With classes starting up again just around the corner, here are some tips to make sure you have a great semester/year! 📓🦢🩷✏️
🎀 Start by starting new. Think of this semester and school year as a fresh start - because that’s what it is! Let go of the past and turn over a new leaf. Really embrace the fact that this is a new school year! This can be mentally, psychically, and emotionally! I get more into it later on in this post!
🎀 Pick out your own school supplies!Having supplies you like really helps to keep you motivated. For example, most people forget to use their planners, but if you find a planner you really like, you’re more likely to keep up with using it! For my college girlies, I know many school supplies aren’t as necessary, but small things like cute notebooks, nice pens, and a laptop case can help with your entire vibe!
🎀 Before school starts, clean your room! This may be very obvious to some, but a clean room = clean mind. Make your space yours. Clean your room at home before moving into your dorm, too. You don’t want to come home over holiday breaks to a messy room! Keep up with cleaning your dorm to help make it a sacred space for yourself. Get organized! Make a system that works. Bring items with you that will make it a homey and comfortable space for you to be in! If you have roommates, I would recommend putting a cleaning schedule in place. For example, one week your roommate cleans the room, takes out the trash, etc. and the next week, you do the same. It becomes much easier to manage and you’ll come to find out that cleaning is very helpful and relaxing! I always found that my dorm rooms were such small spaces, there wasn’t much room for messes anyways. However my room did get quite dusty often and did require some vacuuming!
🎀 Don’t be afraid to romanticize your life. Your life is a tv show, and you are the main character! Confidence is key. Trust me, positivity and confidence are very attractive and more people will want to be around you if you radiate positivity! Sometimes it even helps to have a ‘Study like ____’ mindset. Think of a character that has passion and confidence in their studies, and kind of romanticize being like them (Hermione granger, Rory Gillmore, Elle Woods, Blair Waldorf). Looking these up on Pinterest really helps!
🎀 Put effort into your appearance & outfits! I always felt that if I look good, I feel good too. I know it’s very common to have motivation to dress nice in the start of a school year, but always seem to not be able to keep up with it past the first week. If you’re going to college, it helps to bring more options for nicer clothes and limit comfy clothes, which kind of forces you to wear more than sweats and a tshirt everyday. It helps to plan out your outfits the night before, or even the week before. If this feels like too much, you can start by picking one or two days out of the week to be a ‘dress-up’ day! I did this last year on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, which happened to be the days I had the most classes on. This really helped me to stay motivated and confident, and so I definitely recommend doing this! Along with that, this summer I’ve been really immersing myself in all types of makeup products, hair styles, and body care items, so I know which ones I should take back to school with me. Doing this makes me feel like I’m starting over brand new, on a clean slate as well. If you feel like you’re in need of a glow-up, this is definitely something to keep in mind! (Although you’re beautiful the way you are! Sometimes people just outgrow old habits!)
🎀 Make a vision board!!!! I really cannot stress this enough, but make a vision board! I made one at the beginning of the year, and mostly everything I put into it has come true! All of the things I had put on my vision board came true: I found a fun job, while it’s not going to be a life-long career for me, I’m still bringing money in for the time being. In 2023, I was in a really bad spot with friends, and now I have found amazing friends that I’m so grateful for! I got into a relationship, and even though it didn’t last and it wasn’t right for me, a relationship was something I had on my board that I had never done before. I get good grades at school, I have attended multiple concerts, and even went to the beach, which was all something I had on my board. I decided to make a new one for the fall semester of my school year, kind of so I could start fresh and just update it to where I’m at mentally now! Even if you did make one at the start of 2024, A lot has happened in the past eight months, so it’s always good to update it. Never stop visualizing things you want in life!
🎀 This one is definitely easier said than done, but really put yourself out there! !!!!GET INVOLVED!!!! Join clubs, volunteer, join sororities, join sports, make friends at the gym, go to parties, get involved with people from your major, make connections, get a campus job, reach out to professors (ask questions!), go to school organized events (even if they sound super boring!) even if it’s just leaving your dorm every night to go to the dining hall…be social!!!! I truly cannot stress this enough. I knew of people who never left their dorms, and they never made friends that way. They hated school and were miserable! College is supposed to be a time of self-discovery and finding your people, so go out and do just that! Go out of your comfort zone! If you’re entering your freshman year, nobody knows who you are, so you need to make that name for yourself! This might seem like a lot of pressure to handle, but it’s really not. Everyone is in the same boat, they’re all looking for friends. Making friends and connections really helps your year go by so much easier and quicker.
🎀 AVOID DRAMA AT ALL COSTS. Drama is so middle school! Ew! Really, in the long run of things, drama has no effect on you whatsoever. If you’re in college, it’s time for you to mature from the high school drama mindset. I learned this the hard way, and I surrounded myself with people who hadn’t grown from that yet. They incorporated drama into everything we did, and it was so draining. I eventually got away from them, and it was so worth it! You already have so much on your plate with your studies, no one really has time to deal with silly drama. It’s only going to give you unnecessary stress and distract you from what’s really important! No one has time or energy for that! Focus on yourself and what you need!
🎀 Create a routine and STICK TO IT!!! The first 1-2 weeks of a new year can always be difficult, but once you have that new schedule down, that’s when it gets easier. Create a routine for yourself that incorporates all your classes, study time, meals, self care time, and social time and anything else you want to accomplish, and you’re set! Don’t be afraid to hold yourself accountable! ♡
🎀 Make time for yourself. Don’t overextend yourself trying to do things for others. This is your life, so do things for you! Always set aside a specific amount of time each day for you to be alone with yourself and your thoughts. Try not to be on your phone either. Try to be completely unplugged. Maybe try journaling, doing some self care, crafting, or doing any hobby that you enjoy! Being okay with being alone is what one needs!
I may think of more things to come, but for now this is what comes to mind immediately. You can ask me any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them ♡
‘tis the season again, so here are some handy websites and browser extensions i’ve discovered over the past few years that’ll hopefully make this year a bit easier for you. i’m taking high-school-level classes, but a lot of these should help with college/uni work, too!
feel free to reblog and add your own recommendations :)
the only ones you have to install and/or sign up for have an asterisk, but note that they’re all free either way.
L A N G U A G E A R T S
planet ebook
this is my go-to for digital (and legal!) classic literature. i download the pdf files and upload them to places like one note to annotate, but epub and mobi versions are also available if you prefer those. no need to break your back over hauling textbooks and your required readings!
audible stories
this doesn’t have the widest selection of audio books, but it definitely has its uses! there are a lot of classics on there, which could come in handy for a literature or english class.
easybib
this is the best citation tool ever. i love that i can choose which style i want to use and what kind of media i’m researching with (books, journals, websites, etc.). if i need to, i can go in and edit any (citation) category i want, but that isn’t usually necessary because it can find stats that even i can’t while looking at the source. enter some info, copy ‘n paste the works cited list to your paper, and you’re done!
i recommend the web version and not the google docs add-on because the add-on doesn’t let you customize your citations
gradeproof* or grammarly*
these are both grammar/spelling checkers that provide plenty of stats, which are most useful for speeches. you can use these to see your character count, word count, number of sentences, syllables per word, words per sentence, readability, grade level, reading time, speaking time, etc.
wordcounter
this is a great alternative if you can’t/don’t want to install gradeproof or grammarly.
powerthesaurus
this is my go-to thesaurus... it has a ton of features if you go on the website (it’s not just for synonyms, though those are seemingly endless!). plus, if i don’t want to open a new tab, i can use the extension in my toolbar to see a brief list!
just a word of caution: look up any words you don’t know (because if you go far enough down the list, they’re not completely relevant anymore).
onelook
i use this reverse dictionary to find the word that’s on the tip of my tongue but i just can’t name (though it has a lot more features than that!).
cueprompter
this is the perfect teleprompter for any speeches you need to record (maybe for an online graduation? a virtual debate?).
xodo*
this is a great digital annotation tool (right in your browser) for those of you who don’t have an app like goodnotes on your ipad. you can upload files from your google drive, your device, or dropbox and draw on them, type notes, add comments, highlight, choose different underline patterns, add shapes/arrows, etc. all while customizing opacity, thickness, and colors. you’re also able to zoom in/out, change page width, rotate the page, change your layout (pdf, book, magazine), and choose a transition style.
A R T
canva*
i love this site to death---if you haven’t heard of it yet, what are you doing?? i can design everything from a resume to a powerpoint to a school dance flyer on this thing! there are beautiful templates to choose from, but if that’s not your thing (it isn’t mine either), then there are millions of photos, doodles, graphics, fonts, borders, backgrounds, etc. to choose from. plus, you can even upload your own content. (i designed the header for this post on there!)
F O R E I G N L A N G U A G E S
typeit
i hate having to remember all the keyboard shortcuts for special characters, so i just copy and paste from this international keyboard. choose a language, and you’re good to go. :)
audible stories
did i put this in two different categories? yes. audible stories has free audio books in english, spanish, french, german, portuguese, italian, dutch, and japanese! i recommend finding a children’s audiobook on there in your target language and pulling up an ebook online so you can improve your listening and comprehension skills. there’s no need to download any content, and it still saves your spot (even once you close the tab), which is a lifesaver!
duolingo*
i think we all know by now that this site is good for practicing your sentence-writing skills and gaining a little extra vocab. keep in mind that this only helps if you take notes on your mistakes and type answers out yourself as opposed to mindlessly clicking through multiple choice questions! duolingo stories are also great for working on your listening comprehension skills and some immersion.
linguno*
i use this site for conjugations because that’s its main asset, but there are other things you can look into if you like. i love that i can choose a section and a level (ex: a1 level one, a1 level two, a1 level three, etc.) or add my own list of words. the rest is super customizable too! you can also choose which tenses you want to work on and what set of pronouns you want to focus on (for example, european spanish uses “vosotros” while latin american spanish does not).
S C I E N C E
molview
build your own molecules or search ones that already exist to explore what they’re used for, their structure, their composition, 2-d/3-d models, formulas, molecular weight, etc.
ptable
this dynamic periodic table has a million features for each element, which makes it perfect for researching and figuring out why the table is laid out the way it is.
phet
this is basically a virtual stem lab---atom-builders, circuit-builders, wave simulations, and interactive tools galore! it covers physics, chemistry, biology, math, and html5, though i’ve only used first three categories, so i can’t exactly recommend the others.
M A T H
geogebra or desmos
these babies are graphing tools perfect for checking functions and all that jazz (they’re basically the exact same except geogebra has a couple more bells and whistles).
symbolab
use this to check your answers and review the steps if you’re stuck! when it gets into some nitty-gritty stuff, you have to have the paid plan to see some of the steps, but i think it’s helpful enough that you can stick with the free version. it covers pre-alg, alg, pre-calc, calc, functions, matrices & vectors, geometry, trig, stats, physics, chem, finance, conversions, etc. (i use this to avoid silly mistakes and the ixl rage that follows haha).
mathway*
this is very similar to symbolab except that it doesn’t show any steps at all unless you pay for a plan. you can use this for basic math, pre-alg, alg, trig, pre-calc, calc, stats, finite math, etc. as a cross-checker in case symbolab is being funky.
Cozy Studyblr Essentials: Customizable Retro Striped Notebooks for Back to School 🐾✍️✨
A gentle daily reminder as you start your new academic term: You Are Doing Great! 🐾📚If you’re looking to organize your notes with aesthetic school supplies, these cute retro striped notebooks and heart-shaped journals are pure comfort. Designed with 70s stripe background aesthetics, cute cat art, and uplifting affirmation quotes to help you stay motivated during long study sessions.You can easily customize the cover with your name and grade on Zazzle to make it truly yours! Perfect for college stationery, high school note-taking, journaling, or as a thoughtful back-to-school personalized gift. ✍️✨
👉 [Customize Your Cute Striped Notebook on Zazzle]
Explore our Back to School Collection featuring personalized gifts, teacher mugs, student shirts, tote bags, notebooks, and motivational des
