✨Chaotic STEM Academia✨
~ Always needing to write down interesting bits of research papers or uni lesson pages but never having the patience to maintain a whole new notebook for it; consequently, you’ve got delightful facts from like four unrelated subjects scribbled in the margins of notebooks and textbooks and on post-it notes and napkins and The Cat (flipping through your notebooks and textbooks is always a wild ride)
~ Notes for a single subject are either spread out over five different notebooks and several loose sheets (Not In Binders, I repeat, Not In Binders) or you’ve got the whole year’s coursework down in one very thicc notebook, there is no in between (organisation is not your strong suit bestie, it’s okay)
~ Hyperfixating on questions and topics (you have no concept of Leave It And Move On) the ensuing chaos of research and rabbit holes and stack exchange questions and reddit threads from 10 years ago mean that you usually know way more than you need to about certain things (but knowledge is never wasted, you tell yourself, after closing your laptop at 3 am on a Tuesday morning)
~ Ink spots in places ink spots are not usually found (elbows, knees, feet) after a study session (you have no memory of how they got there and now it’s gonna take forever to scrub them out, but that is the price you pay for getting things done)
~ Forgetting to bring things to class (notebooks, stationery, devices, the works) but luckily your backpack houses a second dimension of pure chaos (the second zip) from whence you can summon a very worn-looking pencil from three years ago in a pinch (once the second dimension stationery runs out, you really need to get your shit together and pack for lessons)
~ Taking pride in your rough work- scribbled equations and calculations and sketched diagrams covering pages delight you; there’s something solid and real about them, proof that you’ve done things and learned things. You flip through your rough notebook after you’ve used up the last bit of space in it, and take heart in the fact that you’re different from the person at the beginning of the book
~ The education system fills you with despair sometimes, in all of its rigidity, in all of its focus on only a few exams. You want to learn for the sake of learning, you want to pursue every single one of your myriad interests, but eventually realise it’s not practical. Some day, you tell yourself.
