Everything Is Actually A Mess

A Sister’s Guide on How To College

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i’ve gotten a million asks about presentations! and presentation nerves! and presentation prep! so here is a long-ass post about:

ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS!

every presentation is different and will have a different context. this advice is for seminar/class presentations, not conference panels, and based on my experience as an english lit grad student (and teacher). some classes you feel comfortable joking in; others, the vibe (or the professor’s expectations) will be more formal. read the room!! 

a good presentation is one that communicates clearly. in other words, it’s more important to be legible to your audience than it is to “sound smart.” usually when you’re consciously working to sound smart, you sound like an asshole. as the genie in aladdin once said, bee yourself. 

be generous to your audience. if you conceptualize your presentation as having two parts, let them know that! “i want to do two things with this presentation: talk about this secondary text, and then identify some examples that we can talk about in the primary.” signpost that shit! let your audience know where you’re heading and what you want them to understand.

related: present on something interesting. this does not mean objectively interesting. it means you should find something that really gets you curious or passionate or annoyed! 99% of the time, if you’re invested, your audience will be invested.

K.I.S.S. only use a powerpoint if you have images that support or contribute to your presentation. no distracting backgrounds, special effects, or clip art, it’s not 1998 (unless you are going for a retro vibe, in which case, don’t let me stop you). no big blocks of text. only use prezi if you want to make your audience nauseous. if you’re using a handout for quotations or major points, keep it basic and readable. 

plan your ending. there is nothing worse than a presentation that ends with a “so uh… yeah………………..” suggestions:

stick the landing. in other words, do the oral version of an essay conclusion: why it matters, how your presentation impacts the understanding of the topic, etc.

questions for further discussion, the kind you have some answers for or thoughts about.

legitimate questions that you don’t have answers for! not factual ones, obviously, but questions about a tricky scene in the text, how a particular narrative form is working, moments that you’ve identified that actually work against your conclusions, etc. it’s okay to admit that you don’t have all the answers; in fact, it’s a sign that you’re really engaging with the material. just make sure you use this one on a presentation where you’ve already proven that you did a lot of work and know your shit.

imitate what you like to see. i’ll hazard a guess and say that most people enjoy presentations that allow some personality, or we’d just have siri read our papers out loud. my usual presentation style is on the informal side; after 3 years of small seminars with the same people and professors, i feel comfortable joking around with the folks in my area. if i were to present for my whole department, i would not be that chill.

personalize your notes. you’re the only one who’s gonna see them! make them useful to you. 

don’t be nervous. not helpful, i know, but as someone who actually likes giving presentations but still gets anxious: it’s going to be okay. presentations can be a great chance to talk about something you find interesting, to direct class discussion, and to dig deeper into material that you might skim over otherwise. understand that your classmates will usually be generous and sympathetic (see: seminar personalities). treat it like an opportunity, not a punishment.

okay this is not really general advice, but it’s a plug for a grad school presentation favorite that will make your life way easier: the pdf handout.

it doesn’t have to be hard copy (though you should probably bring a few just in case). if everyone in your seminar has a laptop or tablet, email that thing out the night before! they get a lil preview and a document they can refer to in the future; you get to combine hi-res color images, hyperlinks, and whatever text you need to include.

still keep it minimalist. you can go overboard with your personal notes. the only things that should go on the handout are

things that are better written down than spoken (long quotes, statistics, timelines, etc.)

things that will contribute to your audience’s understanding of the material.

and here is an example of the difference b/t notes and handout, from a presentation i did last fall on my husband thomas hoccleve n scholarly fatigue (i was rly tired and wanted to talk abt being Weary) 

my notes on hoccleve’s work life:

the handout version that i emailed to everyone in the course:

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I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy!

FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)

Alison 

Coursera

FutureLearn

open2study

Khan Academy

edX

P2P U

Academic Earth

iversity

Stanford Online

MIT Open Courseware

Open Yale Courses

BBC Learning

OpenLearn

Carnegie Mellon University OLI

University of Reddit

Saylor

IDEAS, INSPIRATION & NEWS (websites which deliver educational content meant to entertain you and stimulate your brain)

TED

FORA

Big Think 

99u

BBC Future

Seriously Amazing

How Stuff Works

Discovery News

National Geographic

Science News

Popular Science

IFLScience

YouTube Edu

NewScientist

DIY & HOW-TO’S (Don’t know how to do that? Want to learn how to do it yourself? Here are some great websites.)

wikiHow

Wonder How To

instructables

eHow

Howcast

MAKE

Do it yourself

FREE TEXTBOOKS & E-BOOKS

OpenStax CNX

Open Textbooks

Bookboon

Textbook Revolution

E-books Directory

FullBooks

Books Should Be Free

Classic Reader

Read Print

Project Gutenberg

AudioBooks For Free

LibriVox

Poem Hunter

Bartleby

MIT Classics

Many Books

Open Textbooks BCcampus

Open Textbook Library

WikiBooks

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES & JOURNALS

Directory of Open Access Journals

Scitable

PLOS

Wiley Open Access

Springer Open

Oxford Open

Elsevier Open Access

ArXiv

Open Access Library

LEARN:

1. LANGUAGES

Duolingo

BBC Languages

Learn A Language

101languages

Memrise

Livemocha

Foreign Services Institute

My Languages

Surface Languages

Lingualia

OmniGlot

OpenCulture’s Language links

2. COMPUTER SCIENCE & PROGRAMMING

Codecademy

Programmr

GA Dash

CodeHS

w3schools

Code Avengers

Codelearn

The Code Player

Code School

Code.org

Programming Motherf*?$%#

Bento

Bucky’s room

WiBit

Learn Code the Hard Way

Mozilla Developer Network

Microsoft Virtual Academy

3. YOGA & MEDITATION

Learning Yoga

Learn Meditation

Yome

Free Meditation

Online Meditation

Do Yoga With Me

Yoga Learning Center

4. PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMMAKING

Exposure Guide

The Bastards Book of Photography

Cambridge in Color

Best Photo Lessons

Photography Course

Production Now

nyvs

Learn About Film

Film School Online

5. DRAWING & PAINTING

Enliighten

Ctrl+Paint

ArtGraphica

Google Cultural Institute

Drawspace

DragoArt

WetCanvas

6. INSTRUMENTS & MUSIC THEORY

Music Theory

Teoria

Music Theory Videos

Furmanczyk Academy of Music

Dave Conservatoire

Petrucci Music Library

Justin Guitar

Guitar Lessons

Piano Lessons

Zebra Keys

Play Bass Now

7. OTHER UNCATEGORIZED SKILLS

Investopedia

The Chess Website

Chesscademy

Chess.com

Spreeder

ReadSpeeder

First Aid for Free

First Aid Web

NHS Choices

Wolfram Demonstrations Project

Please feel free to add more learning focused websites. 

*There are a lot more learning websites out there, but I picked the ones that are, as far as I’m aware, completely free and in my opinion the best/ most useful.

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scholarships are the bomb!! free money to get urself an education!! here’s my best advice aaand resources for applying + getting some of that sweet sweet money :D

advice

use all of the databases!! the scholarships are right there for you. Take advantage of them, srsly!!! many let you input your criteria + they’ll match you up with some, and they help to organize your applications. You can subscribe to their newsletter and get alerts for new scholarships. there’s a whole bundle below all this advice to getchu started :D

start early + don’t stop: your eligibility for scholarships starts pretty much freshman year of high school, and basically doesn’t stop until you’re out of education, so take advantage of them!!! Logically, applying to more gives you a higher chance of winning one, so keep ploughing through them

don’t let essays scare you off: sweepstakes scholarships are easiest to apply for, but this also means they have more applicants. Do your best work + put time into essay-based scholarship contests, and up your chance of winning something!! Factor them into your normal routine like you would a homework assignment and just keep at it.

keep track of what you’ve applied for: seriously. Do it. It’ll motivate you when you’re not feeling like it, + keep you organized. Set up a spreadsheet (google sheets, excel, whatever floats your boat) and give it 5 columns: title of the scholarship, amount worth, whether or not you’ve applied, if you were successful, + the organization offering it. It’s also a great reminder of scholarships to reapply for next year.

check local scholarships: they’re waayyyy more restricted so the applicant pool is a lot smaller!!! Check your school, organizations you belong to, your parents’ companies, + local businesses. You’ll be competing against people in your town/county/district + it’ll give you a much better shot at winning. Check out your school’s website + talk to your guidance counsellors!

be specific: narrow down that applicant pool early. When you’re googling, look for scholarships that will apply only to you, so don’t just search ‘scholarships’. Look for ‘scholarships for bisexual women’, or ‘scholarships for international students’, or ‘scholarships for left-handed volleyball players’. Less applicants=better outcomes.

don’t apply to scams: be wary!!! Two big things: be careful of scholarships which want you to pay to apply, and guaranteed scholarships. Research pay-to-apply ones to make sure they’re legit. There’s more info here, here, and here on avoiding scholarship scams. Stay safe!!

scholarship databases

unigo goodcall scholarships.com niche scholarshipmonkey fastweb chegg cappex dosomething scholarshippoints nextstudent college board

more scholarship masterposts

college scholarships masterpost by @wonderstudying​ 

how to search for scholarships by @adamparresh​ 

scholarships! by @the-regular-student​

it’s ya girl’s college scholarship masterpost by @jesussbabymomma  

scholarship 101 by @thisexpedition​

scholarships: how to find them and apply by @futurecristinayang​

good luck!! you’ve got this :D

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Popular apps perfect for students

Staying on top of all your to-dos, errands, tasks and due dates can get complicated but luckily there is an app for everything! If you’re looking for app to wake you up in a morning, manage your priorities or soothe your anxiety, you’ve come to the right place. Here is a list of all the top apps that students are using:

Organisation

Wunderlist

Planner Pro

24me

Remember The Milk

Google Calendar

Pocket Schedule - Class Schedule, Homework Planner

AwesomeNote2 - All in One Organiser

AnyList

The Homework App - Your Class Assignment & Timetable Schedule Planner

My Study Life

Calendars by Readdle - Event and Task Manager

Class Timetable

Countdown+

Due - Reminders, Countdown Timers

Do! - The Best of Simple To Do Lists

Workflow: Powerful Automation Made Simple

Glass Planner

Day One Journal

iStudiez Pro

Awesome Note 2

Grammarly

Konmari

Productivity

RescueTime

Streaks

Forest

ToDoIst

Tide - Stay focused, be peaceful

Focus Keeper

Habitica

Productive habits and daily goal tracker

HabitBull (recommend by @ravn-studies)

BrainFocus (recommend by @ravn-studies)

Toggle Time Tracker (recommend by @ravn-studies)

Self Control

Jot - Notes Widget

Swipes - To Do List

ClearFocus: Productivity Timer

Noisli

Binaural beats

Lanes

Note taking

Microsoft OneNote

Evernote

Quizlet

Notability

Byword

Flashcards+

Goodnotes

Outline

Boximize - Structured notetaking, personal database, form builder, manager and organiser

INKredible (recommend by @lottestudiesphysics)

RefME - Referencing Made Easy

Bear (recommended by @revisionsandcoffee​)

InkFlow Visual Notebook

Studying

Quizlet

Flashcards+

Duolingo

Khan Academy

Xmind

Writer

Studyblue

Coffitivity

Prezi

MindMeister

Hemingway Editor

StudyStack

Crashcourse

Shmoop

Beelinguapp

Brightstorm

Coggle mindmaps

Mindly

Sleeping

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock

Sleep Genius

Rain Rain

Pillow: The sleep cycle alarm clock for sleep tracking

Sleepytime Sleep Scheduler

Mental health and self care

Headspace

Stop, Breathe & Think: Meditation and Mindfulness

Pacifica - Anxiety, Stress, & Depression relief

Centered

Buddhify

Calm: Meditation techniques for stress reduction

Moodnotes - Thought Journal/Mood Diary

Colorfy

7 Cups Anxiety, Stress & Depression Chat & Therapy

Companion 

Smiling Mind

Bsafe

Circle of 6

Health and fitness

Sweat with Kayla - Fitness & Bikini Body Workouts

Yoga Work Out

Freeletics

7-minutes workout

Waterlogged - Drink More Water, Daily Water Intake Tracker and Hydration Reminders

Sworkit (recommend by @leviosa-studies)

Medisafe pill reminder

Plant Nanny Water Reminder

Mealboard

Finance

UNiDAYS

Pocketbook Personal Finance Expense Tracker

Splitwise - Split bills and expenses the easy way

Pocket Expense - Personal Finance Assistant

Daily Budget Original Pro - Saving Is Fun!

Mvelopes

PocketGuard

Mint

The Coupons App

Groupon

Ebates

Hope this helps! x

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26.12.20 / i wore this knit cardigan yesterday and got reminded of fuminori nakamura’s books on account of the red color. i highly recommend his books if you’re into crime fiction. anyway, how’s your saturday? i hope the holiday season has been kind to you this year ♡

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Learning Medical Terminology

Source: Medical Terminology Made Incredibly Easy by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

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do you have any learning materials for learning chinese?

Are you learning Mandarin or Cantonese or another Chinese dialect/language cuz I’m not sure which resources you want? I can give you some resources for both Canto and Mandarin but I don’t have any resources for other Chinese dialects / Chinese languages

Mandarin Resources 

PDF’s (it contains PDF files to learn Mandarine.) 

Mandarin Resources / Rec Post

Free Resources For Learning Mandarin Chinese

Chinese Grammar Wiki

yoyochinese

chinesehulu

memrise

Tips on learning Mandarin Tones (Check this post for tips on learning Mandarin Tones. I learnt Chinese tone naturally so I don’t have anything to recommend so I just link you this blog post.)

Chinese Pronouns

Youtube

Learn Chinese Now 

Lenguin.com Language Lessons

Vocabulary Videos

How to Speak With Numbers in (Mandarin) Chinese (In the West, we use acronyms for online chatting and texting such as BRB and LOL. For the Chinese, we use numbers! This video will help you learn how to speak with numbers in Chinese.)

Chinese Family Tree

11 Crucial Chinese Phrases

How to Curse in Mandarin Chinese

Textbooks

Integrated Chinese 中文听说读写

Links to watch Chinese (Mandarin) Dramas

DramaFever

Viki

Cantonese Resources

My first language is Cantonese so I’m not learning it from any materials but I’ve found a few site that looks quite interesting and looked quite helpful that you could try.

PDF’s (it contains PDF files to learn Cantonese.) 

Apps Rec

Teach Yourself Cantonese

Cantonese Dictionaries

Cantonese Grammar

Cantonese Pronouns

Youtube

Cantonese Tone 

iCANTONESE

Cantonese Bad Swear Words

Vocabulary Videos

How to Speak with Numbers in Chinese - Cantonese Version 

Chinese Family Tree - Cantonese Version

CarlosDouh (This is helpful to learn some slang and how and when they are used in Hong Kong.)Cantonese Slang (Another clip with a list of some commonly used Cantonese slang) 

Sites to watch Hong Kong / TVB Dramas

newasiantv (with subs)

icdrama (without subs)

Watching dramas/films/shows will definitely help you learn and improve your Cantonese. 

Chinese Reading & Writing / Character Resources

Chineasy (They also have books you can buy on amazon or on here)

3000hanzi (A site dedicated to help people learn to read Chinese)

Chinese Poems

To improve or learn Chinese characters, try to watch some Chinese dramas and/or shows with Chinese subtitles, it will help you learn and improve your Chinese reading. 

Some Info about Chinese Languages / Culture

Cantonese Vs Mandarin (This video tells you the difference between the two.) There is another link you can try here)

Chinese Culture Topic Videos (You should check out their channel, they talk about many other things about Chinese Culture / China.)

The Chen Dynasty

Taiwan vs. Mainland Mandarin Chinese

Blogs / Blog Posts

language-obsession

Chinese resources

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4 Legal Ways To Get Free Textbooks.

1. Open Culture:  Not a large a selection, but high quality texts. If you just want to skim a book to brush up on a course you took in ninth grade, download one of these. I have yet to be disappointed.

2. Book Boon: Provides free college-level textbooks in a PDF format. Probably the widest range of subjects on the web. The site is also pretty.

3. Flat World Knowledge: The worlds largest publisher of free and open college textbooks. Humanitie texts are particularly difficult to come by, this site has a great selection in all disciplines.

4. Textbook Revolution:  Some of the books are PDF files, others are viewable online as e-books, or some are simply web sites containing course or multimedia content.

5. Library Pirate: I’ve always had an addiction to torrent based pirating. When this site opened a few months ago, I went a little overboard. After dropping two hundred on a paperback spanish textbook, I downloaded the ebook version illegally. I also got a great Psyc text i’m obsessed with.  It will be interesting to see how this site grows- they already have a great selection. 

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GENERAL SCHOLARSHIP SEARCHES

scholarships.com

Fastweb

SALT

School Soup

CollegeNET

free scholarship search

Scholarship Hunter

collegescholarships.org

Peterson’s

BigFuture

Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RESOURCES

EastChance (specifically for eastern european students)

EducationUSA (US government state department website)

International Education Financial Aid (IEFA) 

International Student

eduPASS

STATE-SPECIFIC (by residency, not place of education)

Alaska

Arkansas

California

Iowa

Louisiana

Maine

Missouri

Montana

North Carolina

Oregon

Washington

TIPS AND GUIDES

CollegeBoard: the basics of financial aid

Watching out for scholarship scams

Department of Education student guide

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