Calo's Study Blog!

pfp by ARLO CHECK HIM OUT @soureggsauce YAY!

[calo-on-the-brain]

heya!

my name's Calo :) I'm a first-year neuroscience student, studying in spain

and i'm starting a study blog to keep myself accountable! i plan to post my study process and make timelapses, study-with-me youtube videos, review lecture videos, and host forums for students of all disciplines to post for themselves and give each other feedback! i don't really know how much of that is actually gonna happen, but it's a plan!

more about me and my study process under the cut :)

about me:

i'm 20 years old

any pronouns, bisexual, etc

i'm studying neuroscience in a spanish university

i'm studying for my bachelor's degree, with hopes of landing some kind of internship during these 4 years, and then moving on to a master's or PHD

i like music! and a lot of it! come talk to me about it!

i also like horror! dare i say, i love horror! come talk to me about it!

i'm living in madrid, but i'm originally from denver, CO (kinda)

i'm venezuelan-american :)

why start this now?

i've been terrible at keeping up with my studies. idk if it's depression, hedonism, or the damn phone. but i have a hard time actually sitting down and studying, even though i find everything that i'm studying fascinating and fun. it's tough, but i wanna change that!

i'm hoping that me being on tumblr will help keep me accountable; following other med/neuroscience students, creating things for other people to see, and hopefully helping other struggling students too.

what's the plan?

no clue HAHA we'll just see how this goes! feel free to suggest whatever for me to do. challenges, study methods, my asks are open!

also while i want to make it "aesthetic" and "pretty" and "neat" and "tidy," i am like the FARTHEST from that kind of person. i might try but a) i have no money for that shit and b) i'm messy by nature. the focus would be more on the study content anyways

idk what else to put here. enjoy :) i guess

[calo-on-the-brain]

it is what it isssssss

starting midterm 1/3: chemistry 😓

update + study ramble after

[calo-on-the-brain]

UPDATE!!!

Midterms... went? I guess.

Chemistry was interesting, I was able to answer a couple problems, but I'm not sure how many of those couple were correct.

I ended up not going to my genetics midterm cause I arrived late, but it's fine since if you take the final for this class, the midterms don't count.

And biophysics wiped out the entire class. I was able to half-assedly "solve" one of the questions, but then I left the exam and looked up the actual answer... just to realize that I entirely made up the solution? I fucked up and thought that you could add the densities of different objects together to create some kind of "total" density... which is not how that works. But that's what I get for pulling two near all-nighters in a row for these tests 😭

At least there's the finals..

[calo-on-the-brain]

it is what it isssssss

starting midterm 1/3: chemistry 😓

update + study ramble after

[calo-on-the-brain]

i have a chem midterm in an hour :,)

that hour will be spent on public transport and trying to calm down an anxiety attack

and also writing a cheat sheet for prep

i'm absolutely throwing this one. i'm gonna try my best, and it's gonna look like i threw the midterm. at least there's the final?

[souvenir116]

"liked by charles leclerc" man is the ferrari itself 😭😭

[calo-on-the-brain]

help meeeeeee

i never thought i'd be using my python knowledge from last year in my neuroscience course. much less in GENETICS

my own personal relationship with the python coding language aside, this is actually really cool. this is a tool to model, animate, predict, and take apart proteins in a virtual space using coding and artificial intelligence (machine learning? black boxes? i have no clue what kind of AI but that's what the professor mentioned). anyways it's really cool!

we'll see how this project goes, though.... update pics soon if all goes well XP

[theinternetarchive]

the first image of the earth taken from mars, nasa, 2008.

[calo-on-the-brain]

Does anyone have any concrete tips on taking good lecture notes and paying attention during lectures? I find I struggle a lot with my mind wandering during my uni lectures, and when I'm locked in taking notes I often try to take the most detailed ones possible and end up falling behind the professor and not paying attention anyways :[

I want to start getting better at fixing all the bad habits I have, like skipping lectures to sleep in, not listening to lectures while they're having, taking bad notes/studying inefficiently/waiting until the last minute to study. I'm taking it one bad habit at a time but obv any tips help 😭

[calo-on-the-brain]

Catching Up Again: Study Challenge #1

Day 1: ✅ Day 2: ✅ Day 3: ❌ Day 4: ❌ Day 5: ✅ Day 6: ✅ Day 7: ❌ Day 8: ✅ Day 9: ❓ Day 10: ✅ Day 11: ✅

phew. T minus 2 days until my chemistry midterm, and t minus 3 days until my biophysics and genetics midterms. I'm cramming like crazy.

Saturday was... interesting for studying, at least. I got heavily side tracked and ended up only really going over half a module for chemistry, even though I was planning on going over two full modules and doing some review for the other two classes. Sunday was about the same, but I did get a bit more done than Saturday. I just started late (approx. 4pm)

Today though, I decided to wake up at 10 and start at 11.... Woke up at 10:45 instead and played video games to wake up until about noon. I recently found a youtuber that streams 13+ hours of study with me's almost every day so I hopped on... and I think I like his style a lot and he streams consistently and for a long time (he's in my time zone, too!) so I can see myself hopping on his streams a lot more for motivation in the future. Yeah. Yay :)

I've done two hours of study so far for Biophysics, that has mostly involved finishing a lab report that's due today at midnight. I plan to finish it in another hour or so, then study at least one biophysics module. Then, another 4hrs of chemistry (at least 2 modules) and an additional 4hrs of genetics (another 2 modules)..... I have my work cut out for me today huh.

wish me luck haha!! at least it's a cosy rainy day, here's a picture of the view from my bf's apartment:

[alfalfaaarya]

Answered this question in my dm

Q) How am I productive

A) It's the basic stuff that's important, especially for a competitive exam:

>making a to do list in the morning

>having a fixed schedule

>taking breaks ( very important to take real breaks and not feel guilty about it , go for a walk , let your brain breath )

> consistency is key . When you are trying to be consistent, day 1 , 2 , 3 you'll be productive then day 4 you might not , so it's very important what you do during that time , it's very important to get back on track on day 5 . Day 6 and 7 will again be fine day 8 gets hard . Again , it's important to pull through , forgive yourself for being human and move on and jeeo working hard towards your goal !

All the best !!!

[unpeeled-human]

[nongunktional]

best typo ive ever made i think

reblog if you feep stupid

[nongunktional]

spose we're all feeping stupid today

[calo-on-the-brain]

Study Challenge #1, and more catch up days

Tbh I've lost track. Let's say 6 days:

Day 1: ✅ Day 2: ✅ Day 3: ❌ Day 4: ❌ Day 5: ✅ Day 6: ✅

Sigh. I don't want to talk about days 3 and 4. The last two days have been filled with adrenaline. I have a midterm tomorrow morning for my Biostatistics course and I am learning the material for the first time TONIGHT. (and yesterday, but very little). I might need to pull an all nighter for this.

Luckily, I ended up finding a nice little cafe that closes at 1am for my to park at and study for the night. It's 11:20pm as I write this, and I've been studying almost nonstop since 1pm, with the exception of eating, showering, and walking here which took ~2hrs in total. The only bad thing is that (probably to deter students from staying here too late), they shut off their Wifi and ban computers after 3pm. highly homophobic if i say so myself. But they seem to have no problem with me doing the same schoolwork on my phone? that's fine ig.

total study time so far: 5:30 hrs, then shower break, and 1:30 hrs at the coffee shop so far....

So here's the outlook for tomorrow: I pull an all nighter, and bring in a formula sheet of my own (hidden in my jacket sleeve) that is totally 100% absolutely allowed. yay (please don't see this anyone from my uni)

[calo-on-the-brain]

update. in the process of pulling an all nighter and studying is no longer productive, so i'm gonna take a nap. google says that the most effective naps for all nighters are 10-20 minute power naps, or 90-minute naps if you can afford the time.

now i'm not sure i can afford the time, but tomorrow i have a lot more studying to do and some assignments to catch up on so it's not like i can spend the rest of the day tomorrow sleeping and resting either.... gotta take the L on this one.

it's 4:30am. i'll see y'all at like 6, for another 5 hours of studying before my exam !!

[savemygrades]

I'm lazy and I lack discipline yet I chose to do one of the most academically challenging courses, lol my struggles are on me.

[calo-on-the-brain]

i stole some cool equipment for my labs today. i'm thinking i might start a lab scrapbook with it! once i stop studying for the night, i might show you guys what i got, and what it was used for :)

there's some pretty cool junk. and the longest injection needle you've ever seen

[calo-on-the-brain]

ask and ye shall receive, albeit days late (sorry)

so these are the results of the chemistry lab, the white paper are the results after they were sketched out, and the greenish thing is the same paper under UV light. we were essentially checking the (uhh... insert what this was here LOL) of aspirin and salicylic acid, some of which we made ourselves in the lab! i just thought the colors were pretty hehe and i took the paper home!

once i'm done with the lab report i might post it for anyone interested in learning more about what we were doing (it's nothing groundbreaking)

these are capillaries, which are essentially just like miniscule test-tube-like things that you can stuff chemicals inside for a specific kind of test in a machine that we used to measure the melting point of the three types of aspirin (commercial, crude and purified product) and the salicylic acid for analysis. while stuffing one with our own purified aspirin, i broke one, and while getting another capillary i decided to take an extra to see if i could do something cool with it!

that's where i got the idea to start making a little scrapbook with lab materials i might get my hands on for labs, as a way to remember my times in the labs this year (and the rest of my career), and also to take little notes on what everything was and why it's important/what it's used for!

now for the sickest thing i got, the needle, which is under the cut for those that would rather not see:

i don't know why on god's green earth the chemistry lab docent gave a bunch of 17-19 year olds needles the size of our palms as the instrument of choice to stuff the capillaries. do they just not have anything else? no other rod or non-pokey instrument specifically for that use? in any case, i brought it home with me. it still has a mix of aspirin and salicylic acid in the tube of the needle from using it to push stuff.

but i plan to clean it and also make some cool art with it! or just have it and make it a part of my trinket collection, idk.

there ya go :) enjoy i guess lmao, there will 100% be more to come !

[calo-on-the-brain]

WHAT A GREAT TIME FOR MY CALCULATOR TO G̵̨̡̨̡̧̛͙̙̱̻͕̜̭̜͙̰̜̪̝̖̲̳̣̭̳̹̼̤̭̝͓̯̮̗͙̝̜̘̱͎̳͔͚̫͙͔̘̎́̉͑̊̓̄̆̀͐̑̒̑̾̔̔̅̓̈́̔̋͆̍̅͒͒̐͆̈́͊́̓̚͠ͅͅḐ̸̨̡͓̖̙̥͇̘̘̼̥͇̝͚̮̳̝̳̻̣̗̪̲̙̙͕̩̳̫̰̬̤͓̝̙͕̆̊̈́͆̆͛́̂̒̏̉̇͑͗́̈̓̽̇̐͊́́̂͒̓̋̇̒̚̕̚̕̚̕͘͜͜͜͜͝͠͝ͅJ̸̨̡̡̢̦̪̜̦̲̤̖͚̦̙̘̘͔̹͎̩̗͉͖̭̫̳̦̳͓̬͖̣̠̀͒̆̑̋̈̊͒̿̚͘͘͘͜͠ͅD̷͚͕͉̱̃̒̿̈́͛̃̑̄̾̚͘͠ͅḐ̴̧̢͓̞͉͈̰̣̣͍̲͓͇̥̫͍͕̬̝̩̺̀̄́̆̽̈̃̔̏͑̉̎͑̃͂̓͑̕͘͜͠͠J̸̘̹͍̩͍̖̮̳̊̏̓̓͆̂͛̊̈́̒͛̂͂̀̏͂̒͆̋̒̾̽̈́͒̔̌̆̐͘͝͝ͅF̴̡̢̧̖̫̘̦͎̺̥̻̦̻̯̱̰̟͚͉̘̝̣̱͇̪̺̏̎̃̄̽̒̃͂̃̉͗̿̓̃̋̉̿̑̒̒̚̕̚͝͝͝ͅͅJ̴̧̢̛̯̹͇̱͚̣̟̮͚̣̬͍͚̊̽͆́̎̈́̉̒͌̀́̑̃̋̑̀͗̌̈́̔̾̊̂͒͂̽̀́̔̏͂͋̊͑̅͌͐͌̋͗̍̓̃͗͘̚̕̚͝Ḑ̵̛̦̜̲̣̼̱̠̟̝̙̯͍̑̍͗̋̊͗̆̅̀̅̓̌͂̎̓̄̿̋̽̿̓͗͋̔̒̀̈́̇͋͒̈́̈̍͆̆͂͌̃̌̏͆̏͘̕̕͝͠͝͝ͅͅḰ̶̨̡̺̰̩͈̯̞̝͖͇̬͕̟̘͙̣͙̜͈͍̒Ḑ̴̢̧̡̨̨̧̡̨̛͙̲̳̮̙̲̩͕̟͉͖̖͕̬͇̗̭̩̜̣͇̣͍̬̝̘̰̭̗͈͖͓̘͋̏̈́̑̈́͜ͅͅͅͅĻ̴̛͓͉̰͎̤̞̰͕͉̥̝̙̙̰͎̻̺̞̥̤̯̻͒̎͌͗̑̿̈́̀̄͆̐͒̾̓̏͂͌̽̀̃̎̾̃̏̌̕̚͝F̵̡͍̱̗̩̹͇̹̬̹͖̳͔̻̹̝̪͔̺̟͔̬̦̞̮̘͚̱͛ͅB̵̢̘͎̤͈̮̲̖̟͓̱̙̩̱̀̐̈́͋̎̾͛̒͛̈̄͌͆̓̈́̚Ḑ̸̧̡̛̜̱̤͚̩̦̲̻̪̞̫̠͈̦̠͎̦̹͖̳̳̰̹̟̙̀̈̏̀̌̃͒͛̚͜͜ͅL̵̡̧̡͍̣̤͙̯̙͔̥͉̹͖̤͍̝̩̪͓̗̩͇̟̪͎̺̦̬̗̹̦̟̖̗͔̘̯̭͚̭͒̓̈́̈́͒̐̿F̵͑̋͐̉̄̎̂̆̅̀͒́͐͜͝B̴̡̛̲͈̘͉̹̖͖̦̮̝̝͎̤̼̹͕͙͙̬͇̞͇̊̐͂̅͋́̒́̐̅̉̑̐̾̑́̆̋̆͒̆̀̄̇̂͆̚͝ͅͅĞ̴̡̧̢͔͖̮͍̞͇͙͉̻̥̹̤̰͖͖͎͉͍͔̰̖̜̱̠͎͓͎͍̓̅̉̈́̃̅͋͑̈́̇̐͒͋̅͑̒͒́͒͋̈̄͘͘̕͜͜͝͠8̶̛̘͈̥̼͈̼͙̥̞̞͚̫̬̼̻̫͎͎͉̗̗̯̲̰̳̹̻͚̫̗̰̦̤͔̮͊̈́͐̌͋͊̎̂̊̓͂̅͆̍̀̒̈̏̈̿̋̈́̎͊̅͒̋̿̚͜͜͝ͅ0̶̧̧̢̛̭͈̣̹̟͎̘̰͙̞̙̦͍͕̰̦͇͉̘̖͖͈̳͖̜͓̹̰͍̹͖̦̝̱̔̿̾̌̏̅͘͜͜ͅ0̸̛̛̯͉̦̱̲͇͗͂͛̓̆̽͆͋̐͊̍̽̄̓̌̀̀̾̆́̿̒̇́̇̑̑̊̕͜͝͝͠8̵̩̀̀̈̎̽̀̈̇͑͛̄͠5̶̙͔͍̍̍̀̍́̀̅͗͛́̔̓̃̿́́̕̕͘͠͝

[calo-on-the-brain]

when i say i'm struggling with studying and schoolwork. i'm REALLY struggling. (that's out of 10pts each btw 😭)