Latest Posts by apollonianposts - Page 6

green academia

(my personal favourite sub-aesthetic)

Christ Church. x

starry night

Albertine Bookstore, NYC

the betrayal knows my name (2010)

blood red on snow white

Oh to be the Broken Ace.

To be so good at everything that you’re never good enough.

To walk around with a regal air that nobody questions because your reputation always precedes you.

People avoid you because they don’t trust themselves to act around you.

Even more, they don’t trust your response.

The people around you harbour the worst kind of doubt, the deepest kind of fear, the most damaging kind of insecurity.

And that’s the thing.

You are good.

Annoyingly so.

Your all-consuming demons have made sure of it.

‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Except that my life, for the most part, has been very stale and colorless. Dead, I mean. The world has always been an empty place to me. I was incapable of enjoying even the simplest things. I felt dead in everything I did.’

— The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

(Henry Winter)

For my fellow Dark Academia pretencious wannabe students that have an obssession for TSH;

If you want to learn what Julian teaches in his classes, read Poetics by Aristotle. It’s not as hard to read as it looks, and you don’t need much pre-knowledge in philosophy to understand it, just need to know a little bit about greek tragedies (Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocle, Odissey and Illiad by Homer are good ways to start). Reading it will make you feel you’re a part of the classics murderer friends group.

If you want other rec books that are good to introduce you to philosophy, just comment here!

Charles Bukowski, Pulp

Many relationships would be a lot healthier if we romanticized honest, open and direct communication instead of idealizing the idea of a partner who's intuitively in tune with your every need. You don't need someone who can read your mind, you just need someone who's willing to listen when you speak.

Learning to like Physics

I actually cannot believe how much I used to hate Physics until last year, but then I actually took the time and effort to understand it and?? it’s so cool and fun and easy?? unreal.

It literally seemed impossible for me and I legit thought I wouldn’t be able to graduate because I was never gonna pass Physics (I’m a Math major so we actually have 4 required Physics courses). I don’t know what the point of this is but, don’t be afraid of Physics guys!! (or any other subject!!) yes it’s frustrating as hell and you feel dumb for not having a clue about what is happening or how to work out the problems but I swear once it clicks for you (and it will) it’s gonna be great.

So if anyone needs a step by step (for college/uni), here’s one:

Google is your best friend, the internet has plenty of videos/papers/worked out problems for you to check out. The most important thing to look for is drawings and videos that help you visualize what’s going on. In most of general physics, the key is to see what forces are acting, and from that follows everything else.

Know your core equations. Honestly it’s always the same ones in the end.

For mechanics: you absolutely gotta know Newton’s Laws, Work and its relation to Kinetic/Potential Energy. Momentum is also important.

For thermodynamics: First and Second Law of Thermodynamics; pV = nRT, Boyle/Gay Lussac etc (note that they’re all connected), Carnot’s Cycle.

For electromagnetism: Maxwell’s equations. This is as far as I’ve gotten in my studies.

Understand where the formulas come from, rather than learning them by heart. For me, this was necessary because my memory is absolutely shit so there was no way I could remember every variation. But most of the formulas actually do make sense, and once you’ve drawn out a diagram of what’s happening, you can work them out yourself.

For the previous point, I suggest you watch and rewatch your professor’s explanation until you get the gist. Don’t get discouraged if it’s not immediately crystal clear, seek out other explanations if you need to. Then try to do it yourself.

ASK. FOR. HELP. I cannot stress this enough, do not feel ashamed about asking questions in class or during office hours. There are no stupid questions, and you’re paying thousands every year for people to teach you. Also physics is hard, so you’re pretty much expected to not understand immediately. Moreover, I can guarantee there’s at least one other person in the room with the same question who’s too afraid to ask. I was that person, and I failed the class because of it. Don’t be me.

Practice until you’re able to do most variations of standard problems. Once you’re able to do a certain problem, try to change it and see what happens. You don’t have to crunch the numbers all over again, go with your intuition first. Then you can calculate everything and see if you were correct.

This is all I’ve got at the moment. It applies to General Physics because I’m still pretty shit at Mathematical Physics (Rational Mechanics?) lmao, which is why I don’t talk about Lagrangians and such here.

If anyone has any other tips (for Mathematical Physics as well!) , please feel free to add them. Note that I’m from Italy, and this is what it was like for me. Other countries might have different ways of testing or focus on some formulas that I haven’t included. Do what works for you, obviously.

Good luck STEM students, I know it’s hard, but hopefully worth it in the long run :)

There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. However bad life may seem, while there is life, there is hope.

"Be brave, be curious, be determined, overcome the odds. It can be done” ―Stephen Hawking, Brief Answers to the Big Questions

Today I’m doing something a little different for my 100 Days of Productivity / Day 11. Inspired by a reply I had on a @starsandaspirations (who’s super sweet and has a very cute blog!) post, I’m going to be detailing how I create my study schedule. It’s going to be rather detailed, so I’m going to put most of it under the cut. 

1. Know when your large assignments are due. 

As soon as I get my syllabus, I write down the dates of my major assignments, exams, and finals. I use a planner and a monthly calendar so that I know when my big deadlines are on the horizon.

Keep reading

dark academia in computer related courses:

spilt coffee on messy arithmetic and algorithm notes.

continuously pressing alt + tab to read classics on your computer during class.

code blocks reflected on your anti-radiation glasses.

black sweaters because it's cold in the computer laboratory.

coding websites with dark academia color palettes.

encrypting and decrypting secret letters written in codes/ciphers.

lowkey creating a game which is actually a murder plan (and which is actually inspired from fyodor dostoevsky's crime and punishment too).

sketching and editing your secret society's logo on photoshop.

messy scribbles of java codes on paper.

listening to classical music on spotify.

hacking your principal's computer to retrieve documents that you can later on use against the school system (especially because you're hoping for a change in cafeteria food).

downloading free pdf or epubs of your favorite classic books because you are on a budget.

creating groupchats where you all discuss the possibilities of a bacchanalia.

lowkey sending trojans to classmates you don't like and think of it as a modern trojan war in and of itself.

achilles as your wallpaper.

eyebags from sleepless nights trying to find the error in the code.

joining forums where people are pretentious and anonymous (oooh, you mean reddit?)

purchasing oxford shoes online.

creating collages of your favorite greek gods, mythical creatures and heroes.

editing aesthetic academia look books on your editing application of choice.

suggesting revolution through digital arts.

animating little-known histories from around the world.

learning a language on duo lingo.

binge watching documentaries on youtube because learning is a principle.

borrowing chemicals from the stem laboratory to stage a suicide of your classmate's murder inside the computer lab.

staying up all night in the library reading shakespeare's hamlet or plato's the republic instead of making your capstone project.

Dark academia subjects: Chemistry

we had our student wellness seminar today and there was a brief session about how to be more focused and excel at studies. So I took down a few points and I hope this helps<3

Effective and consistent study helps you to show what you know and avoid excessive test stress.

Identify 1 topic per week to teach someone else. Keep sessions under 40 minutes and include a few minutes for review.

Create practice tests with true/false, fill in and multiple–choice questions covering each lecture or text chapter.

Record the date you complete each assignment and take a quiz about the concepts and problems you completed.

Test yourself by writing summaries, facts, examples or diagrams without looking at notes or text.

When studying, first take an untimed practice test provided by the instructor or in chapters of the text.

Schedule time to reread chapter introductions, summaries, vocabulary lists and illustrations prior to tests.

Separate parts of the course that require memorization of facts versus analysis of concepts or problem solving.

Limit your efforts to memorize tedious facts and formulae to 25–minute periods so that you stay alert and effective.

Use sketches and diagrams to specify the process and tasks needed to complete a long–term project.

Stop interruptions by alerting others about the times you are unavailable because you are studying.

If you can’t study in total quiet, use a form of white noise such as a fan or soft music.

Get at least 7 hours of sleep to give you the mental and physical energy needed to concentrate in lectures and when reading.

Increase your ability to focus if you are upset. Take 5 minutes to write concerns or questions. Then shift into a work mode.

Give yourself a high five after a session in which you focus and learn. Recognize and reward yourself for a job well done.

Keep your eyes closed and switch scenes. Imagine a situation in which you had an academic success. Congratulate yourself for a job well done.

Increase the amount of information you remember after studying - review information within 24 to 48 hours.

yeah that was it. i found it vaguely interesting that my school is actually caring about us but anyway here you. hope this helps and hope we both get good grades :)

✨✨✨

the physics students

as requested by the wonderful @starferns

the chalkboard at the front of the lecture hall, covered in equations and graphs

visualizing a problem in your mind, step by step

cold water with ice cubes and a slice of lemon

diagrams drawn hastily on the corner of your paper, scribbled lines and half formed thoughts

replicating famous experiments and demonstrations

watching youtube videos late at night, picking apart complex theories

having an instinct for force diagrams and direction of motion

rushed, messy handwriting

finding beauty in motion and calculation and precision

seeing the universe as unimaginably small and unimaginably large at the same time

a well-worn grey sweater, frayed a little at the sleeves

equations scribbled on your arm until you know them by heart

studying newton and meitner and plank, all those who went before

talking with your hands, forming the shapes of arcs and trajectories as you work through a problem

long hallways and cold, sunny days

late night study groups

staring up at the sky, knowing exactly why and how the planets move as they do

trying einstein’s thought experiments

an old grandfather clock, pendulum measuring the passage of time

pages filled with calculations and precise strings of digits

Dark Academia Subjects: Astronomy

Poets have their desks and pockets filled with poems, artists with sketches, and mine are filled with equations, calculus and books.

After all, we, scientists and you, romantics, aren't so different.

Dark Academia Subjects: Physics

some things i’ve learned while studying in quarantine

drink more water instead of more coffee.

weekly goals are bullshit. set yourself 3-day goals. you’ll be less laid-back.

don’t just mindlessly stare at words. before you start studying, know your approach to it. have a plan.

summarizing the concept in your own words is the key part of taking notes. don’t just copy things down, convert them into your own way of talking, your own vocabulary, no matter how dumb and unprofessional it sounds.

don’t let the “studyblr aesthetic” fool you. studying doesn’t have to be pretty. summaries and notes can be messy as long as they’re comprehensible. you can always rewrite and reorganize them later. (honestly, you better do. and you better keep them.)

don’t throw away the papers you’ve solved your problems in. staple them to the fucking textbook. you need to see them constantly. cause you’ll need reminders of how far you’ve came, when you’re feeling discouraged.

don’t be an armchair analyst for your issues. if you have an idea then act on it.

remember: the exact point where it becomes difficult, is where your growth begins. take a deep breath, and try to focus on the paragraph in front of you.

get off your high horse and understand that if you’re a zero, you won’t go to 100 in a couple of days. first, you’ll need to reach 30, then from 30 to 60, and then from 60 to 90. nobody is 100 everyday. that happens very rarely.

you need to have fun everyday. you need to have peaceful time every single day. even on exam night. especially on exam night, actually. so make sure you’ve studied enough so you can have some time to yourself.

once you’re on a roll and in need of some challenge to stay on track, start writing down your studying hours. tell yourself you’re not allowed to do less than 80% of what you did yesterday. whatever the hell it was, even just one hour. so if yesterday you really studied for like, say 8 hours, today your goal is to study for at least 6 and a half hours. if you can’t keep up with that, make it 70%, or 60%. 

be forgiving of yourself. be kind to yourself. even if you bounced back and lost your streak. start again. as slowly as you did before. take your time. it’s okay, you were there once you can get there again.

You know what. I’m starting a new aesthetic, population me.

Romantic Science, AKA Dark Academia for STEM people.

Thrifting a lab coat and embroidering it with your initials and a little insignia, whose significance is known to you and your lab partner only

Watching The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game and Hidden Figures and basically every movie about historical scientists and mathematicians you can find

Decorating your desk with old slide rules and vintage lab equipment. Your prize possession is a set of vintage lenses you found at a thrift store

Wanting an articulated human skeleton far, far too much

Getting a set of (brand new, NOT thrifted, be safe ppl) beakers to drink from, and putting them directly onto your stovetop to boil water for tea or coffee, because borosilicate glass can survive anything.

Secretly relating far too much to Henry Jekyll and Victor Frankenstein, because you too want to do a gay little science experiment that challenges god.

Thunderstorms and late nights in the lab, the light of the Bunsen burner glistening off of your flasks and scribbled chalkboard equations

Papering your walls with vintage scientific diagrams; even if you know that our understanding of the world has evolved since they were made, looking back at scientific history is amazing

Writing code late at night and feeling, in some metaphysical way, as though Ada Lovelace herself is with you in spirit

Being far, FAR too obsessed with the concept of emergent ai sentience and how it has the potential to be Frankenstein irl

Looking through a telescope on clear nights, whispering the names of the constellations and stars, painting a star chart on your ceiling in a burst of creative inspiration

Collecting and mounting samples from everywhere you can think of to pore over in an antique microscope

Bringing a field journal wherever you go, learning how to draw and label botanical samples, preserving plants and flowers for study later

Dreaming of what undiscovered mysteries lie in the deepest depths of the sea, feeling the thrill of discovery whenever you learn about a new species and one day hoping to discover one yourself

Just. Romanticise STEM.

subtitles from Science Gossip, 1900

Science Dark Academia Things

staying up late to read one cool paper

which turns into reading another cool paper that the first paper referenced

that turns into getting to lab mid afternoon because you woke up at noon 

staying in lab late into the evening because there’s just so much to do

wanting to be aesthetic, but knowing that wearing nice clothes into lab is a bad idea (:’()

blue light glasses to protect your eyes from strain as you analyze data

going back to lab late at night to rerun an experiment because the data sucked and you have group meeting tomorrow

the wonderful feeling of finally troubleshooting that one experiment correctly

having science idols that you gaze wonderingly at when you see them at conferences

struggling through a class even but you enjoy it because sometimes learning is just hard

students emailing you with questions about the class you’re TA-ing causing you to wonder when you became the Adult In Charge who Knows Things

talking with your PI/ older grad students and realizing that you definitely are NOT the Adult In Charge who Knows Things but that’s a good thing because it means that you’re in the right place to learn

when your NMR shows your expected product and the MS shows high purity (tears of joy)

being the nerd in all your conversations with non-Science people and pulling out fun facts about solubility rules, thermodynamics, or the ultimate crowd pleaser: molecular quantum mechanics

getting really excited meeting another person your age from your field even if your projects are totally different

remembering even that when science is kicking your butt… you’re doing something cool that will have an impact and that no-one else has done yet!

dark academia but STEM

- pinning the most difficult equations you solved to your wall. Or just the ones you find beautiful

- lots of plants, their names written in the pots. Trying different ways to grow them.

- always having lab gloves in your bag or pockets.

- writing ideas for projects in messy notes, putting them between the pages of your notebooks and forgetting about it

- hands dirty with black ink because you’ve been writing for too long too fast

- massive books under your arms, laptop full of carefully tagged papers while the printed ones are a total mess

- insane eyes and absolute euphoria when you finally understand not only the concept, but where did it came from and how it applies on your daily life

- hair always in a bun or ponytails, short finger nails and none jewelry because ~lab rules~

- searching until late at night the exact equipment the scientists used long ago, what methods they used and imagining how would it be to be in their place.

- Feeling as comfortable in the lab as in the library.

- you hate Victor Frankenstein but legit understand why.

- sore eyes from microscope or screen light, aching backs, still not wanting to leave

- looking at people and thinking about how they truly are: organs, cells, molecules, atoms, protons, eletrons, quarks, leptons…. nothing as one would think,  everything, all the same, too big, too little, all pieces from a big puzzle

- dreaming about the topic you were studying last day

- having an idea about a paper while talking to your friends. Remembering that is not your field and going crazy because SOMEONE needs to research it.

- you are crazy to read some fiction but there are too many papers waiting for you 

- You should be used by now but sometimes still get distracted about how graphics changes according to compartments added.

- finishing a big problem and just staring at it, amazed by how it was unfolded and reorganized until you get to the final answer 

- “we don’t know….yet”

- ethics committee?? How about just test it myself, uh?(that new receipt that later comes out a absolute disaster)

- suddenly knowing how to solve a problem in the middle of a lunch

- notebooks margins filled with equations or formulas vs pages almost blank, with just one note or two

- mental breakdowns after classes thay change your perspective completely

- knowing that the truth depends on how further you can see. We’re always getting closer. Never there.

- Looking at an art piece, wondering what kind of ink was used, how it was when it was made, how time has affected it

“My ingenious fingers wait when they have found

The petal flesh beneath the robe they part.

How curious, complex, the touch, this subtle art–

As the dream of fragrance, the miracle of sound.”

— ‘The Touch’ by Renée Vivien

[Natalie Clifford Barney published ‘Quelques Portraits-Sonnets de Femmes’, a book of lesbian poetry about love. Her father found out about this and bought the ones that were left to have them burnt.

A few years later, Renée Vivien (a lover of Barney’s) wrote her own lesbian poetry and had it published— ‘The Muse of the Violets: Poems’]