One Nice Bug Per Day
i don't do bad sauce passes
todays bird
Claire Keane
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
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DEAR READER
KIROKAZE
Cosimo Galluzzi
sheepfilms
roma★
izzy's playlists!
Love Begins
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Keni
will byers stan first human second
JVL
we're not kids anymore.
tannertan36
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@meusayshi
HOLY SHIT, IT WAS THE ORIGINAL ONE
MAKE A WISH
the first post ever on tumblr
I WAS EXPECTING IT TO BE A REMAKE OF SOME SORT HOLY FUCK
WHO THE FUCK KEEPS BRINGING THIS BACK
World Heritage Post
like actually though. i’m in AWE of the notecount.
yooo how do u email a prof for a recommendation letter?
Hi Professor!
I am in the process of applying to ____ and they require letters of rec. I sincerely enjoyed your classes, and felt that they gave me a particularly good chance to display my strengths, such as ____ [class participation, writing, etc.] and would love for you to write me a letter, if you’d be willing. The due date is ____, and I can send you further instructions for submission later if you accept.
Attached to this email is ____, the piece of work I did in your class which best showcases my abilities, as well as my current CV [or resume]. If you agree to write me a letter, soon I will also send you drafts of my ____ [statement of purpose, personal statement, application essays, other relevant material] for my application to aid in your writing. I am also happy to meet in person to discuss this with you.
I want to stress that this application is quite competitive, so if you feel you will not be able to write me a strong letter then I completely understand - but please let me know. Thank you so much for your time!
Sincerely, ____
—
a few notes:
- you should have all your relevant materials (app essays, etc.) sent to them *at least* a month in advance to give them ample time to write the letter
- thus, your initial email asking them if they’d be willing to write a letter for you should be sent *over* a month in advance. professors are busy
- if you are applying for a really prestigious position/scholarship/fellowship, or grad school, it’s best to have at least a majority of your letter writers be professors (rather than adjuncts or post docs). ideally you’d want them to be full/tenured professors. in lots of cases, especially academic ones, *who* writes your letter matters - not just *what’s in* your letter
- the reason you send them the piece of work you did in their class that you are most proud of is to remind them of your abilities as a student and the quality of the work you produced for them. they have lots of students. sometimes they need a bit of help jogging their memory of exactly what you did in their class.
- the reason you send them your other application materials (personal statement, statement of purpose, CV) is so that they have information to draw from when writing your letter. they know what you’re passionate about, what you hope to do in the future, other experience you have, and can use this information when writing your letter
- on a similar note, this is also why you’d want to list the strengths you displayed in their class
- basically, you want to give them as much information as you can about your strengths, goals, and intentions - give them prompts they can use to write your letter
- the bit at the end about asking for a “strong letter” is important because some professors can only write you mediocre letters (e.g. “this student was always on time to class and gave their undivided attention during lecture” - what does this tell admission committees? well, it tells them that the professor has nothing positive to say about your *academic* abilities and so they’re resorting to other strengths. it’s a polite way of saying “this student was okay, but not spectacular in any notable way”. big red flag for admissions committees.) if all you’re going to get is a mediocre letter, you might as well not get a letter at all
- if the professor you ask accepts, then be sure to send them polite reminders as the date approaches. (i usually send a reminder at the 1-month-till-due-date mark when i send the other application materials, and then again at the 2 week and 1 week marks, and, if necessary, every day after the final 3 days leading up to the due date
—
i know this was a lot, but i remember being in your shoes and being completely lost when it came to applying for stuff so i know how daunting it can be. i figured i’d just throw all this information at you to be of as much help as possible.
for reference, i’ve applied to graduate programs, fellowships, and scholarships. i have been accepted into several of the top 10 graduate programs in my area, as well as received multiple scholarships and a fellowship, and received honorable mentions for some of the most competitive fellowships in the US. i have also worked with the admissions committee at my graduate program to organize multiple informational events for those interested in applying to graduate school and, in the process, have learned a lot about what makes a strong application.
so while you should absolutely take my advice with a grain of salt (different circumstances call for different standards), i do have quite a bit of experience with applications and what makes a strong letter of rec.
i hope this helped! best of luck with whatever you’re applying for :)
i’d also like to add that it helps to ask in person or over a zoom call, but emails are nice too as long as they look like this!
I’d also like to add that you should choose profs who can attest to different strengths. For example, one of my recommenders was someone I grew a close bond to so she was able to talk about my personality and dedication. Another person talked about my class participation in their seminar class and how I contributed to the overall class discussion. The last professor taught my capstone class where I wrote a 10 page research paper about a topic of my choice, she was able to speak on my writing and research abilities.
How to write a kickass paper/essay
Because sooner or later, you will have to do it. You won’t get through high school and/or college without doing it. Here’s how to get a good grade on the first try.
1. This isn’t the same thing as writing a story. In fiction writing, bending grammar rules and stuffy writing conventions is okay. In academic writing, it’s not. Get the facts across first and worry about character later. Academic writing is kind of boring, I know. Act like you know what you’re talking about. Don’t abuse the thesaurus until you sound like a post from r/iamverysmart, but try to sound educated.
2. Pick a specific topic. One of my essays from high school was a comparison of youth activism against violence, in the 1960s versus the 2010s. Ridiculously specific? Not ridiculously. If you pick a topic that’s too broad, you’ll end up pulling your brain every which way and overwhelming yourself. You might have some hits and misses with this, but it’s an important part of writing. Going over the word limit is just as annoying to your teacher as going under.
3. MELELEC. My 11th-grade English teacher taught me this little trick and I use it as a mainstay for writing. It’s helped me ace assignments and win scholarships. MELELEC is a paragraph structure that helps you write paragraphs that are not only thicc and will eat up page space, but also are packed with meaningful content. The format is Main Point - Explain - Link - Explain - Link - Explain - Conclusion. You introduce the idea of the paragraph, add some extra information, link a related point or piece of information, explain that, link another point, explain that, and then conclude the idea expressed in the paragraph. It works, I swear. Teachers and professors love it.
4. Absolutely NO second-person. That’s when you directly address the audience as “you.” Yeah, don’t do that if you want to sound professional. I’m doing it right now and sounding hypocritical af because I don’t need to sound professional. It’s Tumblr. Enough said. Anyway, second-person statements tend to have a defensive effect on the audience, which makes them automatically more hostile to whatever you’re trying to say. (”Nuh-uh. I don’t think that. I would do that. That’s not how it works for me.”) And given that the whole point of your essay is to convince your audience that you’re right, that’s counterintuitive. The only time the word “you” should appear in academic writing is when it’s in the context of a quotation.
5. Avoid first-person, too. In some cases, you might need to write an essay in the first person, like when a college prof asks you to write about a personal experience. Yeah, good luck writing about your life without actually mentioning yourself. But in more impersonal writing, like informative or persuasive essays, it looks unprofessional. Sorry, but the audience doesn’t want to hear your take on stuff; they want to know the facts. (Well, if you want to be really specific, they want to hear your take on stuff when it’s expressed as fact and backed up with, ya know, actual facts.) Which leads me into my next point…
6. State opinions as facts. Don’t do this in real life, as it makes you look like a pompous asshole, but do it in academic writing. In other words, never soften a sentence with “I think” or “In my opinion.” Everyone already knows it’s your opinion, anyway. Instead of softening the the blow to lessen the chance of it offending someone, cite some evidence or make another point to back up your claim. That’s substance, which is what your teachers and profs are looking for.
7. The thesis. It’s all about the thesis. The thesis is the TL;DR of your paper. It’s the answer to the question “What’s the doodly-darn point of this essay?” The traditional spot for the thesis statement is the last sentence of the first paragraph – it’s punchy and to the point there. Take time to have a good thesis
8. Don’t ask rhetorical questions. You’re the one who should be answering the questions that your audience has. So predict what they might ask about your topic or the points that you make, and answer them. It’s not the audience’s job to answer your questions, for the love of all things good. You can make them leave thinking about what you wrote without being so anvilicious.
9. Three is the magic number. In high school, the typical format you’ll have for an essay is the five-paragraph format. Now you might be going “Whut? I thought you said that three was the magic number, Saybyebus.” Well, yes, I did say that, but two of the five essays are the introduction and the conclusion. So that leaves you with three paragraphs to really get into the meat of your essay and dish out the important information. So one of the best ways to work with this is to make your thesis three-pronged, and use each of the three paragraphs to address a point of your thesis. Boom-shacka-lacka. I just laid out the structure of your essay. Does that mean you have to cite me as credit? IDK, actually. But that does remind me of my next point…
10. DON’T PLAGIARIZE! Bruh, don’t do it. Whenever you learn something from someone else’s work and add that information to your essay, you have to cite them, even if you paraphrase them. If you don’t do that, it’s plagiarism. In high school, it’ll get you a big-ass downgrade, and you will probably get yelled at by your teacher. In college, it could get you SUSPENDED or EXPELLED. They take that shit seriously. So you should too.
19.01.21, tuesday
rearraging furniture in the middle of a zoom lecture just so I could sit next to the radiator
my masterpost | my studygram | ask me anything | How to Stop Procrastinating
November 17, 2020 // trying to meet journal deadlines and outline for final exams
A brand new study corner full of sun lights✨
Studying & self-care // studygram
05.05.2020 // 12:45am
the coffee of all coffees ☕
also moved my desk to the other wall of my room, so i have a bit more natural light. what do you think? :)
good morning!!! day 3 of online classes. so far, so good. I love my mornings where I have breakfast and watch med vlogs 💫
Here is a different angle of my desk.
Day 25 - Tag someone who gives good advice
@medical-magpie, as someone who already went through what I am going through right now, they really helped me keep grounded.
Tips for Surviving Online School
Since most of us are online due to COVID-19, I decided to make a short infographic (thanks to Canva) on how to make online learning easier. I'm on the same boat too but I made online classes into a way I can somewhat enjoy. I hope this helps for anyone who needs it!
˗ˏˋ playlists to study/vibe to ˎˊ˗
dark academia - acoustics n lots of hozier for that classical literature aesthetic
cowboy music - western-sounding indie music for ppl who don’t like country music lmao
8tracks indie - if you’re one of the OGs who used 8tracks, these are the songs that were in like every single playlist
rainy - lots of oldies! i kinda imagined it as cafe music during the post apocalypse hehe
soleil - warm-sounding songs!
surf rock - the sort of music that’d be in a summer indie film soundtrack
moomin! - it’s cottagecore, babey!
oranges and honey - lo-fi
she hasn’t met him yet - if you like boy pablo and happy indie this is 4 u
The way the 8tracks Indie playlist perfectly captured being 14 ....
here’s a list of my favourite playlists that i listen to when studying. only one playlist has lyrics so if you find that distracting you can skip it!
1 am study session - lofi hip hop/chill beats (1 hour)
a rainy town - animal crossing ost + thunderstorm ambiance (1 hour)
breath of the wild relaxing music with rain (1 hour)
lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to (live radio)
relaxing life is strange music (1 hour) *has lyrics
relaxing music from uncharted series (45 mins)
skyrim music & ambiance - night (1 hour)
skyrim music & ambiance - rainy day (10 hours)
studio ghibli summer night piano collection with nature sounds (7 hours)
the last of us - relaxing music compilation (30 mins)
the legend of zelda - calming & relaxing music compilation (1 hour)
the witcher 3 - peaceful music & nature ambiance (1 hour)
the witcher 3 toussaint - relaxing music for sleep and study (1 hour)
uncharted - ambient music & ambience (1 hour)
all playlists
Pierre and Paulette, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris (1962) Photo: Ed van der Elsken
a yummy snack, an iced maple chai latte, and some important anti-racist reading 🤎☕️
Spring fills me with hope, a sort of brightness in my heart 🌻
My research proposal has been approved so I’ve moved on to my application for ethics approval!! I feel so relieved and proud that I am making good progress.
