#katlearnsthings

[katlearnsthings]

It’s been a little while but I’m back with some GoodNotes Psychology note taking for you! My psychology class doesn’t start for a couple weeks yet but I’ve been having a good time reading through my textbook and taking notes. This was a HEAVY section because it’s heavily science based with neurons and axon terminals, but the more I read the more it’s making sense!

[katlearnsthings]

Let’s Write an Essay Together!

One of my friends who’s a year younger than me and is having to write papers for her college classes for the first time asked me for advice on how to write a quality college paper. There are a lot of ways to do this and obviously I can only speak from personal experience of what works for ME, but here are some tips to help you organize your thoughts and work for that “A” you’ve been after...

1. Write out what you plan to say on a blank piece of paper beforehand. This can look as messy or clean as you need it to be, the creative process isn’t always neat. I like using Goodnotes to draft out my paper because I can rearrange things as I see fit and even add diagrams and pictures that I deem relevant. What we’re looking for is to draw out what your body paragraphs will look like and what kind of information you are wanting them to contain. I utilize bullet points rather than actually write out word for word what I want to note there. 

2. Make it fun! Writing a paper or an essay doesn’t have to be the worst part of your day, it can even be relaxing if you approach it right. I like to find a quiet place to work. In my case it’s my office if I’m home because I feel most comfortable there. I also recommend you utilize your senses. I like lighting candles, putting on something with noise, sipping a special drink like a Bai antioxidant infusion drink (my current obsession is the peach one!) that I can only have while I’m working. If you can’t light a candle (libraries frown on this typically) and need a smell replacement you could try putting on some nice scented lotion or hand sanitizer in place of that. I also highly recommend plugging in some headphones and listening to something. Personally, I can’t listen to music while I write, it distracts me. HOWEVER- I can listen to sounds, like ASMR ambiance tracks, or ocean noises and find them especially helpful on lower volumes to relax me and provide a kind of white noise to help me focus. I’ll link some below.

3. DON’T WAIT TILL THE LAST SECOND. Seriously. I’m not sure what else I can say other than don’t put it off until the night before it’s due. You’ll be stressed and that makes everything harder when you need to be creative. If you leave yourself more time and don’t force yourself to do the whole process in one sitting, you’ll find it a lot more feasible and maybe even enjoyable. After all, writing papers in college is your chance to show off your greatest asset- your mind! Show the world what your brilliant brain can do and leave your mark- as prolific writer Sylvia Plath once penned, "Let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences." Good luck, you’ve got this!

Links:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJH4ibbqHks5iyN2omIFQE00-QIzBJsDp

[katlearnsthings]

I finally got my iPad!! Yay for me. I’ve been messing around with Goodnotes all day and jotted down some notes on writing article summaries from my writing class on Thursday and also some of my notes on the paper I’m currently working on about Temple Grandin and her Ted Talk she gave on the importance of having a “Different” mind. Because of my work with kids on the Autism Spectrum I am super excited to write this paper and see how it turns out. I actually got to meet Dr. Grandin once when my family went to see one of her seminars at a local college and it was amazing. I love when things that you are passionate about can be used in homework! I think I have a really nice paper forming and I hope it would do Dr. Grandin proud. 

[katlearnsthings]

HOLY PETE! Time really flies when you’re stressed doesn’t it?

I am pleased to announce I have successfully made it through finals week somewhat unscathed, although my brain is still recovering. Today I accidentally said, “Okay, love you, bye!” to the libraries information desk when I called. Never going to live that down I’m afraid...

I was debating on what to post for finals week because I could go several different directions with this posting but I decided ultimately to go with my top 3 most helpful finals week tips to help you through the worst part of the semester.

May the finals gods look down upon you in favor...

#1- Study in 30 minute blocks.

There’s actually a lot of data that supports the idea that after a certain amount of time your brain cannot process any more information at the same frequency as it has been so the longer you study on without a break, the worse your retention will be. Instead, try setting a timer for 30 mins and giving yourself 15 minute breaks to walk around, stretch, eat a snack, or get some water. Just make sure you’re actively working the whole 30 minutes! My favorite break activity is YouTube yoga tutorial breaks, it’s a great way to sneak workouts in and stretch! You’ll thank yourself later.

#2- Get plenty of sleep!

I know how tempting it can be to pull an all nighter to get things done but even with tip number one, you still need sleep to survive and fifteen minutes every half hour won’t cut it. Instead try making a study schedule and include a reasonable bedtime and wake up time and use a pomodoro timer the next morning to make sure you make the most of your time. Just like being overworked, your brain loses retention when it’s overly sleep deprived and you’ll likely do worse on your test than if you’d gone to bed for a bit than pulling an all-nighter. Just trust me on this one, it comes from personal experience.

#3- HYDRATE! HYDRATE! HYDRATE!

I like coffee as much as the next person but those exam cram breakouts you may be experiencing might not just be from the copious amounts of chocolate you’re craving. Water is your best friend this week and here’s why: Your body is 70% water. We all know this, sure. But what we forget is coffee and caffeinated teas are diuretics which means they dehydrate you! A quick way to figure out how much water you should be drinking is by taking your body weight and dividing it in half. That number is the amount of ounces you should ideally be drinking. Another way to figure it out is by your exercise level. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking 12 ounces of water for every 30 minutes of exercise. Either way you calculate it- don’t expect to get to your daily water intake goal overnight. It will take time for your bladder to adjust but rest assured your body will pick up the cue soon enough and you’ll find the habit a lot less tiresome to keep up. Your skin will thank you too! PS: if you’re having a hard time drinking water for the taste of it, I recommend investing in a fruit infuser water bottle! I got this one from target and I love it! (Not sponsored lol)

Contigo Autospout Straw Ashland Plastic Infuser Bottle 26oz

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[katlearnsthings]

🌙Magical Me✨

All About Me!

-Because this marks my first post on a brand new blog I thought I would go ahead and introduce myself so here we go…

* My name is Katherine (Kat for short) and I use She/Her pronouns.

* I attend a smallish public university in Michigan and will (fingers crossed!🤞) will graduate in the spring semester of 2021!

* I am studying Social Work with an Emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis

* I live with my amazing boyfriend, Isaiah who is currently pursuing his MSW (Masters in Social Work) and is halfway through his first semester in grad school.

* I am a transfer student from another university also in Michigan. I lost a bunch of credits transferring ☹️ but I’m making progress towards my goal of graduation little by little!

* I work for a company that supplies ABA therapy to kiddos on the Autism Spectrum and have been working with my kiddo for almost an entire year. He’s the absolute greatest and seeing him is the best part of my day.

* I don’t have any pets right now because we live on the top floor of our apartment building and it would be tough but I love cats and corgis. Isaiah got me a stuffed animal toy Corgi for Christmas and I named him Albie Dumblecorg.

* I am a HUGE Potterhead. ⚡️I’ve read all the books more than I can count and I constantly have the movies on loop while I’m studying or working. My cousin who is a few years older than me used to read them to me when we were little so the obsession started from a young age. I’m a proud Ravenclaw and Horned Serpent.

My Goals:

* Maintain all A’s both semesters (currently have a 90% in my hardest class, Intro to The Middle East.)

* Raise GPA (currently at 2.7 because transferring schools is a nightmare)

* Stay organized

* Make fitness and wellness a priority!

Let’s get started!

-snapshot of my desk yesterday-

[katlearnsthings]

COVID-19 & School Closings

Hi friends! Sorry it’s been a minute since I last checked in. This semester is an important one for me so I’ve been concentrating on my studies trying to make sure I hit my goals for the semester. It’s been pretty hard to concentrate lately because of all the rumors floating around campus about whether or not our university would close because of cases of COVID-19 that are nearby our county. I received an email last night at 7:00 that my university (like many others in our state) are making the decision to close their doors for the rest of the week and transition to online classes, “at least until March 29th”. 

I’ve had a lot of feelings about this, and even though I’ve had some time to process this a bit I’m still not completely sure how I feel. At first I was kind of excited because, NO SCHOOL- kind of... for the rest of the week anyways. However I am still sort of bummed about the whole online class transition because I know for a fact some of my classes, such as the choir class I was auditing for no credit, will not make the transition to online. It’s going to hurt the music majors considerably and because I have friends in those majors my heart goes out to them as this has to be a completely frustrating time for them. It’s also got to be a lot of pressure on the professors who now have to figure out how to make their class completely online regardless of their technological savviness.

The truth of the matter is regardless how we feel, this is happening, at least until March 29th. We will just have to make the best of a bad situation and just get through it, together. Please remember to rely on the appropriate resources for information about COVID-19 such as the CDC or WHO. I will include links below to each. 

Hang in there everyone, and wash your hands!

“If seeds despaired in their darkest hours, they would never rise to enjoy their brightest days.”

Links: ↴

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

WHO: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

[katlearnsthings]

Winter Semester 2020 Here We Go!

Hi friends, it’s been a minute. I apologize for not posting much over winter break but I needed some time to rest and relax from the all consuming dumpster fire that was my finals week. I want to use this post to catch you up on what has happened since and talk about my first week back on campus, so here goes nothing...

GRADE UPDATE: I finished all my classes with B’s which I’ll admit, the perfectionist in me was a little disappointed in because my goal was all A’s, but after Isaiah reminded me I was super sick the last week of the semester and I was taking two very intensive and difficult classes I am a little more proud of my B’s. Also my Middle Eastern Studies prof gave me the grade I had been arguing for on my midterm paper if you all remember that fiasco so I guess it all worked out in the end.

NEW SEMESTER NEW GOALS: This semester I am taking a few more credits than I did last semester but I think it’ll be fine. Last semester I took 6 credits and this semester I am technically taking 8 although the last 1 credit class I’m auditing so it kinda counts kinda doesn’t. I’m super excited about my audited class though because I get the opportunity to sing in university choirs again and I forgot how much I loved choir class at my old university and in high school. The first day of class I almost teared up during warm ups because I had forgotten how good it felt to sing with other people. That’s right, I’m a proud choir nerd and that’s all I have to say about that. As far as goals go for the semester I’d love to have all A’s and to raise my GPA as well as make some new friends. Being a transfer student is especially hard in that regard so I’m hoping to make some lasting connections with people and find my place here a little more everyday.

My other classes are not quite as interesting but still fun. I have to take a Strategies In Writing course because it’s a prerequisite to almost all of my social work research classes I need to take yet so I’m braving up and knocking this one out of the park now so I can move on with my life. I’m not the most confident writer so I’m a little bit nervous but my prof seems really cool so hopefully that will help.

My other class I’m taking is an ONLINE class which will either be awesome or totally flop. It’s called Intro to Jazz History and I think once I get over my irrational rage over having to buy a physical book for an online class I’ll like it a lot. I used to sing in a Vocal Jazz ensemble at my previous university and loved it and my Dad loves jazz and makes us listen to it a lot so I think this class will be pretty fun once I get into it. I did mess up already and tried to take a quiz on a reading I haven’t read because I don’t have my book yet and did not do well so I’m hoping if I email my prof and explain I didn’t have the book and want to retake it he will let me but if he doesn’t it’s okay. There are lots of other grades coming and if this is my one little dumb moment then it’s fine. It shouldn’t make or break me.

One little announcement I’m excited to make is that I will be getting an iPad this semester and trying out some digital note taking through an app called good notes! I am super excited to try this as I’ve been always curious about the idea of digital notes and going paper free to the best of my abilities so come refund week, I will be purchasing the new iPad and an Apple Pencil and posting my notes here! So there’s that to look forward to as well. If you currently use an iPad to take notes and use an app other than good notes let me know what it’s called and I would love to hear the pros and cons of it!

Wishing you a wonderful stress-free semester!

[katlearnsthings]

Rereading a favorite now that finals are finally over and I can relax.