takin a nap

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
dungeonstudy
darkmacademia

vaguely academic things to do to keep yourself entertained

hopefully you’ll find something to enjoy! happy learning x

smartspo

bad habits & how to break them

lilypotterr

angiethewitch

It’s SO nice to see BFRBs on here. I’ve struggled with trichtillomania and dermatillomania for a decade. So good to see them represented here

scholarly

the first four weeks of grad school 🌿

blackgrad

  • you actually DO need a binder (or two + a folder)
  • apparently you’re supposed to be a nerd and save all your homeworks and papers because they might be useful to refer to once you’re in your phd program (if you go that route)
  • if you suck at getting organized then….get organized. there’s just no choice. half the time, the stuff you need to be lined up and ready affects others (like presentations and whatnot). no cutting corners!
  • stick around the offices after and before class and learn what’s going on … closed mouth open ears helps you navigate the different dynamics and figure out who has issues with who … don’t put a word in yourself, though
  • stay on top of the paperwork, make sure your email has filters for the important people in your department so you don’t lose anything, and pin or save necessary emails so that you don’t have to hunt them down at the end of the semester
  • this may just be a personal thing, but i have printed versions of 90% of my readings and only physical books … i have to be on my computer enough doing write-ups and attendance and course admin that my eyes would be tired out if i had to study online too .. take care of your eyes
  • set goals in regard to how much time you want to spend, NOT how many things you want to accomplish … the change up is just because there’s going to be too much to do on any given day for it to make sense otherwise
  • work on a routine, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t follow everything every day, this first month will still be a rollercoaster no matter what you do (i say this with papers and shredded envelopes all over my desk, my sheets halfway off my bed somehow, and random curly strands of hair everywhere)
  • find one (at least) person that you can really depend on, or be findable! the first day of orientation, an old classmate spotted me out of nowhere and seemed relieved that they weren’t going to be alone in the program, and was glued to me the entire week. we’re each other’s emergency contacts for certain obligations and ask questions throughout the week … have someone’s back! 
  • that leads to my next point, which is to not do things alone (me preaching to myself). make sure someone knows what you’re up to, and have contacts in graduate school and outside of it so that you can breathe. 
  • keep 30% of your sanity for the times you have to be flexible and scrap plans A through Y. the first week of school, i had to start sharing a car with my mother. the second and third week, a hurricane threatened us and four days of class were canceled. 
  • final tip: having a signature scent does make you seem put together. the one day i forgot my perfume, i felt n*ked in the skreets .. face your day smelling good lol!
smartspo

Useful Websites for Students

ghostflowerdreams

I put together a post containing Awesome Sites and Links for Writers, which is also pretty useful for school work too. Some of these sites I’ve discovered on my own in pursuit of knowledge and other times by friends. Many of them I wish that I knew about back when I was school. Most of the websites listed below are geared towards college students, but a few are aimed at high school students and primary students. So there is a bit of everything for everyone.

Homework Help & Studying

  • Cheatography – A site that collects cheat sheets that condense information on all kinds of topics, which can be helpful for building study guides.
  • Study Hacks Blog – Is a college blog that contains a lot of study advice and studying strategies that actually work.
  • Quizlet – Provides free tools for students, teachers, and learners of all ages to make flashcards to help them study any subject. For many topics, someone has already created a list of flashcards that you can flip through. Generally they might not be exactly what you need, but they will be close enough. You can even print them off.
  • StudyBlue – Is an online studying platform for high school and college students. The website allows users to upload class study materials, create electronic flashcards to study and share with others, and practice quizzes. StudyBlue allows students to store their notes in the cloud and connect with other students studying the same subjects.
  • Koofers – This all-in-one website not only helps college students study by providing access to flash cards and practice exams. It also gives you information on professor ratings, helps you generate the ideal class schedule, and posts job/internship openings.
  • Shmoop – Connects 13 million students and teachers with study guides, practice tests, an essay lab, informational videos, and career advice.
  • Mathway – Is a free math problem solver from basic algebra to complex calculus with step-by-step explanations.
  • S.O.S. Mathematics – Is a free resource for math review material from Algebra to Differential Equations. Get help with your homework, refresh your memory, prepare for a test, and so on.
  • Math.com – Contains explanations on almost all topics in mathematics from basic math to algebra, geometry and beyond. If you need review, more practice or deeper understanding of specific topics, this is the place to look. There are many useful tools such as calculators, study tips, etc. Even games that require some logical thinking.
  • Symbolab – Performs operations, solves equations, computes derivatives and integrals and more. It even come with a symbolic interface.
  • Number Empire – Is a collection of math calculators that can help you solve equations, compute derivatives and integrals, matrix arithmetic, statistics, and more.
  • MathPapa – Helps you learn algebra step-by-step. You can also plug non-algebraic equations into Mathpapa and use it as a calculator. It will show you the final answer and step-by-step instructions how the calculations work. There’s also a mobile app of it for Android and iOS devices.
  • Citation Machine – Helps students and professional researchers to properly credit the information that they use.
  • CK-12 Foundation – Is a California-based non-profit organization whose stated mission is to reduce the cost of, and increase access to, K-12 education in the United States and worldwide. They provide a library of free online textbooks, videos, exercises, flashcards, and real world applications for over 5000 concepts from arithmetic to science to history and so on.
  • Course Hero – Is a crowd-sourced online learning platform for students to access study resources like course materials, flashcards, educational videos and tutors. Its educator portal is a micro publishing platform for educators to distribute their educational resources. Course Hero collects and organizes study materials like practice exams, problem sets, syllabus, flashcards, class notes and study guides from users who upload. Users either buy a subscription or upload documents in order to receive membership and access website material.
  • HippoCampus – Is a free, core academic web site that delivers rich multimedia content: videos, animations, and simulations on general education subjects to middle-school and high-school students to help with their homework and studies.
  • Slader.com – Offers millions of step-by-step solutions to all the questions in the most popular textbooks in middle school, high school, and college. Math homework answers, Science homework answers, Spanish, History, Economics, and more.

Free Online Courses

  • University of Reddit – Is a community project that aims to focus on the teaching, learning, and sharing of knowledge and experience among its users. There are over 100 courses available: Art, Computer Science, Fun and Games, General Studies, Language, Mathematics and Statistics, Music, Philosophy, Science, Social Sciences, and Technology. Within each category are many, many sub-categories, that focus on particular areas of the genre.
  • edX – Is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider. It hosts online university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines to a worldwide student body, including some courses at no charge. It also conducts research into learning based on how people use its platform. Unlike other MOOC, edX is a nonprofit organization and runs on the Open edX open-source software.
  • Khan Academy – Is a non-profit educational organization with a goal of creating an accessible place for people to be educated. The organization produces short lectures in the form of YouTube videos. Its website also includes supplementary practice exercises and tools for educators.
  • MIT OpenCourseWare – Is a web-based publication that contains thousands of Massachusetts Institute of Technology course content. It is a free and ranges from the introductory to the most advanced graduate level. Each OCW course includes a syllabus, some instructional material (such as lecture notes or a reading list), and some learning activities (such as assignments or exams). Many courses also have complete video lectures, free online textbooks, and faculty teaching insights. While some OCW content is custom-created for online use, most of it comes straight from the MIT classroom.
  • Udacity – Is a for-profit educational organization that offers massive open online courses (MOOCs) for free and Nanodegree programs.
  • Saylor Academy – Is a nonprofit initiative working since 2008 to offer free and open online courses to all who want to learn. They offer nearly 100 full-length courses at the college and professional levels, each of which is available to access at your pace and on your schedule.
  • Alison – Is a website founded with a noble goal: to enable anyone to receive free education of high quality. All you need is a will to learn new things and they will provide you with all necessary tools.  
  • Lynda – Is an online education company offering thousands of video courses in software, technology, creative, and business skills. The ones in blue are available to watch for free, so you don’t need a membership for them. However, others in grey require a lynda.com library subscription for access. But there is a way to get it for free and that’s by checking if the courses are available online through your local library’s website. There is a growing number of libraries that are providing their members free access to Lynda.com courses.
  • Udemy – Is an online learning platform. It is aimed at professional adults who want to add new skills to their resumes, or explore their passions. Unlike academic MOOC programs driven by traditional collegiate coursework, Udemy provides a platform for experts of any kind to create courses which can be offered to the public, either at no charge or for a tuition fee.
  • Codecademy – Is an online interactive platform that offers free coding classes in 12 different programming languages including Python, Java, PHP, JavaScript (jQuery, AngularJS, React.js), Ruby, SQL, and Sass, as well as markup languages HTML and CSS
  • Math Planet – Offers courses in high school math such as Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry for free. They also have practice tests for the SAT and ACT.
  • AcademicEarth – Has a collection of free online college courses from the world’s top universities. They also make sure that there is something for everyone: whether you want to explore a new topic or advance in your current field, they bring it to you for free.
  • Harvard University - Harvard Open Learning Initiative – Offers a series of free or low-cost courses. In addition, you can also browse Harvard University’s Digital Learning Portal, which features online learning content from across the University, both free and fee-based options.
  • Open Culture – Has 1,200 free online courses from the world’s leading universities: Stanford, Yale, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Oxford and more. You can download these audio & video courses (often from iTunes, YouTube, or university web sites) straight to your computer or mp3 player.
  • Open2Study – Is an initiative of Open Universities Australia that brings you the best in online education with their four-week, introductory subjects. Open2Study provides free, specialized short courses, entirely online, across the world, in a range of subject areas. When you successfully complete your course you’ll get a free Certificate of Achievement, which you can use to demonstrate your interest in learning about a certain area.

Information & Research

  • Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine – Introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers; not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods. In a way it’s basically a little bit of everything; a search engine, an encyclopedia, and a calculator that can answer nearly any questions you have.
  • Virtual Learning Resources Center (VLRC) – Is an online index hosting thousands of scholarly websites, all of which are selected by teachers and librarians from around the globe. The site provides students and teachers with current, valid information for school and university academic projects using an index gathered from research portals, universities and library internet subject guides recommended by teachers and librarians.
  • Stack Exchange – Is a network of question-and-answer website on topics in varied fields, each branch of the site covers a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process.
  • Microsoft Academic – Operated by the company that brings you Word, PowerPoint and Excel, it is a reliable, comprehensive research tool. The search engine pulls content from over 120 million publications, including scientific papers, conferences and journals. You can search directly by topic, or you can search by an extensive list of fields of study. For example, if you’re interested in computer science, you can filter through topics such as artificial intelligence, computer security, data science, programming languages and more.
  • Refseek – Is a web search engine for students and researchers that aims to make academic information easily accessible to everyone. RefSeek searches more than one billion documents, including web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers. It also has an option to search documents directly; providing easy access to PDFs of academic papers. 
  • WorldWideScience – Is operated by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, a branch of the Office of Science within the U.S. Department of Energy. The site utilizes databases from over 70 countries. When users type a query, it hits databases from all over the world and will display both English and translated results from related journals and academic resources.
  • Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) – Is a great tool for academic research with more than 1.3 million bibliographic records of articles and online materials. ERIC provides access to an extensive body of education-related literature including journal articles, books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, policy papers and more.
  • iSEEK – Is a targeted search engine that compiles hundreds of thousands of authoritative resources from university, government, and established noncommercial providers. It provides time-saving intelligent search and a personal Web-based library to help you locate the most relevant results immediately and find them quickly later.
  • ResearchGate – Is a unique social networking site built by scientists, for scientists. Over 11 million researchers submit their work, which totals more than 100 million publications, on the site for anyone to access. You can search by publication, data and author, or you can even ask the researchers questions. Though it’s not a search engine that pulls from external sources, ResearchGate’s own collection of publications provides a hearty selection for any inquisitive scholar.
  • Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) – Prides itself as being “one of the world’s most voluminous search engines especially for academic web resources.” Utilizing 4,000 sources, the site contains results from over 100 million documents. The advanced search option allows users to narrow their research, so whether you’re looking for a book, review, lecture, video or thesis, BASE can provide the specific format you need.
  • Infotopia – Describes itself as a “Google-alternative safe search engine”. The academic search engine pulls from results that have been curated by librarians, teachers and other educational workers. The search feature allows users to select a category, which ranges from art to health to science and technology, and then see a list of internal and external resources pertaining to the topic. So if you don’t find what you’re looking for within the pages of Infotopia, you will probably find it in one of its many suggested sites.
  • PubMed Central – Is operated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The database contains more than 3 million full-text journal articles. It’s similar to PubMed Health, which is specifically for health-related research and studies, and includes citations and abstracts to more than 26 million articles.
  • Lexis Web – Is your go-to for any law-related inquiries you may have. The results are drawn from legal sites, which can be filtered by criteria such as news, blog, government and commercial. Users can also filter results by jurisdiction, practice area, source and file format. 
  • CollegeMajors101 – Wondering what you can do with a degree in biology or dance? College Majors 101 offers lots of information about what you can do with dozens of majors, as well as what you can expect academically if you pursue these majors.
  • College Insight – Is the brainchild of the Institute for College Access and Success. It gathers detailed information on thousands of colleges. You can find statistics for any school on such topics as college affordability, graduation rates, and college diversity, including the racial and ethnic breakdown of students and professors. 
  • Fastweb – Is an online resource in finding scholarships to help you pay for school. All you have to do is make a profile and you’ll have access to their database of more than 1.5 million scholarships.

Books & Shopping (Student Discounts & Deals)

  • Online Research Library: Questia – Is an online commercial digital library of books and articles that has an academic orientation, with a particular emphasis on books and journal articles in the humanities and social sciences. Questia’s library has over 5,000 public domain, classic and rare books that you can read online absolutely free.
  • The Book Pond – Is an independent online selling service for UK university students and graduates. They allow you to sell your old academic textbooks or buy the ones you need from other students who don’t need them anymore.
  • Chegg – Is an American online textbook rental company that specializes in online textbook rentals (both in physical and digital formats), homework help, online tutoring, scholarships and internship matching.
  • Open Book Project – Was made specifically for the academic community. Students and teachers can find free textbooks and other open-source education materials.
  • Bookboon – Is a source for free textbooks in PDF form that focus primarily on accounting, economics, engineering, IT, marketing, and management. The books are modest in size, most run from 50 to 100 pages.
  • Boundless – Offers openly licensed, high-quality, customizable digital courseware at a fraction of the cost of traditional textbooks.
  • Project Gutenberg – Offers more than 43,000 e-books, completely free. Comparative literature students taking only Jane Austen at Binghamton University, for example, can find every book on their syllabus via Project Gutenberg. Titles available on the site span categories such as archaeology, horticulture, microbiology and World War I. Copyrights are expired on all of the titles available for download via Project Gutenberg, so students studying history or classic literature may have more luck than those taking courses in other subjects.
  • Open Textbook Library – Contains textbooks that have been funded, published, and licensed to be freely used, adapted, and distributed. These books have been reviewed by faculty from a variety of colleges and universities to assess their quality. These books can be downloaded for no cost, or printed at low cost. All textbooks are either used at multiple higher education institutions; or affiliated with an institution, scholarly society, or professional organization.
  • Internet Sacred Text Archive – Is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics. Texts are presented in English translation and, where possible, in the original language.
  • StudentRate – A site that allows college students to take full advantage of their school ID to get student deals and discounts on clothes, travel, textbooks, electronics, and lots of other things.
  • UNiDAYS – Is totally free to join, and used by over 4.3 million students every day. Signing up provides discounts on fashion, technology, music, stationary, food and more. It’s super useful when online shopping, and useful offline too.
  • Save the Student – Calls itself the number one student money website in the UK. It gives budgeting advice on how to make money and how to save money. Gives you checklists when looking for a student house, how to pay bills, what to take to university.
  • Student Hut – Is an online resource that helps prospective students find highly rated university courses, student offers & freebies, jobs and guides.
  • Student Beans – Is a popular UK hub where students could find useful stuff like offers and discounts on everything from travel, to fashion, to health and beauty and gadgets. And what students can get for free, from Uber vouchers to free drinks and trips to America. It has a dedicated jobs section, advertising part time jobs, internships and grad schemes.
  • Groupon – In college, every dollar counts so it helps to have Groupon when you can’t find any Student discounts and deals going on. When you and your friends are looking to try out a new restaurant, or if you’re looking for some alternative Friday night plans, make sure you check this first. It offers deals on everything from dining out to shopping products based on your location.
  • Amazon Student – With a student email (an valid .edu e-mail address), you get six months of Amazon Prime for free! Which means free two-day shipping, cheap textbook rentals, and discounts on anything from electronics to clothing. You’ll also earn $5 for each friend you refer, and they’ll get $5 credit as well. When the free trial ends, students will have to pay a fee of $49 per year, which is 50% off the cost of Prime membership. The student fee includes extra perks such as unlimited instant streaming of movies, TV shows and music. If you don’t want that, just make sure to cancel before your free trial ends.
  • CollegeBudget – Is like Groupon for college students. There’s all sorts of discounts on clothing, electronics, activities, and more. 

Apps & Tools

  • Sleepyti.me – Uses the sciences of REM cycles to calculate the optimal time you should go to bed in order to feel well-rested, especially when you have to be up at a certain hour.
  • Alarmy – This app ensures that you get up in the morning for work or school by being very annoying. You set it up by registering a photo of an area or room in your house. Then once the alarm is set, the ONLY way to make it stop ringing is to get out of bed and go take a photo of the registered area. There are other options as well, such as doing a math problem in order to turn the alarm off or shaking it for a certain amount. It’s available on Android and iOS.
  • Ginger Software – Contains a free online spelling and grammar checker that will correct any mistakes you make. They also creates apps and products that help people communicate more productively and efficiently on their mobile devices and desktop computers.
  • Plagtracker – Is a plagiarism checker that scans content to determine if any part of your essay has been plagiarized. Teachers aren’t the only ones that use this, students, website owners, and anyone else interested in protecting their writing do.
  • Hemingway Editor – Is a proofreading tool that helps you to see and fix potential problem areas in your writing. It color codes each potential error type, so you can address them one at a time. It’s a standalone program that costs $20 US, and you can download it to a PC or a Mac computer. But there is also a free online version of it that you can try.
  • Student Loan Calculator – Was made by the College Board to make it easier for college students to stay on top for their student loan payments.
  • Desmos – Is a free online grapher and scientific calculator. 
  • Mint – Is a free money manager and financial tracker app from the makers of TurboTax that does it all. It’s available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch as well as on Android.
  • My Study Life – Is a free app that lets you coordinate your calendar and to-do list. It is designed especially for schools, a planner that can be customized for rotating schedules and long-term assignments. You can even set up reminders about your homework due dates. The app is available on iPhone, Android, Windows 8, Windows Phone and the web. 
  • Habitica – Is a free self-improvement web application with game mechanics overlaid to help the player keep track of and remain motivated to achieve their goals. They do so by turning all your tasks (habits, dailies, study time and to-dos) into little monsters you have to conquer. The better you are at this, the more you progress in the game. If you slip up in life, your character starts backsliding in the game. It’s also available on Android and iOS operating systems.
  • Todoist – Is a free app that keeps track of all your tasks, projects, and goals in one place. Its clean look keeps you focused, and the app allows you to organize tasks into categories like household chores, reading lists, and long-term projects. You can access Todoist from any device, so you’ll always have it with you.
  • Dropbox – Is a file hosting service that you can access your work from any computer or device. You can also share documents with friends or group members which their edits will show up instantly for convenient group work. Basic account is free with 2 GB of space, but you can earn more space on your Basic account by referrals and enabling camera upload on mobile. Each referral that signs up for Dropbox will give you an extra 500 MB, and switching on automatic photo upload expands storage by three GB. The maximum free Dropbox storage can amount to 16 GB, so 28 referrals on top of your starting storage will get you there. Also, Dropbox is compatible with more platforms than Google Drive which is good if you need your cloud storage to across a range of devices.
  • Google Drive – However, Google Drive provides you with 15 GB of free online storage from the start, so you can keep photos, stories, designs, drawings, recordings, videos and whatever else in one place as well. Google Drive’s web client has more features, greater file type support and a better search tool than Dropbox. Unfortunately, Google Drive isn’t available for Linux and there isn’t an updated version of it for Chrome, Firefox, IE and Safari browsers.
  • Mircosoft OneDrive – Is another cloud storage service that you can access your files and photos from anywhere and on any device. As well as share and work together with anyone in your life. They use to offer 15 GB of free storage, but they’ve recently changed it to 5 GB. They also cut the previous bonus 15 GB of storage when you activate your camera roll backup.

Miscellaneous

  • UCampus – Makes it easier for you to find the information and resources you need as a college student. It also provides you with opportunities on your campus and in your city that you may otherwise miss.
  • Talktyper – Provides Speech Recognition for free. It makes voice dictation freely available to anyone with a computer.
  • My Money Steps – Is a free online debt advice service from National Debtline. They will tell you what options you can choose from to deal with your debts and give you a personal action plan to help you manage your money.
  • StudentRecipes – This site offers over 5000 quick and easy recipes for students by students. As a student you often don’t have the time or money, but with this site you can find plenty of recipes that are quick and easy to cook but more importantly cheap.
  • theSkimm – Is a free daily email newsletter that focuses on delivering a summarize version of all the top news stories for you with a bit of sassy humor. They also have an app called SkimmAhead that will sync important events, like the return of your favorite Netflix show or a presidential speech, with your iPhone calendar (and soon Androids as well).
  • UnplugtheTV – Is a website meant to replace mind-numbing television. Instead of wasting your life watching TV, you’ll be watching something much more mind-opening and educational. The site has hundreds of educational videos to help you learn or gain a new perspective. If you’re expecting to see cats being cute and double rainbows you’re going to be disappointed.
  • HackCollege – Is a lifehacking website on a mission to teach students to work more effectively. In addition to offering practical advice and tips, the site also provides information on quality open source software.
  • Hollar - Is not a dollar store in the sense that everything costs a $1; instead, almost everything is priced between $2 and $5. Free standard shipping is included for orders of at least $25. A lot of the items they have you’ll be saving 50-90% here than elsewhere on the web. So can find a little bit of everything from toys, apparel, electronics, beauty, accessories, party supplies, home essentials, and so much more. There’s also an app version for Androids and iOS.
  • PrintWhatYouLike – Lets you print the good parts of any web page while skipping ads and other junk, which is a great way to make sure that your ink last longer.
procrastilate

friends, this is an incredible list!

Source: ghostflowerdreams
anoukostudies
anoukostudies: “here are 5 of the big things i’ve learned over the past two years and also recently during exams! i feel like i’ve come so far as a student in terms of studying, work ethic and self-discipline, so i wanted to share all the important...
anoukostudies

here are 5 of the big things i’ve learned over the past two years and also recently during exams! i feel like i’ve come so far as a student in terms of studying, work ethic and self-discipline, so i wanted to share all the important tips i learned and will definitely re-use in the coming years :)

1: the best way to find your preferred study method is through trial and error

if you are given the chance of taking an end of unit/topic test that doesn’t count towards your final grade, use it to test out revision techniques and find out which one is best for you! throughout all of year 10 i tried different things forevery test i had from simply notes to mind maps to flashcards and to summary sheets in the attempt to find the perfect study method for me. doing this early on in your course where smaller tests don’t really matter is the perfect opportunity for taking risks; this is why it’s called trial and error. some techniques won’t work for you, and you might get a bad grade, but that is how you learn! then, when you get exams that really matter, you’ll know exactly what to do to achieve that dream grade. (although, i understand that in some countries every test counts to your final grade- a work around for this would be to give yourself a mock test deadline if you really want to find out which study method suits you best)

2: self-discipline (rather than motivation) takes time and practice

motivation is temporary; self-discipline is long-lasting. there are a million articles on how to boost motivation, but if you want to develop a consistent work ethic it’s really important to have self-discipline. of course, this can be really hard to achieve; but establishing your goals and sticking to them is crucial. start a study schedule with a corresponding self-care routine (this can be anything from skincare to stretching to journaling) as well as some leisure time and try to stick to it! don’t beat yourself up if you find it hard at the beginning; just remind yourself of your goals, be clear on what you want in the future, and start again. over time it’ll get easier to get up, work hard, and eventually achieve your goals 🤓(also try my study tracker if you need help planning/overviewing your week )

3: active recall is crucial!

i’ve watched many people (myself included) put endless hours in studying and come out with lower grades than they were expecting- while it isn’t always the case, what i’ve noticed is that reading the textbook and making notes from it will help you understand the topic and make you feel like you know everything, but when it comes to recalling specific info it doesn’t really work. although there are some people who can just read the textbook and all the detail is easily deposited into their brain (ugh), for most people an active recall technique is needed. if you hate flashcards, don’t worry! there are plenty of different methods like blurting, teaching others, repeating things out loud until you can say it without looking, solving questions/worksheets etcetera. over time, your brain gets better and better at memorizing and learning that hopefully by the time your exams roll around you’ll be able to recall everything you need 😊

4: create study resources as you are going through your course

this is probably slightly obvious, but so many times during this exam season i’ve kicked myself for not making sets of flashcards or mind maps sooner. instead of making these things and taking huge chunks of time doing passive revision, i could be practicing them and memorizing instead! one of the best things to do during your course when you have free time is to sit down, open the specification/syllabus/textbook and make study resources that you’ll be able to confidently use during exam season. ideally, you could make them after finishing each topic/unit in class, with as much specific information that you think is relevant. it is so much faster to condense flashcards, mind maps or summary sheets when exams come around rather than to have to make whole new ones because there wasn’t enough detail/information.

5: if you are given a specification or syllabus, use it!!

my favorite teacher always told us that our specs should be printed out, annotated, highlighted, and worn from so much use; i didn’t really heed his advice until right before exams, but it was probably the best advice i ever received for the sciences. your specification/syllabus literally tells you everything that might be in the exam, so use it! print them out at 85% so that you have enough margin space to scribble; i used a traffic light method where i highlighted things i knew well in green, things that i needed to revise a bit further in orange and stuff that i really don’t understand and needed to study in red. if you’re struggling to grasp the content within your subject or feel like you’ve got gaps in your knowledge, this method literally points out your strengths and weaknesses for you!

yournewapartment
finnglas

I’m going to give you the best piece of Adult Life Is Hard advice I’ve ever learned:

Talk to people when things go to shit.

I don’t just mean get it off your chest, although that’s good. I mean: Something’s wrong with your paycheck/you lost your job/you had unexpected emergency car repairs and now you’re broke so your credit card payment is late. Like, not just 15 days late. We’re talking, shit got crazy and now you’re 90 days late with compounded interest and late fees and the Minimum Payment Due is, like, $390, and you’ve got about $3.90 in your bank account. Call the credit card company. 

I know it’s scary. I know you feel like you’re going to get in trouble, like you’re gong to get yelled at or scolded for not having your life together. But the credit card company isn’t your parents; they’re just interested in getting money from you. And you can’t squeeze blood from a stone or money from someone who doesn’t have any. So what you do is you call them. You explain you’re experiencing temporary financial hardships, and you’re currently unable to bring your account up to date, but you don’t want to just let it get worse. Can you maybe talk to someone about a payment plan so you can work something out? Nine times out of ten you’ll be able to negotiate something so that at least it’s not just taking a constant, giant shit on your credit score.

- Can’t pay your power bill? Call the power company.

- Can’t pay your full rent? Talk to your landlord.

- Had to go to the hospital without insurance and have giant medical bills looming in your place? Call the hospital and ask if they have someone who helps people with financial hardships. Many do.

- Got super sick and missed half a semester of class because flu/pneumonia/auto-immune problems/depressive episode? Talk to your professor. If that doesn’t help, talk to your advisor.

You may not be able to fix everything, but you’ll likely be able to make improvements. At the very least, it’s possible that they have a list of people you can contact to help you with things. (Also, don’t be afraid to google things like, “I can’t pay my power bill [state you live in]” because you’d be surprised at what turns up on Google!) But the thing is, people in these positions gain nothing if you fail. There’s no emotional satisfaction for them if your attempts at having your life together completely bite the dust. In fact, they stand to benefit if things work out for you! And chances are, they’ll be completely happy to take $20 a month from you over getting $0 a month from you, your account will be considered current because you’ve talked to them and made an agreement, you won’t get reported to a collections agency, and your credit score won’t completely tank.

Here’s some helpful tips to keep in mind:

1. Be polite. Don’t demand things; request them. Let me tell you about how customer service people hold your life in their hands and how many extra miles they’ll go for someone who is nice to them.

2. Stick to the facts, and keep them minimal unless asked for them. Chances are they’re not really interested in the details. “We had several family emergencies in a row, and now I’m having trouble making the payments” is better than “Well, two months ago my husband wrecked his bike, and then he had a reaction to the muscle relaxer they gave him, and then our dog swallowed a shoestring and we had to take him to the emergency clinic, and just last week MY car broke down, and now my account’s in the negatives and I don’t know how I’m gonna get it back out.” The person you’re talking to is aware shit happens to everyone; they don’t need the details to prove you’re somehow “worthy” of being helped. They may ask you for details at a certain point if they have to fill out any kind of request form, but let them do that.

3. Ask questions. “Is there anything we can do about X?” “Would it be possible to move my payment date to Y day instead so it’s not coming out of the same paycheck as my rent?” The answer may be “no.” That’s not a failure on your part. But a good customer service person may have an alternate solution. 

Anyway! I hope that helps! Don’t just assume the answer is “no” before you’ve even begun. There is more help out there than you ever imagined.

yournewapartment

What to Wear to Casual Events

yournewapartment

I talk a bit about “calm” colors. By this I mean- black, white, beige, brown, etc. Natural tones. 

I break this down into 3 tiers, and each tier is based off a different price range. I hope this is easy enough for everybody to understand. Let me know what you think!

Tier 1: $5-$20/a person. 

Includes but is not limited to: fast casual restaurants (such as Panera or Chilis), cafes, bowling, outings to movie theaters, any sort of game night a friend is throwing, etc. 

At these sort of events it’s 100% acceptable to wear whatever you want! Jeans, band t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. If you show up wearing heels and/or a suit you will look over dressed. 

Tier 2: $25-$55/a person. 

Includes but is not limited to: fancy chain restaurants (such as Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster), nice sit down restaurants, brunch, concerts, work parties, an outing to a museum, or any sort of date you might go on. 

This is definitely upscale, but you don’t have to wear the most expensive clothes you own. Skip jeans but also skip pearl necklaces. 

  • Masculine identifying: Nice pants or kakis (no dress pants), button down shirt, knitted sweater, shoes that are not sneakers or sandals. Patterns are 100% acceptable (especially Hawaiian shirts) and so are crazy color combinations. Do not wear ties or suits. Do whatever looks good with your hair!
  • Feminine identifying: Dress or skirts of any color or style (multi-colored or patterned is okay as well), flats, boots, or non-flashy high heels (do not show up with the 6 inch heels, it’s too much, trust me). Simple jewelry like a necklace or short earrings. It is absolutely acceptable to wear nice pants (as long as they’re not jeans) and a button down shirt as well! Just stick to solid colors. 
  • Non-binary or other: Mix and match the above blueprints until you find a style that works for you! As long as you’re wearing shirts that don’t have any drawings or writing on them, those are fine. If they have pockets or buttons, all the better! 

Tier 3: $60+/a person. 

I hope that if you’re going to gatherings where you’re spending $60+ that you’re doing so in moderation! Usually these are dinners of some sort, art galas, dates, etc. Nevertheless, here are my thoughts on clothing options. 

  • Masculine Identifying: Break out the suit, tie, and the most expensive shoes you own! Suits do look fancier if they’re single colors and calmer colors. That said, feel free to express yourself in your choice of tie and shoes. If you feel uncomfortable with long ties, go for a bow tie! Ascots and other accessories are fine if you’re sticking to solid colored suits and matching your colors. If you have long hair, pull it back. 
  • Feminine identifying: Skirts and dresses are okay, but they need to be single colors and again, “calm” colors such as white, black, beige, etc. A red dress, shirt or skirt is okay, but only if everything else you’re wearing is in a calmer color or you’re Cheryl Blossom. Pant suits are acceptable, especially if you’re rocking high heels. Flats are slightly informal, better to wear a nice leather boot or heel if possible. In the summer nice sandals are okay. Because your clothing choice will likely be on the calmer side, feel free to go crazy with the jewelry. Hair should be up!
  • Non-binary or other: Mix and match between the two styles to find what works for you! As long as you’re wearing “calmer” colors, matching accessories by color, and wearing the most expensive shoes you own, you’ll look fab. If you have long hair, consider pulling it back or putting it up.

I hope this helps! And yes please I’m looking for feedback.