Too Mediocre To be Noticed

N. | 24 | CompSci | mostly original content | main: fujoshimemories

[the-mediocre-student]

How to stop procrastinating

You can't, you won't, accept you're a piece of shit who gets distracted after 10 minutes of studying.

[the-mediocre-student]

??? I just can't anymore? Why is studying so hard? I swear it gets harder instead of easier. You'd think you'd get used to it after spending a lifetime at university but I'm not used to it? It's still painful and I avoid it like the plague? I eanna get shit done but I dont wanna do shit so.... What do I do someone tell me...

[the-mediocre-student]

I propose a new studyblr tag called "#useless studyblr" where all of us gather that are pathetic pieces of shit unable to get anything done ever where we tell each other that we're gonna be alright and send each other encouraging messages and post small accomplishments like "I went to class today" or "I opened my textbook today" or "I passed that one difficult exam with minimum points"

[the-mediocre-student]

my entire academic career

me: I should have done this earlier

[winterblizzrose]

When you have homework to do and really don’t feel like doing it

[ambitiouslylearning-deactivated]

Independent Youtube Channels to learn from

So I guess we all spend too much time on Youtube or the internet in general. To be honest, a lot of time is wasted, but there are also fun and entertaining ways to educate or motivate yourself - that’s why I’ve collected my favorite YouTube channels that could potentially be interesting to the studyblr community. I tried to differentiate the channels using a few bullet points. Hope this is helpful! 

Mainly study-related Holly Gabrielle: university, (vegan) lifestyle Rhiannon: a lot of motivational study with mes Ruby Granger: study with mes, books studyign: videos about studying, origanization, productivity studyquill: studying & organization StudyWith Me: the name says it all UnJaded Jade: studying & (vegan) lifestyle WaysToStudy: everything about studying & organization

Mainly lifestyle & self-improvement Jusuf: organization, productivity, lifestyle & minimalism muchelleb: self-improvement & organization Rowena Tsai: productivity, self-care Kristen Leo: sustainable lifestyle

General Knowledge The School of Life: philosophical answers about life What I’ve Learned: unconventional knowledge  NutritionFacts.org: health & nutrition information

(Every channel, excluding The School of Life and NutritionFacts.org, is hosted by independent individuals.)

[kxowledge]

Eliminate the emotional aspect of it, do the thing that needs to be done

[the-unabridged-journals]

Some Random Tips for College STEM Students

**note - these are from my experience doing a physics + astronomy degree. take what works and ignore the rest**

1) Do as many practice problems as you can. Attempt all the problems you’re assigned, even if you get stuck just thinking about the question or write down a single equation.

2) Draw diagrams.

3) Consider block paper (also known as “quad and margin”) notebooks for your class notes. It makes drawing graphs a lot easier.

4) Assign the correct variables to whatever values you have *first*. Check your units and define variables if you have to.

5) There’s probably a simple way to code a solution to the problem. Or at least plot the function.

6) Ask questions if you’re confused in class

7) Khan Academy for calculus and Wolfram Alpha for solving equations 

8) Write outlines for your lab reports before you start them. Do your figures first.

9) Be enthusiastic

10) Don’t let boys make you feel stupid or like you don’t belong

11) Ask the internet, then your friends/classmates, then your TA and then your prof. But only once you’ve made a real attempt at figuring the thing out.

12) Do (or read) the derivation of important equations at least once so that you understand the underlying principles before you use them.

13) Collaboration >> competition 

14) Show some respect for Humanities students. You are not automatically smarter than them because you’re good at STEM.

[ruingaraf]

[themarchrabbit]

Seriously, it kills me when I see people hold scientists up as pinnacles of logic and reason.

Because one time the professor I was interning for got punched in the face by another professor, because mine got the funding, and told the other professor his theory was stupid.

This same professor told me to throw rocks to scare the “stupid fucking crabs” into moving so we could count them properly.

SCIENCE

[ruingaraf]

thank you

this is one of the best comments this post has recieved

[tyrror]

I have witnessed:

Two professors hiding around a corner and snickering, “Shhh, here she comes!” While a female professor approached and, when she finally found them, she proceeded to scream while pointing from one to the other, “You! I called your office but you weren’t there! So I tried to call YOUR office to figure out where HE was but YOU weren’t there!”

Two grad students standing outside a closed and locked door yelling, “Come out of the damn office. You haven’t left for days. If you didn’t have a couch in there I’d be concerned as to where you were sleeping!”

A religious studies professor apologizing for being late to class because, “security stopped me because I’m dressed like a hobbit”

Watched a professor snort the results of my experiment to determine if I had the right final compound.

Two archeology professors toss priceless fossilized teeth back and forth in an attempt to figure out who is smarter by “guessing the type of tooth and species of animal before it lands”

Multiple fully degreed individuals throw dry ice at one another in an attempt to be first to use the lab/get that piece of equipment/or change the iPod song.

A genetics professor build furniture out of stacks of paper and planks of wood because she is that far behind in grading papers/responding. One of the impromptu furniture pieces housed a fish tank.

I could go on but I think that covers the larger portion of the insanity…

[gessorly]

Every time it comes around on my dash, it gets better.

[thepioden]

- I have had a professor buy a huge fuckoff bottle of rum during fieldwork in Costa Rica and let the undergrads get wasted because “you’re not underage in Costa Rica and we’ll be up all night with the bats anyway!”

- Same professor hung a bat from her headlamp and wore it as a decoration for an entire night. 

- A whole swarm of older women - and these are women with PhDs and world-renown bat experts, the bigwigs - all, to a woman, go to the formal charity dinner at an international research symposium in Toronto in late October dressed in skimpy Batgirl costumes. Because Halloween was that weekend, you see.

- At a different conference, a professor get blackout drunk and pass out on the side of the road. 

- “Yeah, we have to say we did it properly for the grant but to be really honest, Miracle-gro works better.”

- Teaching lab: we had liquid nitrogen for a demo, and after class the professor, the other TA, and I spent a good two hours freezing and breaking things in it. 

[onsheka]

a chemistry class begins with 30 students nine months later just six of us left sitting on tables dipping paper into contaminated chemicals to see what happens when we burn it teacher making idle suggestions while he marks our work

“go to the fume hood thing, yeah now put some potassium in chlorine” can i burn the results sir? “fuck it sure whatever its tainted anyway”

[themarchrabbit]

The prof I’m working for just asked me if I knew how to pick a lock, and when I responded “yes” she replied, “see, this is why I hire the former delinquents instead of the suck-ups. You’re actually useful.”

I then let her into her office.

[roachpatrol]

i should make a low-effort cookbook

like you get those ‘i hate to cook! 101: easy meals for the kitchen novice!’ and it still wants you to make a three-cheese spinach casserole

mine would be like

did you know you can put chocolate chips on a spoonful of peanut butter and obtain the perfect snack

did you know if you crack some eggs into your pasta sauce and stir there’s more protein in it so you can go longer without having to make another goddamn meal

did you know you can mix a cup of cooked rice to any condensed soup instead of water and now you have dinner and breakfast

also put cheese on it

put cheese on fucking everything

and finally here’s a list of things you can microwave in a short enough time that you won’t walk out of the kitchen, go back to bed, fall asleep for four hours, and totally forget you attempted a lunch

[isozyme]

frozen pizza is expensive but!  biscuits in a can + last dregs of jar of tomato sauce + some shredded mozzarella cheese = EIGHT MINIPIZZAS

dump all your chinese delivery into a hot pan and crack two eggs into it, stir, now it is soft and good

if you add a kraft single to mac and cheese from the box it’s magically more delicious (and if you also add hot sauce then it’s spicy)

nachos: chips + shredded cheese + salsa + rummage in fridge in case there’s other things?  and then under the broiler for a minute or two.  if it’s hot it counts as a meal!  works good on stale chips.

an incomplete list of vegetables that won’t instantly rot on you: anything frozen, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes (they get wrinkly but u can still eat them), carrots, onions…i throw away a lot of veggies that have gone soft :(

i love parchment paper.  $4 for a roll but lay it down on ur baking sheet and know you’ll never have to scrub cheese or cookie crumbs off it again.  perfect for cooking with low spoons.  nothing sticks to it!

[mhyinblogs]

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT

[ursavorpalis]

also: mug cakes also also: if you cook rice you might as well dump some canned tomatos and canned beans in it. TADA NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE MEALS in the list of foods that last: apples. apples can last an entire fucking winter. also also also: cottage cheese + bell peppers + crackers = what I ate for dinner for like a year

[leahazel]

1. You cook the rice in a pot. No spices, no nothing, just water oil and rice. 

2. Just before it’s ready, when there’s about a pinkie fingernail’s worth of water on the top, add in a tablespoon of peanut butter. 

3. Stir. Cook the rest of the way. 

4. It’s a meal! It has carbs and protein, it’s filling, it tastes good and it looks and feels like a legitimate dish, which is great for lifting the spirits a bit. 

5. If you feel fancy, add a teaspoon of honey or a handful of crushed peanuts. 

[hagar-972]

Alt., mix the rice with lentils. Cereal (rice, wheat) + legume (lentils, beans) = complete protein. Most people’s bodies will accept that in lieu of animal products.

Since no-one explained how to cook rice: (1) put bit of oil in pot, heat up on medium flame, (2) add 1-1.5 cup rice, mix up and add a bit of salt (you may need to reduce flame), (3) while you’re doing that, boil water in an electric pot, (4) add 2 cup water for each 1 cup rice; reduce flame a few seconds before you do that and mind the steam won’t hit you, (5) cover and set a 20min timer.

Pasta: (1) boil water, lots of water (covered pot goes fast; you can also use an electric pot for a shortcut and bring to a full boil on the stove - experiment), (2) up to 100 gr pasta per 1L water will work, but the more water per pasta the better, (3) reduce flame to medium (light bubbling), add pasta, set time to 10min, (4) check and add time as necessary - you may not need to.

Egg or bean noodled cook faster than pasta - like, half the time.

Easiest pasta sauce: 20-50gr of butter, melt; 1-2tbs lemon juice, homogenize; dump in pasta (and possibly peas, boiled from frozen). Taken 5min or under and will liven up pasta that’s been sitting in the fridge.

Easiest cream sauce: 1 standard (250ml) cream carton, 1 tsp shredded cheese (keeps well in freezer) or more, 1 tbs cottage cheese, spices to taste. Heat in a small pot on a small-to-medium flame while stirring constantly (if it’s too hot to stick a finger in, it’s too hot). Takes maybe 5-10min. Will keep in fridge up to 1 week.

Rice freezes well. Pasta doesn’t. Plain pasta (and most noodles) will last for up to a month in the fridge, though, and just dump it in the pan with some ketchup/tomato paste(+oil + water) and you’re good.

…nobody said that dry onion lasts? Dry onion lasts. Fried onion freezes well and keeps forever. So does diced garlic. If you like ‘em but worried about them going bad/don’t always have the time or spoons to deal with ‘em, there you go.

Fresh bread freezes well. Keep emergency bread in your freezer, sliced. It’ll thaw in the fridge/on the counter overnight, or you can stick a slice as-is in the toaster (just turn it up 1 notch relative to your usual preference).

Potatoes in their peel are the single most nutritious food. (You can, actually, survive on mashed potatoes.) A boiled potato will stay good in the fridge for a couple days. Boil partway (should still somewhat resist a fork), turn over/toaster oven on 150C (350F) or higher while you do the rest, slice potato(s), spread like deck of cards, brush oil over (with the sort of silicone brush one uses for eggs - costs next to nothing and you’ll be glad you got it), bit of salt, stick into oven and come back 20-40min later. Will re-heat well.

All of the following are good in eggs, just (1) dump them in the pan before the eggs, (2) the more you fluff up the eggs the betters: cubed semi-boiled potatoes, sliced/cubed tomatoes, tinned garbanzo beans (<-legume), tinned/frozen corn. Tinned and frozen stuff lasts forever. A pre-boiled potato and a couple eggs will save your ass on a cold, miserable morning.

3 shortbread cookies + 2 glasses of milk = 500kcal balanced dinner. Or breakfast.

1 cup cooked pasta + couple fluffed up eggs + shredded cheese (from frozen) to taste, in a stove-top pan or in the oven for ~20min = full meal.

Black lentils, cooked, will last nicely in the fridge - and unlike other legumes, they don’t need a pre-soak and only take 20min to cook. ½ bowl + 3 tbs oil + 2 tsp lemon juice + ¼ onion = dinner so nutritious you won’t believe it.

Cottage cheese and honey. No really. You only need a couple tsp honey for 250gr cottage tub.

1tbs peanut butter (flat as you can make it) + 3 tbs soy + 2 tbs maple/honey + 1 tsp vinegar = marinade for ~500gr of whatever. Takes ~5min to mix, 20min-2hr to soak, 5-10min to fry (non-stick pan and you don’t need oil). This + pot of rice (<-make while chicken/meat soaks) = lunch for a week. (Or dinner, if dinner’s your main meal.)

A tin of mayonnaise will last for months in the fridge. Hardboiled eggs last a nice while, too. 3 hardboiled eggs, chopped + 1tbs mayo + 1/3 onion chopped = 5min of work and egg salad for a few highly nutritious meals.

Ever make yourself hot chocolate? Make it with milk instead of water, for fuck’s sake. A large cup of hot chocolate is a legit small meal.

[m-winnike]

Buy broccoli and green beans frozen. For a couple dollars you can get a big enough bag of either to get at least 8-10 servings out of it and it keep for at least 6 months if you keep the bag closed. Buy a jar of chopped garlic in olive oil as well. That’ll keep in your fridge for months and adding a little bit to a handful of broccoli or green beans and sauteing(lightly browning them in a pan or pot on the stove) them together until everything is warm is a cheap, easy way to have a flavorful snack or meal. 

Also, ramen, drop an egg and a handful of some kind of frozen veggie(the previously mentioned ones or even some mixed carrots and peas) it adds a lot of nutritional value to your ramen, makes it so much more filling, and makes it have way better flavor than plain ramen. 

Buy a jar of Better than Bouillon. Amazon has them for as cheep as $2.99 a jar and one jar has enough in it to make a couple gallons of broth. Just one teaspoon of this stuff added to 1 cup of water will give you a deliciously broth for soup. Pick your flavor and drop whatever veggies or noodles you’ve got leftover in the fridge and you’ve got dinner. It’s also great to add to the water you’re cooking your rice in to give it some flavor as well. 

Don’t buy boxed Kraft mac and cheese. It may seem like an easy approach but there is a cheaper approach. A 3 lb bag of macaroni noodles is only a couple dollars and you can get a 1 lb bag of the powdered cheese just like in Kraft for $10 on Amazon. I bought a bag of cheese powder that size and it lasted me more than a year and I made mac and cheese once a week. You can also mix it with milk and broccoli and you’ve got a great dinner of broccoli cheese soup. 

My biggest tip for saving money on food is to make things that will freeze well. Say you make a pot of spaghetti. You could get 5 or 6 servings out of a full pot easily, if not more, but you’ll get tired of spaghetti before it’s gone. Stick servings in plastic baggies(which are fine to rinse and reuse!) and freeze them! Then you’ll be able to take out just the amount to eat for a meal and have some back up meals for when you’re loaded down with work, homework, etc and have no time to make a meal. 

[lovelylovelyartist]

ALL OF THIS

[quonunc]

fried rice:   cook a ton of rice, get some frozen veggies, whatever you like.  Fry the veggies in olive oil for a couple minutes, add the rice.  whisk two eggs and about a tablespoon of soy sauce.  Add in.  Cook until no longer wet. 

Tada - comfort food, you can freeze it, it tastes good, complete meal.

Also rice and pasta sauce is surprisingly good.

[idolsidle]

Sweet potato –> rinse –> stab all over with a fork –> cook in microwave for 8-10 minutes, turning once –> BAM baked sweet potato, top with cream cheese, yogurt, or any kind of cheese you damn well want go crazy and get that protein

Rice + sunny side up egg –> drop egg on top of warm rice, roughly chop at it with your fork until the yolk starts to run and it’s all in pieces –> mix thoroughly –> that’s arroz a la cubana baby and it’s filling and delicious, add hot sauce for flavour points

Frozen fruit –> eat frozen blueberries plain –> it’s a little harsh on sensitive teeth, but they warm up fast –> frozen fruit is just as good for you as fresh and it’s an incredibly refreshing snack/dessert

Get steel cut oat/plain quick oats/oatmeal of whatever kind you want –> cook a LOT of it to a reasonably thick texture –> serve out one portion and keep the rest in the fridge –> it will stay good a fairly long time and all it needs is a quick nuke session and some cinnamon, maybe apples

Frozen peas are the best –> they go with a surprising amount of things –> italian dishes, asian dishes, aforementioned arroz a la cubana –> they cheap as hell –> they are legumes that are more vegetable-y than your average beans so go get those greens

In terms of flavouring –> miso paste –> it can be expensive but a little goes a loooooong way and it will never go bad as long as you keep it in the fridge since it’s already fermented –> use it in marinades, soups, salad dressings

Make pieces of meals and piece them together as needed –> e.g. marinate some tofu, fry/bake it up and have it ready in the fridge –> maybe the next day you make some stir-fried kale or chard or whatever green is cheap as heck that week –> next day you have to run somewhere but you need lunch –> grab some of that tofu, grab some kale, a granola bar, water –> it’ll do

Baby carrots –> I don’t really buy the big carrots anymore because I’m lazy as heck about peeling –> if I want diced carrots in something I just chop these up –> and they’re also always ready for snacking –> alternatively you can get a big bunch of carrots and make them all snack-size all in one go and then do what I do e.g. cutting them up smaller for dishes when you need it –> this may be cheaper but I’m not actually sure

Compare prices per 100g or kg –> grocery stores should have this price listed in itty-bitty writing on every label below the advertised price –> generally, no surprise here, larger bulk items will cost less per 100g or Kg than the smaller ones and on the whole it saves you money if you plan to use it again in the future

Finally, never underestimate the goodness of an old-fashioned grilled cheese

[the-mediocre-student]

Concept: I don’t lie in bed all day crippled by depression. Instead I wake up early, well rested. I get up and make myself a cup of coffee, and go over my plan for the day. I prepare for lectures if I have any. My homework for all of the classes is already done as I started early. After the lectures, I hit the library to review and summarize the lectures and work on homework. When I come home, I rest for a bit reading a book, then make some healthy dinner. In the evening I play some games and relax. Before bed I work on some personal project of mine, which is coming along great. I go to bed early and satisfied with myself.

[the-mediocre-student]

Looking at all the pretty notes...

... and not having any of your own bcs all you do is solve shitty practice problems all day every day.

[the-mediocre-student]

Study Check-in 6.2.17

It’s 15:41 GMT+1 right now and I’m sitting down to study the dreaded calculus. Anyone else having trouble concentrating for longer periods of time?

[the-mediocre-student]

When you pretend you hate a subject, when in fact you just can’t deal with the fact that you’re apparently 1000 more stupid than anybody else and struggling like mad.

[the-mediocre-student]

How to tackle a bad day (MH)

- Get 8 hours of sleep, no matter what your sleep schedule is at the moment. I found that pulling an all-nighter was never helpful in resetting sleep schedule.

- Don’t ignore your alarm. Put it far away from your bed, and don’t fall asleep again.

- Shower.

- Put on some make-up and/or clothes that make you feel good/put together.

- Do your laundry if you haven’t in a while, especially bed sheets.

- Do the dishes that have been piling up.

- Try to clean up a bit, if you feel up for it. Maybe just pick up the stuff on the floor.

- Do the little things you’ve been putting off, that are low effort, like grocery shopping or printing something out for class.

- Make some real food, or get some restaurant/takeout food that isn’t toast.

- Focus on making this a *good* day. Not productive. But good. Focus on making this a good day.

- Tell me how your day was. Tell me about your little accomplishments or failures. Reblog, Reply, PM me. I wanna know. Let’s do this together.

[ayleene-deactivated20111017]

[the-mediocre-student]

guys, listen. I studied for one hour today. (Numerics) I’m really afraid of that subject because I failed it last semester and it’s really intimidating bcs math :S  I’m really slow but I’m gradually working my way through the first problem sheet.  Don’t be afraid. Let’s tackle this together. It’s ok to take longer to understand or study something!