The Greatest Skill A Woman Can Learn For Herself Is Self Reliance

I finally finished my final exams and also took the results , this year was a difficult year for me and also my last year of school which means next year i will be in university inshallah.

08-01-2017;

for anyone writing a personal statement here’s some advice I collated from countless sheets I have been given over the last three years. This is all sound advice, as I have written three personal statements and all of which have gotten me unconditional’s :) Good luck guys! 

so i finished my first year of college last month and thought i’d share things i learned and advice on entering and starting your first year 

keep a planner

take advantage of student id discounts

try to go to class as much as possible

in cases that you don’t go, make sure you have a friend, or at least someone who will fill you in and give you notes, in each class

network as soon as you can and as often as you can

wait a week or two until you purchase your textbooks, people aren’t lying to you, they’re expensive as fuuuccckkk, you’ll want to wait for multiple reasons because in some cases you never even end up using the book, or your library has it and you can just borrow it for free

wear flip flops in the shower if you don’t have your own bathroom

speaking of, go to the bathroom before class

set multiple alarms

take advantage of as many opportunities that come your way as possible

MAKE CONNECTIONS

have a very, very open mind

watch your drink

watch your friend’s drinks too

never, ever, ever, ever, ever, under ANY circumstances, drive while intoxicated or get into a car with a driver who is 

get to know your professors

do the extra credit, it’s rare

back up your files

if you take your laptop with you somewhere bring your charger as well

take the stairs, seriously, a little goes a long way

99.9999% of people don’t give a shit about what you were in high school

try to plan and work ahead

never travel alone late at night

don’t hesitate to ask for help—material that took a week to learn in high school can be taught in one lecture in a college class, no one will slow down for you or help you unless you speak up

participate in class

again, talk to your professors, it’s good to in general, and you never know how they can help you outside of class

if you have a problem with your roommate, if you’re not getting along with them, or it’s not working, do something about it ASAP

keep in touch with those you care about, don’t burn bridges

it’s ok if you don’t make friends immediately, it took me awhile to find people i could truly be satisfied with, sometimes it happens when you’re not looking

take this to heart: do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do before. the best things i did this past school year were things i never tried in high school, going on trips with people i didn’t know, who i now call some of the closest friends i have, and going on service work trips out of state

build up your gpa in the beginning by taking classes that are not as tough in your first semester, a gpa is harder to bring up than to knock down, tldr; start strong, start easy

grades matter, BUT, don’t sacrifice your health and well being for them

get enough sleep, you can, i did

don’t base your decisions off what other people would think but if something goes against your morals, stick with your morals

take care of yourself and your body, just because it’s free does not mean you have to eat it, college is the perfect time to make your physical health crash and burn but it is also the perfect time to start having a healthier one

take the time to check over assignments you’re submitting

ratemyprofessor.com is your bff, use it and reference it

sign up for a variety of activities and test out the water to see what you like most

early classes are not that bad

attend campus events

know what’s going on on campus, don’t be clueless in your own environment

get involved in clubs and groups that are associated with your major…but also stuff that isn’t

and if a group/organization that’s associated with your major, like for me PRSSA, has a membership fee, it’s probably worth it

explore your city, campus, downtown….

try to get an internship before it’s required

get a LinkedIn account

always keep an umbrella and a phone charger on hand

make friends with as many people as you can, but don’t “collect” friends, ya know?

go to job fairs/career fairs

it’s ok to stay in sometimes and just j chill

decorate and personalize your room

when preparing to register for classes, make a mock schedule first

find a mentor(s)

first impressions are a big fucking deal

you don’t have to put on a ball gown, but put an effort into the way you represent yourself

make a budget 

// 09.20.18 // annotations for a study in scarlet which we are reading in my adv. comp class! 

How I Got Straight A’s in My First Year of University

I was so proud of myself when I received firsts (that’s A’s for those not attending uni in the UK) on all of my assessments in my first year at university. Here are some tips for y’all to try at any point in university. They may be specific at times to my experience—my degree is in the social sciences and humanities, and I’m studying in the UK—but I did try to make them more generally applicable, and hopefully they should be helpful to someone out there.

Part One: Everyday Study Routine

Before the start of the academic year, try to get in a little bit of preparation. See if there are any syllabi or reading lists posted online. You don’t have to pour over them, of course, but do attempt to do something, and have a basic grasp on what will be covered in your classes.

Go to all your lectures and seminars. Unless you absolutely have to miss class because you are ill or have an important obligation to take care of, it’s really important to attend your lectures every day. (Note: if you are struggling with mental or chronic illness or a disability, don’t beat yourself up if you keep missing class. Please take care of yourself.) You may be tempted to just look at the PowerPoint presentation online, but it’s much more effective to be there in person. Often the lecturer may include information or extra explanations which are not included in the presentation. It will also allow you to process the information aurally as well as visually, and you will have the added benefit of taking notes too. You may also be able to ask questions.

Do all the pre-reading for lectures. I know it’s tempting to put it off, but try to work it into your daily routine (because you will have reading to do every day). Inevitably, there will be times where you slip up and don’t have time to finish. If this happens, make sure you catch up on it at some point, because it’s very important to solidifying the concepts you are learning about. Also, the more you read in general, the better you will become at reading (and also writing).

Take diligent notes (for both your lectures and pre-reading), and keep them organized. I prefer to handwrite in a notebook, as it helps me synthesize information rather than just typing it out verbatim—but it is totally up to you. If you do use a notebook, make a table of contents on the first page, where you write the date, topic, class, and page numbers of each set of notes you take. I think it’s a great idea to include your own thoughts and opinions in notes, or linking concepts you are learning to concepts you already know about.

If you have the time, make sure to be reading books/essays/articles and engaging with ideas outside of your regular syllabus. This is one of the most important techniques (in my experience, at least) when it comes to writing essays and answering exam questions. Evidence of wider reading around a topic is a great way to boost the credibility of your argument. It also does wonders to solidify and broaden your conceptualization of certain ideas you may have covered in your classes.

Where possible, try to contribute (as much as you feel comfortable) in seminars. If you are very quiet and reserved, that is totally okay too. I’m with you. But it has helped me tremendously in the past year to push myself to speak up more often in seminars. Talking in seminars allows you to clarify concepts and engage more deeply with the material being discussed (and it might impress your seminar tutor too, though this is secondary to the learning in my opinion).

If you have some nerdy-ass friends, talk with them about your ideas and what you’re both learning in your courses. I can’t tell you the number of essays I’ve written which actually have blossomed out of conversations I’ve had with friends, where they’ve exposed me to topics I’d never heard of before or broadened my view of a concept. Learning from each other in a casual and fun setting is amazing!

Part Two: Assessment Time

When you are given notice about big assignments coming up, such as essays or group projects, try to start working on them ASAP. Trust me, I know how hard it is. This is coming from someone who has dealt for years with chronic procrastination issues and nearly didn’t graduate from high school because of it. But you must start planning as soon as you possibly can, because the due date will come screaming up and before you know it, it’ll be the night before the deadline and you won’t have a clue what you’re writing about. Work it into your daily schedule if you have to. One great tip is to write down the deadline as being earlier (say, a week earlier) than what it actually is. This will prompt you to start earlier than you normally would have.

Do a shitload of reading, widely, from multiple sources. Read everything you can on the topic you are doing your assignment on. For a basic literature review, this means looking through at least 20+ sources. That doesn’t mean carefully perusing each one front to back; it means looking through all the relevant literature to find a few great sources which will really give you a coherent argument and a big picture of the topic at hand.

Keep your sources organized. I use Paperpile, which is a Chrome extension that allows you to save and organize academic sources. I make a folder for each assessment I am working on, and anything I find relevant to my topic, I save it to the folder. This will be a life saver for you when you actually go to plan your paper and also do the referencing.

Content is important, but perhaps even more important is your argument and structure. This mostly applies to essays, but you can apply it to other types of assessments too. Try not to structure your argument in terms of blocks of content—e.g. Paragraph 1 is about Topic A, Paragraph 2 is about Topic B—but rather in terms of how you are laying out your argument. Make sure each part of your essay flows into the next, so that you are, for example, setting up a kind of dialogue or narrative between the different sources you’re using. Also ensure that any point you are making clearly relates back to your main thesis.

If you’re a perfectionist like me: train yourself to remember that there is no such thing as perfect. Try to imagine what the perfect essay would be like. Can you imagine it? It’s probably pretty difficult, right? That’s because there is no such thing as a perfect assignment. Remind yourself of this, constantly. Tell yourself that you will be okay with just doing your very best. If you think about it logically: handing in something that is perhaps not your best ever, but handing it in on time and doing pretty well, is infinitely better than attempting to have a “perfect” essay but handing it in late and failing the assignment.

I hope this helped some of you! Best of luck and happy studying this year—go knock ‘em out! xo

feel better masterpost

Have you been feeling upset or stressed lately? Well, make some tea and cuddle yourself up in bed. Here’s a few things that can help you brighten up your mood or keep your mind occupied: BASICS - in need of a compliment? here and here.  - feel like everything is going wrong? hover here and here and here and here.  - have a cute dog lick your screen - want a hug? - make a comfort box - a site designed to help talk you down from a stressful experience - the thoughts room - sort through something that’s been troubling you - self harm alternatives + here - reasons to stay alive - 28 tips to relax - 21 tips to keep yourself together when depressed - want to be inspired? watch this - When is the last time time you did absolutely nothing for 10 minutes? - 100 things to do when you’re upset - the only 7 things you can control in life - make everything OK - the dawn room - how to get motivated when you don’t feel like it - six ways to combat boredom - stress relief techniques - anxiety masterpost

SCHOOL - stressing over an exam? here’s a few tips - need help with focusing? here’s a few tips. - free online courses - study tips masterpost

GAMING - watch livestreams on twitch  - psychological games - cute games calming games: • music catch 2 • fishing girl • take a walk • flow other: • draw a stickman and go on adventures! • tetris

MOVIES and TV Shows that’ll definitely cheer you up (hover title for description) - police academy (1984) & police academy 2 (1985)  - ghostbusters (1984) - home alone (1990) -  dumb and dumber (1994) - john tucker must die (2006) - the blind side (2009) - lots of disney movies - movies with queer ladies, woo! - all marvel movies - movies with great cinematography

- Bob’s burger - Drake & Josh  - Adventure time

  READING & STUFF - read any book + here - random wikipedia article + different wikipedia articles - random wikihow article - mythical/supernatural creatures  - nice comics - best of craigslist - amazing fact generator + quizzes! - what is the best type of chocolate for baking? - like mythology and want to read a new book? recommendations here! - survive nature MUSIC & SOUNDS - rainymood - kinda like rainymood but let’s you mix different sounds - listen to wikipedia - orchestral reworks (8tracks playlist) - the nostalgia machine (pick a year and listen to your favourite childhood jams) COMFORT FOOD - easy & delicious nutella cookies (video) - other nutella recipes (masterpost) - macaroni and cheese in a cup  - fruit salad (simple but yummy!)  - chocolate chip cookie in a cup - american pancakes - regular pancakes or this recipe  - the easiest chocolate cupcakes (also vegan!)  - chocolate corn flakes (trust me- it tastes better than how it looks!) - jam drops - don’t know what to cook? DRINKS - 10 refreshing non-alcoholic drinks - fandom drinks (w/ alcohol) - 14 fruit-infused waters to drink instead of soda - simple nutella hot chocolate - the ultimate in seasonal drinking: how to make hot cocoa mix - what tea should you be drinking?

RANDOM - look at the galaxy - watch a dream - make sand designs - create your own forest - take personality test (MBTI) - watch some fun and interesting science videos - make your own scrapbook  - splatter paint - pop bubblewrap - move your mouse to manipulate a line, like building a roller coaster while you ride it. - video of an adorable bulldog puppy  - touching video   - what kind of hungry are you? - send and recieve a postcard from a random spot in the world - give rice to people in need by answering some trivia - tone deaf test - football players singing  - what colour is it? POSITIVITY BLOGS/SITES - positivedoodles - cheeerupbuttercup - emotionalbaggagecheck (a site where you write what troubles you anonymously, and people who choose to “carry your baggage” eventually send you a song and a personal note!)

the messier, the better. 

Flashcard Mistakes

Mistake #1: Not Making your Own Cards

The actual process of creating flashcards is important.

Your deck of flashcards should not just be “dictionary definitions.” Turning knowledge into cards is valuable for the same reasons it’s important to not take word-for-word notes: when you try to express information in your own words, you process the information. When you process it, you have to recreate the ideas in a way that makes sense to you. The process of retrieving and reorganizing the information actually strengthens the memory.

When you study flashcards which you created, you’ll remember the context in which you created them. If you’re studying a word in a foreign language, for example, you can include an example of a sentence that gives you trouble or some hint at the subtleties of the words which you’d miss by just writing a dictionary definition. In short, you can customize the card in a way that captures the exact challenges you face with that bit of information.

Mistake #2: Studying in One Big Session

If you sit down for one massive “cram session” with your cards, you’re hurting your learning.

The best way to use flashcards is as a quick impromptu study session. 15 minutes at the bus stop and 30 minutes between classes is better than hours and hours of continuous study at the end of the day, thanks to the rules of perfect practice. If you graph your progress, like I love to do, you’ll quickly discover that most of your progress seem to happen in between study sessions.

Here’s a surprising truth:

The goal of flashcards isn’t to get them right.

It’s to remind yourself of knowledge you’ve forgotten.

Researchers who have studied memorization developed a technique called “spaced repetition” for this reason. The major insight that they had, as a result of analyzing thousands of hours of study, is that you want to prompt recall just as something is about to be forgotten.

Mistake #3: Practicing Mindlessly

Do you know every fact in your deck equally well?

Certainly not. So you shouldn’t be lumping them all together into one big pile.

If you’re “zoning out” or going into a “robotic” mode when you use your flashcards, you’re wasting time. You should think about each card. Use the word in a sentence, remember some places you’ve heard it, say it aloud to yourself, etc. Engage with the content, don’t just say “yes, I know it” or “no, I don’t.” In fact, the spaced repetition concept from above would even suggest that you rate how well you know the card on a scale of 1-4. Then you sort the cards based upon how well you know them and study the ones you struggle with the most first before coming back to the ones you know better.

If all of this sounds hard to manage, there’s a better way.

So if you really want to improve your learning with flashcards:

Study it whenever you have a few minutes to kill. Embrace the small minutes of downtime you’d normally use to check social media.

Engage in the content. Say the words to  yourself, use them for an example, and don’t rush through the cards.

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