Nerdy Carb Humor 🤓 In Celebration Of Me Getting Carbs Today 🤗 DFC (down For Carbs 😂)

“I don’t know what my goals are, no. Thanks for asking.”

School is officially back in full swing for most of us, and with it comes lots of deadlines, pressure, and competition. So I thought I’d make a list of simple techniques, websites, and diys to help you relax and enjoy some “me time” in the midst of all of the stress!

write a letter to someone. you don’t have to send it.

listen to your favorite songs

live puppy cam//live kitten cam

make a list of everything that’s stressing you out and the action steps you can take to handle them

knit/crochet

let your thoughts float away

read some soothing suggestions

go for a walk

make a face mask

make a hair mask

meditate

take a long shower

do some yoga

do a seven-minute workout

watch paint-mixing videos

open a window and let some fresh air in

have a cup of tea

indulge in a snack

take a hot bath

listen to the rain

read a good book

practice aromatherapy

journal

vent anonymously

play with a stress ball (a real one or a virtual one)

talk to a stranger

play a game of cards

watch a movie

analyze your stress

skip rocks

cry, scream, punch your pillow. you’ll feel better.

call or text your friends

take control of your time

defeat perfectionism

create a virtual zen garden

take a nap

color in some mandalas

collect some virtual cats {iOS//Android}

paint your nails

practice guided imagery

make a music playlist that conveys how you feel

do a breathing exercise

create a nebula

look through photos of your favorite people/memories

make a glitter jar

find one good thing that happened today

find some quiet

play with your pet

receive some hugs

light a scented candle

practice progressive muscle relaxation

do an Epsom salt foot soak

turn the lights off, lay down, and daydream

laugh!!

take care of your plants

organize your school supplies

clean your room/closet

make a compress for stiff muscles

hang out at the pool

repeat positive affirmations

fold some lucky stars

give yourself a scalp massage

create sand art

list 50 things that make you happy

make stress your friend

Thanks for reading! If you have questions, feedback, or post requests, feel free to drop me an ask.

+Click here for the rest of my original reference posts!

—Sophia :)

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

🌸10 study tips that have helped me a lot 🌸

1. Give teachers a chance. Maybe two or three chances. Even if their subject or the way they talk etc. is boring. Most times, it’s worth it - it will make you more interested in their class and you’ll learn things better. 

2. If I’m ever stressed and need to chill, usually the things that work for me are: 

taking a nap

talking to a friend about it 

taking a hot shower 

watching a funny/silly/cute tv show (my favorites are friends, brooklyn 99, steven universe or some slice of life/shoujo anime/k-drama). 

3. always make sure you’re comfortable while you’re studying! I can never get through a long study session without having showered and changed into comfy clothes before starting it. Some people also like lighting candles and having nice snacks around, which are also always a plus! Just don’t put a lot of stuff into your ‘pre-study session’ routine; you’ll end up taking a lot of time to get ready and that can simply turn into procrastination and distraction. Just make sure you feel good enough to start and don’t forget to drink water! 

4. I’m even gonna make this a single topic cause!! water is so important and useful!! Not only it helps keeping you fresh (specially if you add some cucumber or strawberries in it!) and focused, it’s also great to keep you awake if you’re feeling a bit sleepy. The effect doesn’t hit you as fast as coffee, for example, but it lasts much longer. Also caffeine is bad for you!! Make sure to not over drink it. 

5. Always study keeping in mind how things are gonna fall on your test/exam. Make sure to write down the questions that your teacher asks while giving a test (and their answers, obviously) - these are quite often the things that will fall on your test and the teacher rarely ever writes it down on the board, so it might seem like it isn’t relevant, but it really helps you understand the thought process of the subject better. 

6. Speaking of writing down questions, the Cornell Method has always worked really well to me, specially in History classes. It’s also great for memorization and revising! 

7. This is something I’m still learning to do, but make sure to revise as much as you can! Doesn’t have to be a big revision; just looking through your notes at the end of the day/week (or even just after taking them!) helps a lot!

8. Please, please, always prioritize your mental health and sleep. You need energy and mental stability to study things properly. If you don’t, your brain won’t be able to select and properly learn all the things you’ve studied that day, you’ll feel super tired and dead inside and you will crash. It’s just not healthy. Don’t listen to the whole ‘you can go out/rest after you’ve passed your exams, it will be worth it’ or ‘my dreams are worth more than my sleep’ trend. Don’t do it!! It’s a trap. I know school usually makes you think you need to give your best always 110%, but a) you really don’t; give yourself some slack once in a while, you need it, and b) your best doesn’t have to be working your as* off ‘til 3am everyday. It might just be studying for 4-6 hours everyday. Or eating ice cream and watching tv shows all day at least for one day. Your body decides. Let it be. 

9. Use actual flashcards when it’s a very difficult/new subject, not just online ones like quizlet!! (this is a tip I learned from this post)

10. eat well! also maybe try taking vitamins - especially if you’re a useless blob like me and you don’t play any sports! I’ve been taking goji berry capsules and they help me a whole lot, specially if I’m feeling sleepy. Actually any type of berry is great for boosting up your energy! 

🍒some rly good posts I recommend:

‘study smarter’ by @sleeptalkz

‘how I increased my productivity by 3x’ by @brbimstudying​ 

‘conquering math’ by @thestudyfeels​

‘bujo trackers for getting your sh*t together’ by @etudiaire​

‘types of breaks for every situation’ by @samsstudygram

🍒productivity/study life youtubers I like:

rowena tsai (love her, rly good tips on organization and just nice overall aesthetic)

ana mascara (I always watch her videos when I feel like I’m lacking motivation. Her videos talk a lot about that and discipline, and how you should always ‘be comfortable with the uncomfortable’; just 10/10 rly good motivational and actually useful videos overall).

That’s it! sorry if this was too long. I still have some tips left that I didn’t include in this post so let me know if you want me to do another one of these!

This pretty cafe I visited today😍 Finally got some time to read and relax😊

There is something about trigonometry that makes me wanna puke.xD

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!