph paper etc. this is really helpful when writing notes and especially drawing diagrams !!

also, across the top is literally everything you’ll ever need.

IN CONCLUSION:

Please download OneNote !! it’s so user-friendly and customisable. I was honestly shocked that more people weren’t using OneNote in the studyblr community. It’s such a lifesaver near test + exam time because all of your notes are in one place !!

also, OneNote autosaves and doesnt close if you close your laptop [as long as you’re not logged out or the computer is shut down] so you’ll never lose your work !!

HERE is another post about me yelling about OneNote lmao

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to ask !! ((-:

[exmellivorinae]

OH MY GOD whyyyy did no one tell me you’re supposed to send thank-yous after interviews?? Why would I do that???

“Thank you for this incredibly stressful 30 minutes that I have had to re-structure my entire day around and which will give me anxiety poos for the next 24 hours.”

I HATE ETIQUETTE IT’S THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE THING FOR ME TO LEARN WITHOUT SOMEONE DIRECTLY TELLING ME THIS SHIT

[a-windsor]

NO ONE TOLD YOU???? WTF! I HAVE FAILED YOU. Also: Dear ______: Thank you so much for the opportunity to sit down with you (&________) to discuss the [insert job position]. I am grateful to be considered for the position. I think I will be a great fit at [company name], especially given my experience in __________. [insert possible reference to something you talked about, something that excited you.] I look forward to hearing from you [and if you are feeling super confident: and working together in the future]. Sincerely, @mellivorinae

[exmellivorinae]

THIS IS A LIFESAVING TEMPLATE

[a-windsor]

YOU ARE WELCOME

[nehrdi]

Life-Hack

google search any topic followed by ‘filetype:ppt’ and only powerpoints will come up, or a textbook or subject name followed by ‘filetype:pdf’ to find free textbooks in pdf form

[staedtlers-and-stabilos]

1. Time management.  2. How to manage your money. Pay with cash and live within your means.  3. Don’t starve for a pair of jeans.  4. Save enough cash to get home in a cab. 5. Getting good grades alone won’t get you that job 6. Don’t intern in a very small company and expect a huge outcome. 7. Work for cash as a waitress. 8. Remember your roots.  Don’t leave your old high school friends in the dust. 9. Foster relationships with your teachers and older students. Networking. 10. Be professional in order to be taken seriously. 11. Watch what you post on social media. They look, they really look. 12. Network while you’re out. 13. Learn how to collaborate. 14. Take your assignments seriously. 15. Don’t take yourself too seriously.  College is a time to experiment. 16. Travel as much as you can. Embrace your lack of commitments 17. Work during the summer.  18. Accept that you will need to get a job and grow up after graduation. 19. Don’t take time off unless it’s an emergency.   20. Finish.  21. Allow yourself to be passionate. 22. Don’t do drugs. 23. Start a blog.  24. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Put quality over quantity. 25. Don’t get a pet. Remember this is about you, not saving a dog. 26. Go home for holidays. Family is forever. 27. Don’t buy something you’re going to owe payments on.  28. Make sure you have health insurance. See the previous point. 29. Exercise. 

Source

[busylearningstuffrn]

STUDY SNACKS!!

gotta fuel that great brain of urs

fruit salad - banana goes w every fruit so slice a banana and wash some berries and u got yourself a ~fancy~ fruit salad

banana w peanut butter

apple w peanut butter

dates w peanut butter (i was weirded out at first too but trust me it’s good)

granola w yoghurt (or i like it w almond milk)

be fancy and make your own granola 1 2 3

avocado toast. i put salt pepper lemon juice olive oil and chili flakes

smoothies (keep frozen bananas in your freezer to make your life easier)

banana, peanut butter and almond milk

BUTTERBEER SMOOTHIE I HAVE BLESSED YOUR LIVES

a bunch of great ones

if u put any greens in your smoothies what i’ve found is that if u blend the liquid w the green BEFORE putting anything else in u won’t get any weird spinach chunks or something like that

popcorn. good just plain, w cinnamon-sugar, or w sriracha

blueberries and almonds 

clementines and oranges

oatmeal

fav recipe: in a bowl, mash a large banana(or 2 small) and mix with cinnamon. then heat almond milk in a pan, when warm, put in the oatmeal. after a minute, put in the mashed banana mixture and stir around for a couple more minutes. top with your fruit of choice and some peanut butter

coffee or tea

dark chocolate

smoothie bowls!! 1 2 3

carrot sticks w hummus or guac

roasted chickpeas six diff ways

frozen grapes (for when it starts to get hot out)

nice cream. basically just a really thick smoothie made out of frozen bananas but it’s like you’re eating ice cream. 10/10 recommend

toast w almond butter and bananas

if u haven’t noticed i’m a big fan of peanut butter

[universi-tea]

i think one of the biggest problems i have with getting stuff done is i assume it’s easy for other people. like “she gets up at six every morning because she’s a morning person” or “yeah, he can run five miles every day but he likes running” or “she knows five languages, her brains just wired differently than mine” when in reality it’s all about discipline for everyone. like yeah, some people have natural aptitudes for some things but anyone that’s accomplishing anything is putting in the work. achievements don’t come easy, and i think if i start acknowledging that it’s like that for everyone i can stop making excuses

[berkeleyandbiscuits]

How to deal with a concept you do not understand

Breathe. If you are starting to feel flustered, stressed, frustrated, take a break. The more angsty you feel, the less likely you’ll be able to focus on the actual concept. Take a break, study something else, but make sure when you’re trying to tackle a difficult concept, you are calm, cool, and collected. 

Re-read your notes. This one is obvious but ask yourself if you’re actually re-reading your notes or if you’re just glancing over the page. Sometimes it helps to rewrite your notes in a different way. 

Read someone’s else’s notes. Sometimes reading something in a different way can help you understand a concept you are struggling with. 

Ask someone but make sure whoever you’re asking won’t confuse you further. To be safe, ask a TA, your professor, or an experienced tutor. I cannot count how many times I’ve casually asked someone to explain a concept and I end up leaving 10x more confused. Make sure you’re asking the right people. 

Google it. Seriously. There are many amazing resources out there that may be as close as the click of a button. 

Re-watch a lecture, if possible. Some professors webcast their lectures and going over your notes while listening to them is really helpful when you can’t quite grasp a concept. 

Be patient. Sometimes, you’ll need to work at a concept over a number of days and that’s perfectly okay. The most important part is that you try your best to understand and that you realize everyone learns at different paces. 

Do NOT wait until the last minute to tackle a difficult concept. Procrastinating on this kind of stuff right up before an exam can increase your anxiety and deplete your self-confidence. Make sure you tackle these difficult concepts as soon as you encounter them so you can take your time to understand everything. 

[julstudies]

how to study as a busy student

i personally go through this a lot because i have to balance saturday band, honor band, auditions, performances, history club, national history day with school and nonexistant friends. so here u go, friend!! this is my advice to keep up with your (busy) studying!! ha see what i did there im so funny

1. have a planning system. this is a no-brainer. but honestly you’re going to need something to help you keep track of all your deadlines AND your afterschool activities. it doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy; heck it can even be on your phone. but make sure you’re keeping track of everything.

2. use all the time you can to do your homework. if you’re really behind or you have a lot of homework and not enough time to do it at home, do your homework when you can during school. this does NOT mean trying to set the world record for fastest writer while your teacher is collecting the homework. this means on the bus, waiting for your food/the bus/your friends, those down periods during and between classes, during sports practice, and even during lunch. however do NOT make a habit of this!! i get that its a lot, but please still try to have a life!!! <3

3. set aside a day a week to solely catch up on school work, and another day just to relax. i usually have saturday as my school work day and sunday as my day to relax and prepare for the week. this may seem contradictory, seeing as you may have sports practice or rehearsal on saturday or something. but think of it this way: you’re already going to be working your butt off that day. you might as well keep that flow going and get all your school work together and catch up on any missing assignments. you can also use that sunday off as your motivation to work hard because youre being rewarded with a completely free day.

4. do your homework on friday. please. just do it. this kind of follows the same concept as above: you have school that day anyways, so keep working your hardest. now, if you have no friends like me, this’ll be easy. but if you have plans on fridays (which you should, seriously, go out), stop working 1-2 hours before you have to go somewhere. you can continue any work you havent completed on your catch-up day.

5. drop one or two things. this sounds really painful!!! but being in a lot of extracurriculars and having a nice application/resume is not as nice as your mental health. not being able to balance too many things at once will stress you out and make you sick. like, i used to be in drama club and i also had piano class on wednesdays. once i got older, i realized that these things looked nice on my honor society application, but i didnt have time for what really mattered. (plus i didn’t rly like them anyways.) if you can work your way around it, fine. but otherwise, keep the things close to your heart and drop what you absolutely don’t have time for.

6. if worse comes to worse, talk to your teachers. they will understand, if you’re struggling to be a well-rounded student and keep up your grades at the same time. this doesn’t mean lie or use your teachers as an easy way out. but rather, if everything becomes too overwhelming, talk to someone.

i really hope that helped @ the original anon who asked me this question! sorry this was so late! i’m quite the busy student myself hahaha

[rewritign-blog]

Writing an essay without any structure is like trying to find your way around an unfamiliar place without a map; frustrating, ineffective, and a bit of a garbled mess. Structure gives your essay a clear voice and coherency and makes marking a lot easier for your teacher or tutor! Here are a few general tips I often use when writing essays to maximise the effect of my argument and achieve the best results I can both in high school and university.

Text structure While the content of essays varies, the skeleton structure never changes. In order to clearly articulate an idea, an essay needs a beginning, middle, and an end. 

Introduction

Start with a macro sentence - use an interesting quote, fact, or idea which gives the reader a broad sense of what your essay will cover. This is the reader’s first impression of your essay and can determine their whole attitude while reading it, so make it effective!

Briefly outline the main ideas and thesis - in absence of an abstract, your introduction will need to show the main ideas you will be covering so as to support your thesis, or answer the essay question. You will need to clearly express your position and how you intend to argue the point.

Set the limits - sometimes, the scope of an essay question can be very broad, or perhaps there’s a focus to your thesis not all ready indicated. Define the limits of your essay, whether they be a set of years for a history topic, or looking at specific artists who contributed to an art style.

Define key terms - if a term is important to the understanding of your essay, or perhaps you’ve taken your own approach to its meaning, be sure to define it in your introduction!

Body

Separate each idea into a paragraph - ideas can generally be separated chronologically or conceptually. The section below explores this in more detail! 

Start every paragraph with a topic sentence - introduce what the paragraph will discuss and how it relates to your thesis. Signpost it with critical words to make it easier to understand exactly what you are addressing. Ensure it is clear and to the point!

Make a claim and the support it - like in reality, when you make a claim you need to provide evidence to support it so it can be taken seriously. Make your claim early on in the paragraph, generally in the topic sentence, give relevant detail and explanation, analyse it, and then justify it with authoritative quotes, sources, examples, etc.

End every paragraph with a linking sentence - refer back to your thesis or question and make sure what you set out to cover in the paragraph actually addresses it! This is an opportunity to draw a link between this paragraph and the next.

Conclusion

Do more than just restate your points - your conclusion is more than just a rehash of your introduction. Link ideas together and demonstrate how they are interconnected on a less superficial level. An English teacher once told me, your essay is like a mountain. You put in all your hard work to climb it in your introduction and body paragraphs, your conclusion is a chance to look back, make connections where there were none before, and solidify your argument. 

Establish the overarching theme and idea - what idea underlies all the points you have made? How does it relate to your thesis?

Draw a profound and insightful conclusion - what are the implications of this? Is there relevance today? This can transform a standard essay into a more profound and overall, more interesting essay.

Don’t introduce any new information - your essay is complete! All your information should have been expressed in the body paragraphs, so nothing new should be introduced here.

Reaffirm your thesis - restate it with some finality! Your body has provided all this evidence to support it, remind them of this.

Chronological or Conceptual? For the most part, an essay can take one of two approaches; a chronological approach, where each body paragraph follows the text, history, etc., sequentially, or a conceptual approach, where the main idea is broken down into its constituent elements, each addressed in their own paragraph(s).

 In my experience, conceptual essays usually score higher, showing a greater sense of understanding of the topic and its inner workings. You can demonstrate a funnel effect more easily, where each element funnels down from its body paragraph to the conclusion, contributing to the overall idea of the essay. A chronological approach, however, can be easier to follow and is occasionally implicit within the essay question. Choosing which approach to use depends on which you are comfortable writing with, the demands of the essay or your teacher, and can vary from essay to essay. 

Continuity and Cohesion Something I think is highly underrated, yet critical to holding an essay together, is transition words and phrases. They create continuity and cohesion between ideas and paragraphs, and serve as a bridge of sorts within your overall structure. Here are a few posts which have comprehensive lists of transition words and phrases:

Transition Words for Essays - @staedtlers-and-stabilos Essay Transition Phrases - @study-like-you-mean-it Transition Words For Your Essays - @soniastudyblr

I hope this can help with structuring your essays and getting the best marks you can! Please message me if you have any questions :)

Other essay writing posts: How to reduce your word count Understanding the Question How to Write a Killer Unprepared Text Essay

[n0chillvibes]

teachers claim that you can’t finish a major essay in a night yet give us inclass essays to finish in an hour 👀🐸☕️