Imani

21 | senior in uni | bio major

[succulentstudy]

things i wish i’d known in my first year of university

I’m reaching the end of my time at university and it’s got me all sentimental. and regretful. There are a number of things that I had learned during my time at university that I wish I’d known during first year. 

Read everything. The only valid excuse for not reading everything on the reading list is that you didn’t have time, not that you found it boring, or that it wasn’t useful. Because there’s nothing scarier than trying to write an essay on something you studied a month ago, and you have no notes on the topic. 

Revise constantly. I wish I’d revisited everything I did a week after I did it, just as a recap. I tended to focus on what I was doing in the moment because it felt the most important thing at the time. Well, during exams, everything is equal. And it’s so frustrating not quite being able to remember something. So, revise. Even just for ten minutes.

Don’t spend all of your money on impulse. I’ve bought so much rubbish that I really don’t need. And if I’d saved that money, I could have gone on holiday. Save every last penny you can. 

Eat well. I just said that you should save all the money you can, but I think that food is one exception to that rule. Try and save money where you can, obviously, but don’t go for days and days without fresh vegetables because you’re saving money for a holiday. Your mind, as well as your body, needs food.

Go and talk to professors in their student hours. I used to find this so awkward. To be honest, I still do. But if you’re going sending them an email and asking for clarification on a topic, consider maybe popping into their office when it’s open to students. And tell them if you’re struggling! If you don’t let them know, then they can’t help you.

Take hot drinks with you, to your lectures or to the library. Don’t spend all your money in the library cafe. Bring a flask of tea, and loads of study snacks in a packed lunch box. Trust me on this.

Make time to meet up with friends you haven’t seen in ages. Don’t wait for them to ask you. I make sure to socialise with my friends at least twice a week. And by socialise, I don’t mean getting blind drunk and going clubbing. Sit down and have lunch together. Chat. Get to know each other properly. Friendships formed over alcohol never last as long as friendships formed through actual conversation.

Do stuff that the university puts on for students. Join societies. Get involved. One of the best nights I ever had at university was a masquerade ball that my college put on. And for some reason, I’ve never done anything like that since then? And I don’t understand why! University is for making memories, and I don’t really have many!

Travel around your university town. If you’re university is on a campus, don’t let your life revolve around that one place. If you’ve travelled away from home to go to university, then make it worth your while! See the sights, be a tourist, get on a bus and go to a random town and buy ice cream. 

Experiment. This is the time. Dye your hair blue, join a weird and random society and take up a hobby you’d never dreamed of.  If you want to try drugs, make sure it’s a safe environment and do your research before hand. If you don’t want to do that kind of thing, then don’t judge other people for doing so.

Give yourself a day off per week. When you’re at university and you’ve got loads of work, it’s tempting to just work constantly - or at least, to work every day, if not all the time. But it’s so much better for your mental state to take a day off to just relax. 

Keep up with your chores. When you’re stressed about an assignment, you don’t want to be also stressed about that pile of washing up accumulating by the sink. Keep your room tidy too - clear space, clear mind.

Be kind to everyone. You’re going to meet a lot of people at university, some you’re going to hit it off with immediately. But there will be some who really rub you up the wrong way. Don’t worry about it, it’s completely fine to not like someone. But don’t be mean to them. This isn’t high school, you’re all here to learn and there’s just no need to make them feel bad about themselves. It’s just petty and childish.

Think about the future. I know that you’re completely wrapped up in your university life right now, but you’re going to have to venture out into the real world at some point. Do things that might help your future career: volunteer, get a job, join a sports club, make connections. University isn’t, sadly, forever.

There you have it! The advice that I would have given myself in the first year of university. Whether you’re just about to start university, or whether you’re just about to leave, I hope this is useful to you.

[angelicrying]

i hope in november you look cute and get good grades

[sara-laughed]

A full list of my guides to college success!

How to get your best grades in college (x)

The ultimate guide to college organization (x)

How to write the perfect college essay (x)

The ultimate guide to packing for college (x)

How to stay calm and reduce stress during college (x)

45 tips for staying organized in college (x)

How to prepare for college over the summer (x)

5 best apps for college students (x)

How to make a study plan for finals (x)

College is not “one size fits all” (and that’s a good thing) (x)

[kailligraphy]

after many days, my notes for the various UN case studies are completed 😴

[medemedemed]

[73/100] 13.05.16

Friday the thirteenth, but I won’t let it get to me.

Spent way too much time on breakfast this morning but how freaking beautiful is that smoothie bowl. Treats like this make me wanna work hard!

[hopelessromantic00]

me fall semester: wakes up at precisely 6am each morning, uses a planner, color codes notes, interacts with peers, has an overall positive outlook for the future

me spring semester: lying face down on the floor surrounded by overdue assignments, fiber one brownie crumbs stuck to my face, not sure if it's wednesday or sunday, waiting for the sweet release of death

[jjstudi]

05.30.16

65/100 days of productivity

Done making my study notes for my midterm this week~ also, how did I develop a cold (allergies?) after staying outside for like a microsecond…. 😷😭

[study-with-laura]

Working on my essay about the German Designer Otl Aicher and his identity system for the Munich Olympic Games. So interesting, but also so much ground to cover.

[perpetuallypinkstudies]

April 16, 2016 // Astronomy mind map

My mind map on our star, the Sun ☼

Fun fact: The further away we look in space, the further back in time we can look. The speed of light is not infinitely fast, and in that sense, telescopes are time machines.

[determinationandcaffeine]

How To Stop Procrastinating

For all the procrastinators out there, here’s a list of tips that a fellow procrastinator has found very useful through the years to get her actually doing stuff.

Start studying from day one

I know you’ve heard this a million times, but seriously, before the panic of “I can’t possibly catch up with all of this’ kicks in. Once this happens, you won’t even want to try so you’ll just procrastinate even more. I know it seems overkill to study on the first day, but think of it this way, you’ve covered almost no material and it will take you no time. Also, it only takes 30 days to form a habit, I promise you revising every day becomes second nature after a while.

But I’m already in the middle of my academic year and I can’t possibly catch up!

I’ve heard that excuse a thousand times, from myself that is. So you can’t catch up? Well, don’t. If it’s a class where you don’t need to know the previous material to understand what you’re learning about right now, take it from that point and keep up with it. You can catch up on the previous stuff little by little when you have free time.

But it’s a cumulative class and I need to know the previous material to understand what the heck my profesor is talking about! 

Watch some youtube videos on the material or go to Khanacademy. You just need to grasp the basics, you can perfect your knowledge on those topics later on, if you have time.

I just can’t get myself to open the book 

First, what is it you need to do TODAY? Let’s say you need to study a unit that has x pages and you have three days ro study it. Today you will study x/3 pages. You get it, don’t just study aimlessly, give yourself a finish point. Then write down what you want to accomplish (it’s incredibly satisfying to cross things out) but don’t write more than 5 tasks (unless they’re really small ones) per day.

Now is when you find that you don’t actually want to do any of the things on that list, so what do you want to do NOW? Do you want to watch a youtube video? Read a book? Pee? What were you planning to do to procrastinate? Well you can still do it. That is, once you study a page (or x pages, whatever you feel up to). This can be repeated until you hit that finish point you stablished earlier. You can also add extra weekly rewards like ‘If I do all my studying this week, I can do x or I can buy y’ (think small stuff, x can be calling a friend to hang out and y can be a color pen). But remember, just as important as getting that reward if you do your work is NOT getting the reward if you DON’T do the work. I don’t mean like don’t indulge if you haven’t finished one or two tasks, but, if you’ve been slacking all week yet you get the reward anyway, what your brain understands “It’s ok, I don’t actually need to work”.

I just want to lie on my bed for a bit

Yes, studying on your bed is awful and you should avoid it. But you know what’s worse than studying on your bed? Not studying at all. If you’re like me and sometimes you just randomly get these urges in the middle of the afternoom to lie on your bed ‘for a bit’ and then you fall asleep, bring your study materials to your bed. DON’T lie down, just get into a slightly reclined sitting possition. I found that for me this kind of tricks your brain into thinking that I’m resting but I can still get work done.

I have to write a paper, not study

I was planning on telling you that I have literally no tips for writing papers and lab reports (these in particular are the bane of my existence, I literally feel such hostility towards them that I will refuse to even look at the document I’m sure it has nothing to do with being a failed writer) BUT luckily I’ve found something that kind of works. So, forget about your paper for a minute, open a text document, and just WRITE. You can literally write about whatever - your day, how adorable your pet is, or a random story that makes no sense whatsoever. Force yourself to write for about three minutes. Now look back at your paper. I find that once I’ve started writing, I am a lot more willing to keep doing it, even if it’s not about the same topic. This may not work for some people though. Also, write a SUPER rough outline or just bullet points of what you want to say like “Then we add HCl. Later decantation. Test for acid pH. Finally filter and evaporate”. Expanding on something is much easier than writing it from scratch.

Clean you desk the night before

I promise having a clean space to put your books on will motivate you the next day.

And finally, a little tip from a recent experience - YOU’RE GOING TO WISH YOU HAD DONE MORE 

Personally, every time “I can just cram for this” even crosses my mind, I remind myself of how stupid I felt last semester when it came to finals and how badly I wanted to go back in time and beat past me to a pulp. But also, I remind myself of how thankful I was to past me for every little thing that she HAD studied because it was one less thing to worry about. So, when you want to slack off, think of your future self thanking you for not doing so.

So, with this advice in mind, go hit your books right now and start becoming a better version of yourself!

[mangonotes]

You guys 😍 Look how cute these washi tapes are 😍

[studyispower]

those full set of mildliner feels 🙌🏻

[studyingstudent]

the best money I’ve ever spent

[steudious]

june 10, 2016

this is the result of quick note-taking during my legal studies class. on a side note, i have a four-day weekend and am determined to get lots of work done!!

[astudy-b]

30/05/16-20:14 14/100 days of productivity // biology revision and running as usual😁

[astrophysix]

{7/100 Days of Productivity} Trying out a new coffee shop with @twooatomsinamolecule, but since I a already had coffee today, I got dragonfruit eucalyptus iced tea (which is delicious, by the way).

[studybowie-blog]

I’m an early bird: I like to wake up around 6 am, get ready, just taking my time and then start working. Even when I don’t have school, If I wake up after 8 am I feel like I’ve already wasted half of my day. I think waking up early is the key to a productive life so these are just a few tips to follow if you want to become a morning (and more productive) person🌸

don’t dine late 🍑 You should always wait 2-3 hours after your last meal before going to sleep. I used to eat and then go to bed in 30mins-1hour… just changing this habit improved my sleep a lot!!

plan + prep 🍑 Before bed I always prepare my school/work stuff, food, clothes etc to avoid rushing in the morning. I also like to have a general idea of what I’ll do the next day. (Check the weather report as well!)

get more BETTER sleep 🍑 Following the sleep cycle theory is the best way to get a good night’s sleep! If you wake up at the end of a cycle, you’ll feel well-rested. On the other hand, if you “interrupt” a cycle you’ll feel tired no matter how many hours you’ve slept. Each cycle lasts about 90 mins and, on average, we need ~15 mins to fall asleep. There are tons of apps for this, too. I personally stick to sleepyti.me. 

know your sleeping habits 🍑 It is important, however, to know how many hours of sleep you should get (according to your age) as well as the ACTUAL amount of sleep you need to feel rested… and that’s up to you, ‘cause we’re all different! For example, I sleep a lil less than I should for my age but it still works.

drink water 🍑 This aspect is SO underrated oh my god- if you wake up tired even after 9 hours of good sleep, it’s probably because you’re dehydrated! Drink a glass of water before going to sleep (it helps lowering your body temperature too)!

speaking of temperature… 🍑 It is thought that the best room temperature for sleep should be between 60-67°F (16-20°C)

no light, no light 🍑 Stay away from artificial light (computer, phone, tv etc) 15-30 mins before going to bed. I’m guilty here, since I always check my phone before sleeping… 😰 Turn off your electronics and do something else: take care of yourself, your skin, take a shower, have some chamomile, read a book, stretch&meditate…

set your alarm 🍑 I wake up almost every day 5-10 mins before my alarm: that’s because our bodies gradually get used to our routine (the so-called biological clock!) Anyway, to avoid sleeping in, I recommend you to set an alarm. Additional tips are changing the tune every week and putting your phone across your room.

wake up 🍑 To actually wake yourself up the first thing you wanna do is wash your face with cold water. Yes, even if it’s winter. Sorry, I don’t make the rules! (I like to do some yoga stretches too but it’s optional)

get ready 🍑 Have a shower, get ready, morning routine… do your thing! Remember to always take some time for yourself. Don’t rush it. Take your time. It’s the best part of the day.

NEVER skip breakfast 🍑 Please please please for the love of God you should always eat something within 1 hour after waking up. Drink plenty of water too!! Check out my feed your brain masterpost for more!

plan your day out 🍑 While having breakfast I write all the tasks I have to do in my planner (I watch the news and check my instagram too haha). If you don’t like planners I suggest you to write everything on a piece of paper you’ll eventually throw away. The key here is to free your mind from thoughts, problems and focusing on important things.

Now gather up all your things and you’re ready to go!

«Whatever you do, always give 100%. Unless you’re donating blood.»

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[studehhh]

planning ahead. so it’s midyear break for our university and here are some thing i wrote down because i thought they’d be helpful in preparing for the next semester.

for review materials, use filler notebooks and then compile them afterwards

have huge envelopes per subject for keeping handouts, test papers, etc.

have only one notebook per subject for the entire semester this will minimize the compilation you have to do when the sem is over.

invest in good paper supplies. they don’t have to be expensive but they have to work for you. it’s not worth it to buy something over your budget that you won’t use.

always, always have a planner ready. jot down everything you need to do for the day especially when you need to keep track of the papers, problem sets, quizzes, exams, and topics to work on. jot down everything you need to do. don’t be lazy!

have a whiteboard near your bed with big to-do lists for the next day.

immediately return your things where they belong!!! i cannot stress this enough.

do NOT study while lying down unless you’ve figured it actually works for you. it’s a recipe for disaster.

always try to read ahead. if you’re in your break, try to read the topics in the subjects you are about to take for the next semester.

*actually* read the thing you’re supposed to do.

you can’t call it studying unless you are able to solve problems! make cheat sheets of formulas and internalize their contents as soon as possible. cramming information in a very short time is not good and not effective at all. basically don’t procrastinate and space out your studying!!

note the essentials! understand the process(es)! you must be able to explain the concept to other people.

when you’ve done everything and you’re still having a difficult time, consult with your TAs or professors! they’re more than willing to help you!

have a minimum number of hours of studying a day. set a quota. focus and don’t break it! 

have a jug of water or a cup of tea clsoe by. or brain food if you wish. hydrate and nourish yoself!

concentrate focus concentrate focus *repeat x 10000000*

take breaks when needed bUT NOT TOO MUCH!!!!!

continuously motivate yourself!! it’s tiring but someday it will all be worth it!!

sabi nga nila, “ang tulog nababawi pero ang singko hindi.” (they said that you can make up for sleep but you can never erase a failing grade.) hope you all have wonderful wonderful study sessions and may you all achieve your dreams in life! :D