Everyone Posting That “my Generation Lost Hobbies” Post Is So Stupid Like No You Fuckwits Hobbies

make your next semester better

so your last semester wasn’t as good as you would have liked it to be. 

some classes were good, and some were not. honestly, applying to universities and scholarships and just the stress of trying to get in has been getting to me. it happens to everyone at some point, whether you’re in currently in, pre, or post secondary-school. 

here’s how we’re going to make the next semester better! 

1. have a good first day.

a big mistake is to be hard on yourself on your first day. being disciplined is good, but when you push to hard you will break sooner. wake up as early as you need to be ready, but don’t push yourself to be up at some crazy hour of the morning. set our your stuff the night before so you can have an easy morning. treat yourself to a healthy, delicious breakfast, it’s really important to eat something first thing in the morning to get your brain working. try not to stress yourself out too much, especially if your last semester kinda sucked, and it’s VERY important not to let yourself automatically associate school with negative emotions like fear and stress, because that will paralyze you down the line when things get more difficult closer to exam season, etc.

2. don’t be afraid to drop

when going to all your new classes, really seriously evaluate your ability to succeed in a class with that time slot/professor/etc. and whether or not the class will really benefit you in the future. last semester i took a kinesology class, which has some relevance to what i want to do, but i didn’t need it. after realizing how much studying i was going to need to do, i dropped it so i could focus more on my other classes that i needed to get good grades in. or try and take it again next semester if it fits!

3. limit other activities at first

your first couple weeks of the new semester, cut back on other activities. do what you enjoy and what will ultimately de-stress you, but if you can, cut back on club meetings, or sports practices this will be best until you get back into a good flow. this will help you get used to the pace of all your classes without being stressed out by other things, it helps you reorganize your priorities and put school first

4. try out something new organizationally

typically, i am a very organized person, and being so i like to reorganize and try out different methods with my planners, folders, notebooks, etc. this helps me to keep me on my feet, remembering that i need to make sure i keep track of assignments, test dates, and anything else. try to find a strategy that works for you, and make it work!

so there are my tips, let’s start get this new semester off to a great start! 

omshgdhasgd my baby is trending UwU

“I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t.”

— Khaled Hosseini

it takes years to develop your craft. do not romanticize the idea of an ‘overnight success’. be a student. grow organically. get really good. hate your work. start over. find new ways to express the same ideas. the student becomes the master. your time will come.

Marriage Story (2019)

tips to have a nice routine

A daily routine is a great way to keep yourself on task. The longer you stick with it, the more each task becomes a habit and it starts to get easier. But a routine isn’t universal, each person has its own. 

plan: before your day starts have in mind - or in a paper - what needs to be done on that day or the next one. It will save you time.

wake up before you need: if you have extra time before you go to work or school, having extra time for you is essential. Eat calmly, take a shower, pack or things and don’t live your house late.

don’t go hard on yourself: enjoy your breaks and take a breath. Pushing yourself to the edge is going to tire you before your day is done. Listen to some music, eat a snack, read.

set a time to sleep and wake up: most people need 8 hours of sleep per day. According to what you need, schedule a bedtime and wake up time that gives you plenty of sleep.

prepare your meals: if you don’t have time to cook daily, take one day off and cook for all week. It’s healthier and cheaper than getting take out every single day. 

follow and repeat your routine: if you don’t try it, you won’t know how your day works. Trying and adapting it is essential to create a perfect routine and transforming it into a habit. 

“There’s some good on this world - and it’s worth fighting for.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (via amargedom)

Orange County

Eradicate “Smart Kid” Norms

The goal of this post is to raise awareness to damaging behaviour towards a group otherwise ignored due to their academic prowess and supposedly problem-free lives, but not to hurt or offend other people. Fine if you agree that school isn’t important, but this is purely an education-based opinion.

PSA: SMART KIDS …

 - hate being compared to 

if you are the top of your class, every test is a problem. people will turn around when they get a result and try to see yours in order to evaluate themselves instead of take the grade they’ve been awarded. for example, instead of accepting you got a B, you see that the “smart kid” got a C and instantly feel better about yourself, or vice versa if they got more than you. this kind of behaviour is not only damaging to who you’re comparing to (since people often express their negative views on their grades towards you, commonly getting the “of course you would get an A” or “I can’t believe I got more than you!”) but also to yourself - of course in school you’re taught to compare yourself, but your biggest competitor is yourself and you should always be aiming to outdo your best attempt rather than what the “swot” gets.

- need to be supported regardless of their grades

a particularly sad experience I personally have is collecting my exam results last year. I went in with all my friends, they got their envelopes, jumped up and down in joy at what they got … it came to my turn, I saw what I got, I turned around to tell them - and they told me not to say a thing. they didn’t want to know! to an extent, I get this (see previous point about comparative self-worth) but when you achieve something, you wanted to be recognised and appreciated, especially by your friends. telling your smart friend not to share what they got on a paper is purely bad friendship - everyone’s successes, no matter how small or frequent, deserve to be celebrated.

- aren’t always bragging

this is a problem I’m facing even now. they rarely talk about their achievements or grades in fear of being disliked or viewed as competition. if somebody gets an A on a mock, they feel like they can barely say a thing because they don’t want to come off as lacking modesty or over-confident. how do you say things about how well you’re doing without offending, belitting or annoying other people?

- shouldn’t carry your group projects

all I’m going to say on this one is that if you let the “smart kid” do all the work in school, you’re wasting your own time. if you have to be in lesson for fifty minutes anyway, you might as well learn, rather than waste another fifty minutes elsewhere revising for your exam!

- don’t always revise

some people revise. others don’t. be nice to your local “smart kid” - don’t assume they revised all day and night for that A, that they put in 100% effort all the time to validate yourself, or get mad when you hear them say they didn’t revise or are screwed for a test. People frequently don’t revise for tests since they have more important exams coming up for but it’s not their fault if they still get a decent grade. some people are more suited towards a particular subject and that’s okay, because you are too!

- have just as many worries

smart kids have worries too. they still fear about university applications, tests, job interviews, boyfriends, all the jazz that everyone else does. competency in a subject doesn’t ensure you a place. the worrying fact that exists is that there will always be someone smarter, someone more experienced, someone generally better than you, regardless of whether you are smart or not, therefore you shouldn’t get frustrated at people who are worried when you think they shouldn’t be.

- aren’t always well-behaved

they don’t all wear glasses. they don’t not have social lives. they don’t all care about school. just like everyone else, intelligence means squat if you’re not having fun. whilst you should always respect the school system, don’t assume that being smart means not making jokes or goofing off, or that doing those things will impact your intellectual performance in any way.

- have bad days

yes, I know I knew the answer yesterday. yes, I know I can do better than that. yes, smart kids have bad days! if an overachiever gets a lower mark than usual, be nice. it may make you feel good to have done better than the “nerd” but imagine how they feel about it if they are academically-conscious. if they’re nice to you, be nice to them. that’s all there is to it.

- want to help you

of course “smart kids” aren’t out to get you, they will obviously give you assistance if you ask for it. nonetheless copying someone’s work or getting them to do the work for you is wrong. it’s unfair to ask the “smart kid” for last night’s homework if you didn’t do it, or coast off their work because they sit a desk too close to you. keep your integrity when doing work.

- aren’t only good at academic subjects

2018 should be the year we reject the concept that only STEM subjects count, that anyone who majors in English or Art or Drama isn’t as intelligent as someone who does physics. recognise a degree for a degree, talent for talent, ability for ability. anybody can be a “smart kid”, it doesn’t mean you have to score perfect As or have some quantifiable measure. redefine smart to mean knowledgeable and suddenly everyone you know, even you, is a smart kid.

- can only have an academic job

leading on from this, don’t think that someone’s ability defines their future career. someone could be a killer biologist but want to go into dancing. let them! it’s their choice and nobody should be defining it as wasted potential.

- don’t feel intellectually superior

chances are, they don’t care about intelligence. it’s nice to have but you know what’s nicer? talking about Netflix, or football, or other interests with their friends we’re not numbers and grades, we’re people with passions, and intellect is a small part of a huge thing called personality that everyone has. especially at school age, an A* student isn’t thinking they can’t be friends with a D student. they’re thinking about what they’re having for dinner tonight, and when they can next hang out with their best friend.

- should never be belitted by teacher

finally, this is a general point that has affected a million students regardless of ability. teachers deserve respect but they can also lose it if they begin to treat the class unlike equals. smart kids may stereotypically be seen as teacher’s pets but in reality, it is often the other way round. they can’t count the times a teacher has deliberately skipped them when searching for an answer, even if they’re the only one with a hand up, or the amount of times they’ve been asked not to contribute, on both hands. everyone is entitled to an education so fair enough if a teacher wants to push less talkative students, but if it gets to the point where a smart kid has been stopped from talking for lessons on end, put on the spot with a particularly mean question or been downright bullied by the person who is supposed to be fair, speak up. the effects of being dampened can be long-lasting and hurtful, resulting in smart kids who no longer participate or enjoy school.

Again, this post wasn’t meant to offend anyone, or put myself up on a pedestal as a “smart kid”. Of course, there are positives to doing well at school, like good job opportunities and academic success, but I see lots of awareness raised for students who don’t do so good and feel like there should be balanced representation out here. The general moral from all of this is that everyone in education should be treated with respect and allowed to develop surrounded by support from peers and teachers regardless of their ability. This includes underachievers, overachievers, the coasters, the tryhards - any name you have for a type of student - 2018 is the year we’re eradicating education-based shaming.