Study Hard. Study Smart.

Study tips and inspiration

[awfullybigwardrobe44]

High schoolers and college kids, don’t let anyone EVER tell you that life gets worse after you graduate.

“You think this is hard, wait till you graduate and experience REAL life!”

Absolutely not. Real life is wonderful.

Yes, there’s adulting and jobs and a whole new set of responsibilities.

But THERES NO HOMEWORK. You can come home from work and do WHATEVER YOU WANT. Or even if you still have a ton to do after work, you don’t have to sit down and do 60 assignments.

Seriously. I feel like I became me again after being a slave to homework for 12 years. I have free time to engage in MY interests. I’m rediscovering what it’s like to be me without academics and homework and tests and finals.

It’s coming. Hang in there.

[berlockholmes]

Also: “High school/college are the best years of your life!” No. No way. Goodness knows I had fun in high school and in college, but the idea that all the fun ends when you become an adult? Preposterous. At 34, I have never felt more *right* in my own skin, and I know myself better than ever before. I know how to have fun the way I want to. There is seriously no comparison. High schoolers, college kids...the best is absolutely yet to come.

[awfullybigwardrobe44]

High schoolers and college kids, don’t let anyone EVER tell you that life gets worse after you graduate.

“You think this is hard, wait till you graduate and experience REAL life!”

Absolutely not. Real life is wonderful.

Yes, there’s adulting and jobs and a whole new set of responsibilities.

But THERES NO HOMEWORK. You can come home from work and do WHATEVER YOU WANT. Or even if you still have a ton to do after work, you don’t have to sit down and do 60 assignments.

Seriously. I feel like I became me again after being a slave to homework for 12 years. I have free time to engage in MY interests. I’m rediscovering what it’s like to be me without academics and homework and tests and finals.

It’s coming. Hang in there.

[historyy]

just humanities student things

getting overly defensive of your favourite historical / literary / classical figure

suddenly remembering how much knowledge there is to acquire and getting stressed about the overwhelming amount of stuff you don’t know

roman numerals: you either love them or you hate them

when your teacher is obsessed with one bit of the course and teaches you that for weeks then breezes over the rest

anachronisms

you’ve listened to so many in our times that melvyn bragg is basically your internal monologue

waking up in the morning with a desire to know everything about one specific thing that’s totally unrelated to everything you’re studying

‘ooo i know this word!’ she did not know that word

muddling up the actual history, the fictionalised versions of the actual history, and the fanfictionalised versions of the fictionalised versions of the actual history

‘what can this cartoon / movie / song / art tell us about x’

history students are over prepared for politics and classics students are over prepared for english lit

reading aloud in terrible accents in english lit

j s t o r

[le-petit-cahier44]

My life

[le-petit-cahier44]

For current teachers/professors, or anyone who is thinking about teaching

Don’t take pride if your class is the hardest class. Don’t take pride in being the strictest teacher. Don’t make your assignments impossibly and unreasonably difficult and then justify it with “my class is hard but you’re going to learn so much”.

Challenging students is great. Making them think is great.

Making them have mental breakdowns and then bragging about how your class is the best- that’s not ok. That’s disturbing, actually.

Care a little about your students. If barely any students can pass your class, you’re not the “best teacher” or the “teacher that makes students think”, you’re a bad teacher.

Students learn by thinking, but they won’t want to think anymore if they think there’s no use and they’re just going to get a bad grade anyway.

[dantecain]

When I complain about being a ‘gifted’ kid who grew into a talentless adult I don’t mean that I’m not trying to work on my talents or anything

I mean that the ‘gifts’ I had are useless

Reading books above my age isn’t a talent when I’m not eleven

Knowing big words isn’t a talent when I’m not a kid, it’s just growing up

It’s just a weird thing that happens and it feels shitty when you’re brought up being told you’re an exceptional child only to realise as an adult you’re just average

[coolfayebunny]

This

[riotbrrrd]

I did a lot of reading about gifted kids and especially gifted adults when I got my “diagnosis” because I was told I was gifted at 23 and well, it serves no purpose to have a confirmation that you’re gifted at 23

Thing is, gifted children are not amazingly better than everyone else. Gifted brains just don’t work the same so they build their skills in a different order

Basically when you’re very young, most people brain learn social skills and how to interact with their peers, but gifted brains are already at the next step which is how to understand and interact with the world

That makes the stereotypical young children that are very good at math, always asking questions about how things work, very upset when they don’t know a thing

But the thing is, when everyone gets older, they’ve mastered most social skills and now turn towards understanding the world

But the gifted children have already mastered that part and are turning towards how to build social skills. Except there’s no one left to teach us about that! Because we’re late to that party

Long story short, at the end everyone, gifted or not, goes through all the necessary steps to make functioning adults, so the difference that was obvious as a child has disappeared

But us gifted people often end up with social anxiety and impostor syndrome because we are actually less equipped than others to face a world that taught everyone to be confident and talk to people while we were busy reading books above our age

[poppetawoppet]

……………that last paragraph.

damn.

[le-petit-cahier44]

Ok but also, being told that everyone else around you is gifted is damaging too.

I grew up watching all of my friends being praised for how talented they are- the ones in my classes were praised and used as examples, and won awards, and some of my best friends were put in higher math groups or put in entirely other classes because of their gifts. I was literally average, or maybe even slightly below. When my 6th grade teacher was first teaching algebra and said “Alright, is there anyone who doesn’t understand this?” I was literally the only one who raised my hand. And I was ready to cry.

I even begged my parents to let me take the “gifted” test that would place me in those higher classes if I passed. I wouldn’t have, but I so desperately wanted to be with my friends, but even more than that, I wanted to be told I was gifted.

Watching my gifted friends get rewarded made me a perfectionist. I felt like I was never good enough as a kid and thus I pushed myself nearly to a breaking point with grades in high school to prove I was worth something, and that working hard could still get you places when all that ever seemed to count was talent.

Plus, for what it’s worth, I have social anxiety too, and it might be from all of those years of trying to impress people. When I don’t feel like I’m impressing people (aka I do something awkward), I beat myself up about it for hours.

I get it that it’s damaging in the long run to be told you’re gifted, but it’s also incredibly hard to see others being told that. I’m not trying to start a debate about who has it harder, that would be dumb, since there are definite disadvantages and struggles on both sides. I always appreciate these posts when I see them because I’ve never thought that being told you’re gifted could be a disadvantage, since that’s literally all I wanted as a kid.

I just wanted to give a perspective from the other side.

[le-petit-cahier44]

Just a note

Really, really sorry for those who followed this blog hoping for daily content. That's what I had intended it to be, but I have taken a long, long break from tumblr recently. I will probably still post a few things here, but it might be few and far in between. Sorry guys :/

[le-petit-cahier44]

Ok but there was this super cool looking book at Barnes and Nobel. It looked super duper old, like the gold lettering had worn off, and the top of the pages was nearly black. The only date I found in the book was the copyright date, which I believe was 1946. It was like $8 with a new-looking price tag on it. Idk. Just seems like a fancy old book snuck into B+N.

[le-petit-cahier44]

So I made a goal to not procrastinate for my New Year's resolution And I just have this feeling that I'm going to procrastinate on not procrastinating Ya feel me

[le-petit-cahier44]

Hey y'all! Long time no post!

I'm going to read and/or listen to French every day to help my vocabulary. What's your New Year's study resolution?

[achrondite-deactivated20170123]

my problem with writing stories is that i’d rather imagine it and play it out in my mind than actually put it into words 

[wordsnquotes]

The fire blazing in her dark and injured heart seemed to glow around her like a flame.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned (via aryasnow)

Little Fitzgerald things. He's my favorite author ever, I love his little poetic tidbits like this. He just has this way of explaining things, in all of his books. I feel like I've never connected with an author more than I do him. And he had a troubled life and made some big mistakes, but in his writing I think we can all hear a little bit of the deep parts of ourselves because he's able to bring them out and explain them in beautiful ways that we never thought were possible.

[theexfiles-deactivated20190101]

IM GOING TO STAB MYSELF IN THE FOOT I JUST SENT MY ENGLISH TEACHER MY ESSAY ON HAMLET AND IT WAS STILL NAMED “the fresh prince of denmark yo holla”

[bekstek]

oh man, i love receiving unedited final drafts:

cracks me up every time

[le-petit-cahier44]

Fair reminder to check your drafts, folks XD good luck on finals! 💜

[le-petit-cahier44]

"Trying to tear her down was your first mistake... Cuz little do you know, she wasn't built to break." -Grace Vanderwaal, Clay

[le-petit-cahier44]

Hey guys! Any Grace Vanderwaal fans out there?

If you're mad that she won AGT, you've got a lot of company. I personally love her voice, but I know it's not for everyone, and that's cool. BUT I love her music for a different reason. I'm 19, and I hear so much of my 12-year-old self in her music. Grace is so wise beyond her years. All of the songs on her EP have the same overarching theme- being comfortable in your own skin, not caring what others think, and just being yourself. "I don't know my name"- reflecting on the part of her life where she wasn't sure who she wanted to be yet, the process of self-discovery and self-acceptance "Clay"- not letting yourself be molded by others- your self-worth and self-image isn't up for debate. You are who you are and confidant about it. "Light the Sky"- being different causes you to shine brighter than everyone else. Don't be afraid to "let your light out". "Beautiful Thing"- reflecting on her relationship with her sister and how that relationship shapes her and what it means to her. The importance of family/close friends. "Gossip Girl"- don't listen to what others say. They don't define you, and the Gossip Girl's talk only makes her cheap. I even think it could be argued that she hints that a Gossip Girl is just covering up her own insecurities. And, last but not least, the album is called "Perfectly Imperfect." These are messages that any 12-year-old must hear. But it doesn't stop there. These are messages that everyone needs to hear. You are unique, you are different, and that makes you beautiful. Be confident in that and don't let others' opinions shape you. I'm absolutely astounded at the acoustic beauty of this EP, but also the significance behind it. The level of self-confidence Grace has is something I'm still trying to achieve, and I'm 19. Download the EP! You won't regret it!

[le-petit-cahier44]

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

If Thanksgiving isn't really a thing in your country... Well I hope you have a wonderful day anyway ;) Oh, and... I'm thankful for all of you 💜

[hashslinging-slasher]

the great gatsby au where gatsby says “my dude” instead of “old sport”

[jemmasimmonstbh]

@sciencebabies44

[le-petit-cahier44]

Hey guys, another school tip not related to Studyblr but still important:

So last night I pulled out a bunch of papers and notes and little objects that I have saved- things that were important and significant to me and my best friend. In here were notes that we passed in 8th grade during class, notes we left in each other's lockers, etc. I also have some binders full of memories from junior high and high school, complete with certificates I earned, ticket stubs from dances, notes from teachers, a few grade reports, and a few assignments that I was proud of. If you're in school, whether it be junior high or high school or college (or even elementary school- I know there are a few youngins on tumblr), make a time-capsule type thing for yourself. Super proud of an essay you did really well on? Save it. Passed a funny note with your BFF in class? Save it. Trust me, it is fun to look back on these things. I wish I could say that when you look back on your school days, you're going to remember all the fun times you had with your friends. You might. But if you're like me, you might not look upon your school days too fondly once you graduate- my mentality recently has been "thank goodness I'm done with high school and AP classes and all that homework". You want to remember the good things too. So even if school is stressful and not very fun now, you will have good times in school. And you should give yourself a chance to remember those things. So save a few tokens as a testament to your school-self!