Ariestudyblr

One night he was writing something and his wife noticed he was writing from right to left.  Since she was studying occupational therapy she realized he had a learning disability and started working with him.  He slowly began to learn to read, and at 26 got his GED and went to college.

His first year of college he took the lowest level math course he could take, 001.  Over the years he worked on learning what he needed to, ended up graduating with a biology degree.  He then went on to get his masters and PhD, graduating at the top of his class.  He is now an extremely accomplished biologist and professor.

Also in there: therapist, early childhood educator, then finally: web developer–because by then it was an actual thing that existed. I didn’t actually figure out what I “wanted to do when I grew up” until about eight years ago, when I was 36. I tried pursuing writing when I was 30, stopped, then started pursuing it seriously again when I was 40. 

Taken from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, daughter of the Tiger Mother

As I am usually a straight A student, I thought I’d share some of my favourite study “hacks”, but be warned: i will not be gentle with you. I am going to tell you the brutal truth about getting great marks, because it is no use sugarcoating the fact that school is actually super hard work! 

discipline beats motivation

to be honest no matter how perfect your/any studyblr might be, looking at a blog will unfortunately never ever motivate you to study as hard as you will have to to get an A. Studyblrs may inspire you, but the one thing which will really get you studying is discipline. So, as cruel as it may sound, force yourself to be productive and you will get some serious work done.

have no social life

… at least on some days. if you find it difficult to fit your studies into your social life, try reversing the whole thing. Don’t make plans with your friends on days during which you want/need to study. This definitely isn’t fun, I know, but for me, I often find it difficult to get work done when I have plans later that day as firstly, getting a certain amount of work done within a strict time limit stresses me out and secondly, you should definitely use all the time you can get - especially shortly before the upcoming exam.

all-nighters equal bad time management

truth be told good students normally won’t have to pull all nighters as sleep is very important for not only your concentration but also for your health. To make sure that you get enough rest you should start studying as early as possible, for me that is normally one week before the particular exam, and plan what you will do on which day without trying to fit everything into the last minute. That will leave you relaxed, well rested and concentrated on the day of your exam.

find something that keeps you going

i usually drink a lot of coffee when i am studying, because during a hard study session i need to stay focused and awake. If you don’t like coffee, you could also go for black tea or green tea or simply some fruit as it is very important to get some vitamins (or in my case caffeine) in your system to not fall asleep while working.

ask for help

whether you swap notes with your colleagues or you mail the professor some questions doesn’t matter at all. It’s only important that you accept that you probably won’t be able to do everything on your own, so find yourself a study partner, ask questions when something seems unclear to you or even get a tutor. And definitely don’t be embarrassed about asking questions! Nobody knows everything.

no distractions

studying is boring and you might find that music makes it a little more exciting, but often listening to music or taking a lot of breaks is only keeping you from getting work done. So suck it up and study either silently, to classical music or to relaxing noises you can find on the internet. Also try not to take too many breaks. Don’t overwork yourself, of course, but also try to stay focused for longer than 15 minutes as this will allow you to be more productive and don’t study with friends if you end up chit-chatting to each other instead of working.

write everything down

even if you have a good memory, you won’t be able to remember a thing after class, so suck it up, don’t talk to your desk mate and focus on writing everything important down what the teacher says. even if you get handed enough material there will still be things which you should write down such as explanations, examples and additional information. that will help you later on to understand what you are actually studying.

you absolutely need to study

don’t ever think, no matter how much attention you’ve paid in class or how good you are at a certain subject, that you won’t have to study. there is always work to get done and if you are already good at something work on being better to excel at academics. 

(I finished my freshman year this spring with a 4.0 GPA, an off-campus research internship, and three professors contacting me suggesting that I apply for a fulbright scholarship.  These tips aren’t coming out of my ass.) 

1. LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY THIS: YOU DO NOT NEED TO “GET INVOLVED” IN STUPID CLUBS IF YOU DON’T ENJOY THEM.  Hear “get involved! :)” for the 1000th time and just barf in your mouth a little and move on.  If you work hard and get good grades, and socialize with people on campus when you have free time (it comes more naturally than you think) YOU WILL.  BE.  FINE.  Actually better than fine.  You’ll have time to get a real job/internship, which by the way, is what the real world wants to see you prioritizing.  Moral of the story: Only join clubs if they help your personality thrive and feel healthy.  Don’t do them because you feel pressured.  

2. DON’T TAKE SHIT FROM A N Y O N E. I know you’re trying to fit in and take the stance of trying to make everyone happy to make sure you’ll have plenty of friends.  But you have to realize that you literally just met these people, and they just met you.  If they create an uncomfortable environment for you that makes college harder to cope with, get them the fuck out of your life. Ain’t nobody got time for people’s high school-ass drama.  

3. SKIP YOUR CLASSES SOMETIMES.  If you really have your shit together, it won’t matter.  Your school will say the amount of skips you can get away with before it harms your grade.  Use. Them.

4. BECOME THE MASTER OF WRITING ESSAYS IN ONE NIGHT.  You will have to.  I’m telling you right the fuck now.  And you can get an A, if you work your lil ass off. I’ve done it many times.  

5. DON’T CARE FOR EVEN 1 SECOND WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOU.  If you wanna wear sweats and no makeup, do it.  If you want to dress up and take time to put on makeup, do it.  If you want to stay away from partying, do it.  If you want to party, have a good ass time.  If anyone has enough time to judge you, they need to be studying harder or getting a hobby.  Make yourself comfortable and happy as fuck and enjoy your time in college worry-free. 

6. BE THE ASSHOLE WITH A TABLET OR LAPTOP IN LECTURE.  You won’t have time to copy it all down.  You’ll be miserable.  Just trust me.  I know studies say its more effective to write stuff down for memory, but, write them out later or something.  Learned that one the hard way.

7. DON’T REWRITE YOUR NOTES IF IT DOESN’T HELP YOU STUDY.  If you know doing that doesn’t help you memorize, don’t do it, period.  Or, if you have a collossal asston of notes (like I did) it isn’t even worth rewriting them all in the first place. I’ve fallen down that hole and lost motivation and time.  Just reread them or make flashcards or whatever.  Study for effectiveness, not aesthetic.

8. BE PREPARED FOR LAB TO GO THE “WHOLE TIME.”  Yah, you’re gonna see 3 hours on that brand-shiny-new schedule of yours and be like there’s no way it’ll go that long, right? LOL about that.  Just mentally brace yourself.  Eat and drink beforehand for the love of god we don’t need hangry people handling chemicals.  

9. COMMUTING DOESN’T MAKE YOU A LONER.  Just.  No. If you live close to campus, are comfortable with commuting, and know you’ll save yourself MAJOR debt by doing it, do it and don’t feel a fucking ounce of guilt about it.  It’ll be some early mornings, but your fresh out of college broke ass will thank you, and you’ll use your time more effectively.  (Plus you get a non grimy shower like??)

developing and implementing habits as apart of your lifestyle

- write them down

writing down everything is important. from tracking money to reflection to even developing habits. it not only holds you accountable in away, but it helps you to remember, and is good to look back on and reflect upon it.

 - start with general goals//habits

you want to start with general goals//habits. think about what it is you want to implement into your life. it could be that you want to eat healthier, be kinder to people, save more money, etc.

- write specifically what you will do [ specific habits ]// a time schedule for it [ be realistic ].

now that you know what it is you want to become apart of your lifestyle, this detailed//specific set-up will be what you do//how you'll work to implement it. if you want to eat healthier, write down that you want to eat home or eat a healthy meal at least 3x a week. if you want to be kinder to people, smile at a stranger at least once a week or go out of your way to help make someone's life easier//better, whether its helping them bring their groceries in, listening to them attentively, or giving them good advice. if you want to save more money, implement saving at least x amount of money per month.  its okay to start small! be realistic and build up from there. when you start small, you're better able to establish a consistent foundation and implement that habit as apart of your life, and then you can continue to improve. 

- reflect upon them and your progress from time to time.

its important to reflect upon your habits and progress from time to time. write about each goal in a journal, even if it is just a sentence. what progress have you made? what setbacks have you encountered? how well have you implemented it? how has this helped you or have you realized you should take a different approach? what purpose does it serve to you? why do you want to integrate this into your life? will it better you? will it make you happy? you could even reflect on an instance you implemented that habit, or an experience when you applied it or how it has helped you.

- write a personal and professional goal in your life.

life has a purpose. think about what you want to do in your life. its easier to divide this in terms of your personal life goal//purpose and your professional life goal//purpose. it could be for example, that you want to become a teacher to educate the youth not only in terms of academics, but in terms of life, or that you want to become a doctor to make a difference in the medical sector and aid the medical crisis' in war-ridden and poverty-stricken countries. your professional goal could be to become a writer, a journalist, a lawyer, a cashier. just write down and reflect upon why this is your professional goal, what do you want to do, how do you want to live. think the same for your personal life goal, but as the name suggests, personal- without any attachment to work or anything. what is your purpose? why are you living? how are you going to spend your time in this world? what are your goals? this, honestly, may take awhile, a lot of searching and reflection. take that time to reflect- to think. structure your goals//habits around these life goals. not all of your habits have to pertain to it, but its important to structure your habits because your habits shape and figure your lifestyle- your life is composed of and shaped by what you implement in your life- what habits you adopt.

- you can start anytime.

with the new year phenomenon, we all think that its too late or too early to change ourselves. we wait until the next year, when the 'new year buzz' has started and our motivation is high, but is it real? you can start anytime! changing for the better does not have a clock or deadline where you have to wait to renew your lease for improvement. do it now, my friend. the future isn't guaranteed after all- not the next hour, nor the next day, not even the next couple minutes from this very moment you're reading this.

- don't do too many habits at the same time.

focus on 1-3 at a time, and normally work on implementing and tracking them for 1-3 months. when you focus on 1-3 at a time for a long period of time, you become accustomed to it, you better implement it into your life, you're able to reflect on your progress and setbacks and really able to make that habit your lifestyle, not an experiment. and often enough, when you start making changes in your life through these habits, you begin to implement others that aren't your 'primary' focus at the moment- it comes together as if your subconscious recognizes and remembers those other habits and so you improve on those as well. 

- divide your habits into categories.

there are many things, often enough, that we want to improve upon ourselves and it can get overwhelming as we don't know where to start. that's why its easier to divide your habits into categories of your life from fun, mental well-being, finance, health, sustainability, religion, family + friends, school // studies, etc., and then write down the habits you'd like to implement into each aspect. you can write as many that come to mind and then select the habits you'll be focusing on for x amount of time.

- ask yourself which choice//whether this decision or action will contribute to your goal.

whether you are in the midst of a decision or an action, ask yourself whether it will contribute to your habit or life goal. it holds you accountable and reminds you of the change you want to make, and the moment you can progress in making that change. the decisions and choices we make every day are apart of our way of life, so if you want to change your lifestyle, change your choices.

- be patient and be grateful.

take small steps, be patient. change is not easy, nor is it quick. it is in fact, a life long process- better yet, a life-long progress. be grateful for every progress, every failure, every step forward, every step backward. progress pushes you forward, and failure teaches you something so that you progress further. 

10 jan 2020 32/100

I am an autistic adult. In light of several terrible doctor's appointments in a row, it's become clear that they teach you all absolutely nothing about autism. Here are some things you need to know.

I am not a child. Do not use your baby voice on an adult, regardless of whether or not they have a developmental disability.

I know when someone's dismissing me. We pick up on nonanswers like "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" very easily, because we depend on concrete answers for peace of mind.

I know what my own sexual orientation is.

I understand more than I can express to you. There is a substantial gap between what I am capable of understanding and what I can get back out of my mouth in a way that makes sense to neurotypical people.

Pain scales mean nothing to me. It's like asking me to count backwards in Sumerian. You are asking me to apply an arbitrary scale to an abstract feeling that I may experience atypically because of my whacked-out sensory system. Ask me questions about what the pain prevents me from doing instead.

i love those cosy studying days