today will be a great day

Aidan || 18 || INFP || Class of 2017  

[acdaemic]

jun 24, 2018 hello it’s been a minute since i’ve posted on here! i’m so happy that’s it’s finally summerrrr- in the pnw it feels like we get out months after everyone else. i’ve been watching queer eye & it’s SO GOOD, i think my fav is antoni

[the-unabridged-journals]

Why I nearly failed my first year of college/university - and what to do instead

Hey everyone. I haven’t written a studyblr post in ages but I had the idea for this post in the car and I thought it couldn’t hurt to share it. As some of you may know, I graduated from uni last year and I’m going to start my Masters next year! But, a couple of years ago, I was failing my first year of university and things were dire. So I thought I’d write about the reasons I ended up in that situation, and how to avoid it.

1) I couldn’t make it in time for my 8 a.m. calculus class. 

I commuted every day to university with my sisters and some of my cousins. Which meant that - every morning - somebody was running late and the earliest I’d get to class was often a good fifteen minutes in. Which was often the most important part of the lesson, and I’d struggle to find a seat at all (thanks to the commerce kids attending the science calc class -____-). This ended up being so demoralising I sometimes didn’t even bother attending the class or watching the lecture recordings because I was so far behind.

What to do instead: if you miss a class, watch the lecture recording on the same day. If there’s no lecture recording, find out what topics were covered and self-study from the textbook on the same day.

2) I didn’t know how to catch up on work.

I was one of those annoying students in high school. I’d go to school about three-four days a week (thankfully my mom was very lenient) and still keep up with all my classes with barely any effort. So when I got to university and missing a class meant that I missed a whole lot of work, I had no clue how to catch up. I didn’t know how to check the syllabus for the topics I needed to study, how to ask my friends what we did or how to find the material in the textbook or online notes. I had all the resources but I didn’t know how to use them.

What to do instead: learn how to study. The studyblr community has great advice on this! You can also ask your friends for help, or even other students who are a year or two ahead of you!

3) I didn’t do my homework properly.

The biggest trap at university is homework that you’re assigned but won’t be graded on. For calculus and maths-related courses in particular. Because you don’t have to hand anything in…it’s super easy to just not do the work. I spend all our tutorial classes chatting to my friends and not even asking for help - because I didn’t do the homework in the first place. It meant that I didn’t get any practice at using calculus until I crammed for my first test and was promptly handed back at 23% (yes…23%). My grades only really improved once I started doing the homework problems we were assigned. For my physics class, where our homework problems were graded so I actually worked on them every week -  I passed without a problem (though my grades were just average)

4) My mindset was all wrong.

This is something that I’m still working on. In high school, my natural “intelligence” got me straight As with zero effort. But at university, that “natural intelligence” wasn’t enough and I was failing HARD. I thought there was something wrong with me. That I somehow wasn’t intelligent at all and that’s why I was failing - because I wasn’t smart enough. I can now confidently say that I was completely wrong. I was failing because I wasn’t doing my work (see Step 3). It wasn’t until I overcame this mindset (known as a fixed mindset) did I start improving (around the time I actually started doing my homework). Natural intelligence can only take you so far. Eventually, you need to do the work. So don’t pay attention to anyone else who seems to be just breezing through university without effort - they’re either cheating or working hard when you don’t see them. 

What to do instead: research the “growth mindset”. If you have time, the Coursera course “Learning How to Learn”, as well as the ethos of Khan Academy, concentrate on developing a growth mindset.

Also: Do the work. 

5) I didn’t know where to study.

Finding *your* study spot is something that really takes time. When I tried to study at first, I couldn’t settle on a good spot. I’d try to find somewhere I could hang out with my friends at the same time (bad idea) or I’d go to parts of the main library that were dull and uninspiring. At home, I could do some work, but I also got distracted easily. I only really found my ideal study spot in my 2nd year of uni - a small, quiet, botany library with ancient-but-beautiful books, natural light, overlooking the street without being distracting and most importantly fairly secret and quiet. I could study undisturbed there and the surroundings helped me feel calm and comfortable.

What to do instead: ask around for good study spots and try them out. Older students especially! They know all the good spots because they’ve been around for a while! 

I hope you found this post helpful! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me an ask or a message. If you’d like to see more of my postgrad life, please give me a follow. I also have a bookstagram account where I occassionally share some of my planning and artwork as well.

Happy studying

xx Munira

[notetakign-deactivated20161021]

NOTETAKIGN’S RAPID FIRE BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS

Hey homies! I recently did a school masterpost which you all seemed to really like so yay!! But, it was super long and I rambled a lot. I know lots of you are really busy so here is a similar school tips master post but rapid fire style!

1. How to study effectively

Isolate yourself from others

Sit in a room with lots of light, but not directly in front of a window

Highlight definitions + key terms in one colour and general ideas in another

Use scholar.google.com if necessary

Put your phone away or in another room; use your laptop + the application SelfControl to keep away from tempting websites

Give yourself some breaks, but make them short and phone-free

Use sticky notes to keep track of concepts you’re struggling with and consult your teacher later

2. Studying/School apps 

iCell

Coffitivity 

Tinycards

BEAKER

TurboScan (!!!)

Desmos

I Can’t Wake Up

Plant Nanny

RefME

Desmos

Khan Academy

Photomath

3. How to get/stay ahead

Your course outline is your best friend - read it thoroughly 

Access all resources (teachers, websites, videos, etc.)

Do your damn homework omg

(for English) Research what books you’ll be reading (sometimes you have a choice in what you read; find the one most interesting to you)

Don’t get cocky and don’t underestimate the importance of exams

4. Study guides??!! Whaaaa???

If you type your notes, copy and paste everything into a single document, add photos from google wherever necessary, and use the highlighter tool to emphasize key info

If you handwrite them, you can either (a) type them all up and follow instructions above - waste of time tbh, (b) photocopy them and staple them all together, (c ) use the app TurboScan to scan your notes and print them all + staple them - fast and effective imo

5. How to make money w/o a job

Tutor people! 

Sell your past years study guides to those younger than you

Sell some of your old, unwanted things on Kijiji

6. Things to keep in your backpack

Binders

Notebooks

Pencil case (equipped w/ pens, pencils, eraser, sticky notes, fineliners, highlighters, calculator, etc.)

Planner

Gum

Phone + charger

Money

Laptop

Snacks (ex. granola bar, vegetables)

Simple makeup

Muji to-do list

Stickers for decoration 

Extra locker lock

WATER!!!

7. How to properly annotate a book

Highlight important info

Develop a colour coding system

Use page flags (!!!)

Write in the margins

At the end of every chapter, write a summary w/ points about theme, plot, setting, characters, etc. (I said I wouldn’t ramble but honestly do this because the teacher will almost always want something similar to this at the end of the book so it’s much easier to just to a short one at the end of every chapter and compile them afterwards rather than having to do the entire book and basically reread it)

Make connections to your everyday life to help you remember 

8. How to perform a lab well

Write everything down 

Draw diagrams

Get used to documenting exactly what is happening using the time

(If in partners or groups) pay attention to what everybody else is doing

9. How to ace your history exam

Everything you’ve learned in class matters; don’t cut corners and study only the bigger topics

Work your way up not down - study the smaller events first then work up to the biggest ones

Always right the year something occurred before the beginning of a point (ex. 1914 - The murder of Ferdinand started a chain reaction that sparked WW1)

Make acronyms for battles, people, places, etc.

10. General reminders

Go to class!!

Drink water

Take care of yourself

Always take notes

Stay organized 

Use a planner (seriously)

Get involved in clubs

Volunteer

Don’t get cocky

There is always room to improve

Don’t be the class clown and as hard as it is, don’t laugh at/with the class clown - stay on your teachers’ good sides; they’re the ones marking you after all

Listen to music when doing homework (only if it works for you)

Instrumentals, lyricals

Partying is useless

Make a post-secondary plan

A’s before baes

La fin.

[studylustre]

time to blossom 🌸 ig: studylustre

[greatmortality]

2018 isn’t going to be any different unless you actually put effort in to change it

[timesnewrona]

25/june/2017//

little morning study sesh before work.

[buspir-deactivated20230127]

Grade Tracker Pack 1.0!

I was already making these when an anon asked for them!

Comes in 5 versions: for the class itself, and for its classwork, homework, quizzes, and tests

Box to write what class the printable is for

Box to write notes in

Chart to the left to name the numbers and write out the grade %s

Chart to the right to dot-in grade percents and see how they change

Comes in landscape A4 and letter page size

Comes in PDF and JPEG file format

Rules & Information

Please do not steal, claim as your own, or redistribute; basic rules apply. Read more on my printable page

As a thank you to my followers, this printable doesn’t use AdFly :)

Download here!

My Printables Page & Tag | Requests are always open!

[studyingain]

Studying biochemistry for next week first quiz!

[evergrace]

college advice part 5/7 : buying textbooks

→ these are just tips based on what i’ve learned at uni!!

buy the books for classes you know you’ll not do well in. i didn’t know if i’d need my physics book for class or not, but i knew that i would struggle in it, so i got it anyways! it ended up that i needed it anyways, but i wanted it for supplemental reading material regardless of the requirement or not.

wait until you get the syllabus OR the professor tells you if you’ll need the textbook for classes that you are familiar with and have a history of doing well in. they’ll usually tell you during the first class if you’ll need the textbook or not! for my gen chem class, i didn’t use the textbook at all; my professor told us at the beginning that we wouldn’t need it unless we wanted it as supplemental material. same for my first bio class in college. but my physics class required the book, so i got it.

do not buy textbooks brand new, or at all, unless you know you’ll need them for you entire college career! rent your books!! it’s so much cheaper and odds are you won’t need them for longer than 1 semester. i have never outright bought a book for any class in uni until this semester where i bought my organic chemistry textbook, used, from eBay. i bought it because that’s what i want to study in grad school so it’s gonna be useful in the long run. but other than that one, i’ve never bought a textbook for math, physics, english, etc. i’ve always rented them because i get some pretty sweet deals from amazon as a purdue student!

find cheap places to get textbooks! some professors will tell you to get old versions because they’re cheaper, but try to find the cheapest copy possible if you can. most of the time, you can actually find old versions on the internet for free; if you’re okay with reading off a computer screen, then you might want to do this if you have to pay for textbooks. i’m lucky enough to have my parents help in paying for mine. check out these posts for some more information on where to get textbooks for cheap or free: 

sites where you can get free textbooks by @thearialligraphyproject

getting college textbooks for cheap by @sarahtaylorgibson and others

how to save money on college textbooks by @study-buddhy

[vinedspine]

doing homework (or anything at all) is truly difficult when you’re depressed as hell

[felitomkinson]

my friends r so talented. rb if ur friends are talented

[aqua-harry]

So you’ve got this bitch-ass fitted sheet that you would normally pile into a ball and shove into a closet so you won’t have to deal with it, yeah? Well. Quit acting like a piece of linen is better than you are. You can make a fitted sheet bend to your will. And here’s how…

First, put your sheet on the floor. Stand above it for a few seconds so it knows who’s boss.

Then, put your hand in the lower left corner so that it’s inside out. Do the same to the lower right corner.

Now, your lower left and right corners of the fitted sheet should be inside out. (Shoutout to Amy Poehler, love your work).

Then, take the lower left corner (that’s still inside out) and tuck it into the upper left corner. It should look like the picture above once you’re done. Then, do the same with your right corners.

It should look something like that. Right now, she’s your friend at the end of a good night out. Doesn’t look really bad, but you know she deserves better. 

Pull at the corners until you get something like this shape, as it makes it easier to fold. You’ve given your friend some plain white bread and a glass of water. She’s looking much more presentable now.

Now, pull in at the elastic until you make a rectangle. You’ll want to tuck and smooth the excess fabric away from the elastic seams and towards the closed edge of the fitted sheet.

Once you’ve got a (semi) neat rectangle, fold the the top of the sheet down about a third of the way through. I like to fold the upper part of the sheet down first, because it’s not as straight of an edge as the bottom. You can find your own meaning within that description.

Now, fold the lower portion of the sheet on top of the part you’ve already folded down.

Fold the left side of the sheet into the middle, and then fold the right side of the sheet on top of what you just folded. 

Congratulations. You just made a fitted sheet your bitch.

[sci-fantasy]

No but really, this has been the most complete and informative description of how to fold a fitted sheet I’ve ever seen. Very few that I’ve seen show the “bread and water” step.

[successe-s]

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. - Anthony J. D’Angelo

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. - Thomas Jefferson

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone - Pablo Picasso

There is no substitute for hard work - Thomas Edison

If you’re going through hell, keep going - Winston Churchill

Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do, and at some point, you will - Venus Williams

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do - Pele

Identify your problems but give your power and energy to solutions - Tony Robbins

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it - Maya Angelou

The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same - Colin R Davis

~ have a wonderful day 🌟 ~

[s-u-n-n-y-blr]

Things I Wish I Knew Early On

I’m entering my junior year of college and have been creating a list of things I wish I knew earlier than now, like back in middle school or high school. Learn from me with these things, and feel free to add-on whatever you think fits!

Buy Victoria’s Secret underwear and bras. The quality is way better than anything else and definitely worth the money.

Go to the movies by yourself. It may seem weird at first but it really isn’t. Plus you don’t talk anyway. Treat yo self.

Begin saving money early on. Save it all up. Travel with the savings.

Don’t waste all your money on cheap clothes. Don’t solely shop at stores like H&M and Forever 21. Get the latest trends from there and that’s it.

Spend more money for higher quality clothes. Especially for jeans. But don’t buy $200 jeans. $50-$100 is plenty.

Work hard. Get a job. Even if it’s crappy. The experience (and money) is important.

Study hard. Even if it sucks. I regret not trying harder in high school and am pushing myself more now in college (thus this studyblr). Learn all the things.

Simple basic items for clothes look cleaner and are easier. Don’t wear tons of patterns.

Buy yourself a flannel. A good, soft one too. Flannels are amazing.

If someone doesn’t make you feel good about yourself, don’t spend time with them. It’s not worth it.

Don’t keep tons of knick knacks. You don’t need them.

Keep a decorative box and put small memories in them each time you do things. Ticket stubs, wrist bands, fliers. Then when it’s full, go through it and enjoy all the memories. Then, throw them out after and start over.

You don’t owe anyone anything. No explanations. No apologies. (Except maybe your family). When you choose to give them those things, it will mean more because you will actually mean it and want to mend your relationship.

Watch the sunset. It’s fucking beautiful.

If you are not comfortable, don’t do it. Leave the situation.

Learn the balance between school, work, social, and personal lives. Put equal time into all four. Even your personal life.

You are your own best friend and will have your own back, so spend time with yourself. Treat yourself (but not too often) and enjoy your own company.

Talk to yourself. It is good to be able to have a conversation with yourself and think things through fully.

Sometimes you have to be impulsive. It takes just three seconds of spontaneity to get yourself out of your comfort zone. Sometimes this means making new friends or overcoming a fear.

Life will tear you down sometimes. It is okay to cry. But just remember, when you hit rock-bottom, there’s only up from there.

[flowerylatin]

/31.7.2017/

i started tidying my room today, slowly getting ready for school again. it’s been raining here for the past two days, but i’m not complaining! i love warm summer showers 🌧️ looking at this old spread made me realize how much i miss skam 😔 but luckily i can rewatch it whenever i want! 🌸 🌿 (also i’m kind of obsessed with gossip girl at the moment)

[ellelearns]

[vinedspine]

@ maya angelou Why are your quotes so relatable