I finally decided to try my hand at the 100 days of productivity challenge of studyblr community. But first, let’s see what motivated this quest of changing behavior in my life.
Some background information about me
I got away from studyblr about a year ago (10 months exactly), posting very few personal updates on my life-changing experience in Taiwan as a research assistant, working at the prestigious Academia Sinica. At that time, I just graduated from my BA degree in linguistics. My current boss, who gave me this golden opportunity, told me that I needed to adjust my knowledge from a BA in France to a PhD candidate in Taiwan. I was so motivated and very optimistic about it that I just promised her blindly to do anything to achieve this “miracle”.
But what does it mean exactly? My steady normal student French life changed to a very busy life of pseudo-academic researcher in Taiwan. I arrived Taiwan and had never learn Mandarin Chinese before. I arrived Taiwan alone and I had never left my parents’ house before. I arrived Taiwan excited, seeking for starting a new chapter of my life. I wanted to go to Taiwan because my dream was to document one of its endangered languages, be in contact with the population there and work on a reference grammar with them and for them. The project I am in is a two years project composed by the top country researchers of each endangered language recognized by the Taiwanese government.
What happened?
Months went one after the other and I lost all my confidence in my ability to go smoothly through these next two years in Academia Sinica, all along the way. I still have this image of my day of arrival in Taiwan where I was asked right after getting of the plane to come to the Academia to start on the first day of work. There, they gave me a big box full of books, kind of saying, “you gotta start now”. I was just so tired from 14 hours of straight flight...
I went from a general linguistics BA in French to an all-reading English and Chinese Austronesian-specific subject. In comparison to what I do in Taiwan, French BA degree was peanuts.
Anyway, so in terms of work, it was hard because I was literally lacking of EVERYTHING. And I felt like I was really not good for not knowing any of the things I was reading. The worst happened when I couldn’t manage my panic attacks anymore and started to stop reading because it made me way too anxious. I was crying at night because of my flaws instead of sleeping... On the top of that, I couldn’t go to fieldwork, so I was staying all day in the office in despair because of this non-adventure. And on the other hand, at the very same time, I had to handle: Mandarin Chinese improvement, adaptation of everyday life in Taiwan (I had came there a year before but being tourist is a totally different experience, trust me on this!).
Well literally I became a huge mess.
Why starting the 100 days of productivity challenge?
Hence, what links me back to studyblr and studyblogging is the last part of my story. A dear French friend came to visit me and lived with me for about two weeks. As soon as she arrived, she saw how mentally hurt I was, not even realizing it myself. She really helped me to put words on my condition, and also made me realized how my struggles were linked on the fact that I cut out myself from people. I am a deeply socially engaged person, doing a lot for others and sharing heart-willingly experiences. But because of work, I lost a lot of contacts, not updating people on my well-being. I even let my parents without news for 1 month once, they were really worried.
Finally realizing this myself, I also discovered that I transform linguistics, which I love so deeply, into a monster of all what I wasn’t, too terrorized to touch the Pandora box to fight against these negative thoughts of mine (and God knows I am such a positive person, for real).
After she flew back to France, I was determined to adjust everything little by little and gain back what was mine before all this. I started first by sending messages to friends and family, being honest with my struggles but without making them worried because I decided to have everything under control starting from that day. I felt good just writing to them. Then, I followed with healthy routines, feeding consciously and stopping unhealthy snacks because to study, you need to be in good health. After that, I continued with a rearrangement of my space of work and my home. Now I have these good habits strongly inserted I can really dig into productivity and studying!
For the all the struggles of the past year, for myself and to prove me that I can do it, I can become this supposedly PhD candidate-level assistant within a year if I start organizing methodically, and put more effort in doing smart instead of doing to exhaustion. I want to document my excited change into this awesome person I am meant to be, without trying to erase whom I still was three months ago.
Day 1: What did I do?
For this first day, I created a new gmail account dedicated to linguistics. I organized the google drive associated to the account to put my readings on the cloud. I organized it as follow: a. the readings I need to read; b. applied to languages; c. general linguistics.
The idea is that, with my spreadsheet named “reading log”, I track: the references I need to read, their status (did I found them in pdf, are they on my google drive?), whether I printed them or not. In terms of what I do with the papers, I track: the notes taken on them, the summary of them, the critical review of them.
Once I will have a line of green “yes” for a reference, I’ll be able to move the file from the “to read” file from the real location where it belongs (either in applied linguistics or general linguistics).
What do you think about this way to organize your readings? :)
That’s all for me! haha Thanks for reading until the very end. It means a lot for me!! I know it was a grayish-black talk, but I want you to know that I am okay now and that I am very optimistic about the future. I guess I just need a bit of support from the community to keep it real, this time.
Hi! I’ve just made this blog and I reckon I should introduce myself :)
I’m Della (also sometimes go by Xurrie),17 years old and am currently attending my senior year in Portugal!
I absolutely love anything that has to do with languages but unfortunately am in a Science course :(
I want to get into the Applied Languages course in university with focus on Translation and since the grades I need to have to get in are pretty high I created this blog to have more motivation to study and share my studying journey!
Subjects I currently have:
Maths (isn’t that bad) ((<- i say that but I have a breakdown about math at least three times per week))
Portuguese
Geology
Informatic Applications (we do stuff with computers, basically)
Interviews can be horribly intimidating, but if you prepare well enough, feel confident in yourself, and keep your cool, then you’ll do amazingly! Here are some tips on how to ace interviews in different situations, with some general tips thrown in for fun. Good luck, and hopefully something in here will help you out!
College Interviews
Tips
Know plenty about the college you’re applying to. Highlighting a particular attribute you love about the college as well as having a good general knowledge base shows the interviewer that you are sincerely interested and have done your homework.
Be able to describe why you are a good fit for the college. Interviewers want to ensure that you’re a good candidate both in paper and on person, so consider things you’ve done that show character.
Choose a favourite book and be able to talk about it. College interviewers love to ask, so think about the impression you want to give beforehand and consider it carefully.
Have a question about the college that the website doesn’t answer. It shows your preparedness, and gives you a way to continue the conversation and demonstrate your interest in the interviewer’s perspective!
Bring a copy of your academic resume. Interviewers will see you as more prepared, have a concrete reference for their write-up, and have talking points during the interview for anything interesting that’s on there.
Resources
Collegeboard Big Future
Princeton Review Tips
CBS 13 College Interview Questions
Emma Willard Advice & Sample Questions
13 Tips for Skype Interviews
College Interviews: The Basics
Scholarship Interviews
Tips
Be able to tell the interviewer why you deserve the scholarship. Don’t simply rattle off your achievements, but rather present yourself as the student most aligned with the scholarship’s mission and the most ready to succeed.
Make sure to link your accomplishments to the scholarship’s mission statement. Scholarship providers often have pillars (like philanthropy, promoting the community, etc.) which you should uphold.
Don’t be afraid to take a moment to think about oddball questions. It’s better to give a well-developed and thought out response to which vegetable you’d be than bumble through it simply because it was unexpected!
Know your application essays well. I’ve been asked to elaborate on my community service plans and why I chose to do band because of my essays, so knowing the topics well will undoubtedly help you out and show passion.
Resources
BYU Sample Scholarship Questions
EIU Sample Questions & Tips
10 Common Scholarship Interview Questions
Vanderbilt Interview Tips
5 Tips for successful scholarship interviews
Job Interviews
Tips
Make it seem like the company needs you. When asked why you want the job, address how the company will benefit from employing you, and not how you will benefit as a person.
Bring materials. Have letters of recommendation, a resume, and your portfolio (if applicable) on hand. Make sure to have multiple copies in case there are multiple interviewers.
Research the employer. Know the company history, its mission, recent events, and the values/vision it advertises. Tailor your presentation of yourself to match those ideals.
Determine your greatest strength and weakness. You will likely be asked this question, so be able to give an example, demonstrate how you have overcome your weakness, and how you have used your strength.
Help My School's Robotic's Team Make It To Worlds!
So, my school’s robotics team, which I am apart of, made it to the world competition! The only problem is that we severely lack money. So, we created a Go Fund Me in order to help pay for it. Please donate; every bit helps! Even if you can’t donate, at least reblog!!
When going back to school after winter break, it’s everybody’s resolution to be more productive and get work done!! With all the amazing resources right at our fingertips, here’s a collection of advice and masterposts on apps and extensions you can use to boost your productivity and make your 2017 a great year.
Apps
Apps to help you survive school by @erynstudies
My productivity apps (for iOS) by @getstudyblr
App masterpost by @studiyng
Studying apps megapost by @studentastic
The best studying apps by @joolshallie
Apps 101 by @mobilestudy
Study apps + extensions masterpost by @mujistudies
Apps I am using right now by @strive-for-da-best
Another “master post” of apps by @sundayscholar
20 apps for a new school year by @elisetheviking
Extensions
Ten chrome extensions for lovely new tabs by @studyquill
Chrome extensions for studying by @zeldaneedstostudy
Trendy studyblr extensions
Must-have extensions for chrome
Productivity category on the chrome web store
Guide to dressing up your tech by @coffeeplanner
Chrome extensions that will boost productivity
App Reviews
appadvice.com
Mobile app reviews from pcmag
Best productivity apps
iOS app reviews from macworld
100 best iPhone apps for 2017
The iphone app review
Best productivity apps of 2016
Top productivity apps for android
Round up of apps for productivity
Enjoy the new year, and here’s to a new and more productive you!
