brainymania

BOOKS OF APRIL ‘18

Long time no wrap-up! April was a weird reading month for me: Quantitatively good, since I managed to read six books. Qualitatively, not so good, since most of the books I read were mediocre reads and didn’t leave me very satisfied. One highlight of this month, however, was my impromptu weekend readathon with @the-literaryowl , during which I read and fell in love with “Everything I Never Told You”. It was perfect - not only is Celeste Ng an amazing writer, but chatting to Melody about my thoughts about the story made me read it more closely and appreciate it even more.

Another highlight was meeting Celeste Ng, when she presented her newer book, Little Fires Everywhere, in Berlin. Unfortunately, the event itself was a bit meh, since the moderator managed to make the whole event more about him and his opinion of the book rather than giving some space to Celeste Ng. 

But enough of that, let’s talk about the books that I read in April:

Morgan Matson: “The Unexpected Everything”

Morgan Matson is one of my go to’s when I feel like some nice, contemporary YA that is fluffy and serious at the same time. This book was the weakest one I’ve read of her, however, and I’m not entirely sure if it’s because I’m older now or because of the book itself. It gave me fluff, summery vibes and cute dogs, but not more than that.

V. E. Schwab: “Vicious”

Victoria Schwab’s books are not for me. I appreciate that her protagonists are usually some kind of anti-hero and I like the ideas in her stories. But while reading them, I always get the impression that everything is supposed to be cool and dark and different and it just doesn’t work for me. The villains are bland, I don’t care about the characters because they’re too busy being cool, and ah - I’m just frustrated. I should just give up on her books.

Celeste Ng: “Everything I Never Told You”

This book was amazing. It will also get a full review soon.

Madeline Miller: “Circe”

I love how Madeline Miller narrates classic myths in a modern way with a slightly different interpretation. They’re definitely easier to read than the original, but don’t feel superficial. Sadly, I felt as distant from the characters in this one as in her first story about Achilles, and thus didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. Nonetheless, Circe is a cool story about an ancient witch with a feminist twist and some good observations of human nature.

Leslye Walton: “The Price Guide To The Occult”

Based on my experience with her first novel (Ava Lavender, which I absolutely loved), I had expected a whimsical story with elements of magical realism that works both as an adult or a YA novel. Unfortunately, this book was more of a typical paranormal YA novel, including InstaLove, flat characters and a straightforward plot that didn’t offer any surprises.

Sarah Kuttner: “180 Grad Meer”

I  had a few thoughts about this German book which I will post soon (in German, with a small summary in English).

Fact: the majority of bisexuals are closeted.

Bisexuals make up the majority of the LGBTQ+ community and a huge percentage if not the majority of people in general.

Hey guys, so I’m nearing the end of my senior year, and it’s been great so far! I accomplished my academic tasks efficiently and didn’t burn myself out, and I think the main contributor to my success as a student is my organization system. This system has been refined throughout my high school years, but I think now I’ve finally found the most effective methods.

Please remember that this isn’t the only organization system you can adopt; this is just the one that works the best for me, and I hope that by sharing it with you, you’ll gain a new perspective on how to stay organized as a high school student.

The first thing I wanna talk about is my notebook system, which I briefly mentioned in my Guide to Note-Taking.

My notebook system comprises three types of notebooks: the Everything Notebook, the subject notebook, and the revision notebook.

The Everything Notebook

The first stage is in-class notes. I only bring one notebook to school every day. I call it my Everything Notebook, and this is where I write down all of the notes I take in class. This way, I don’t have to lug around six notebooks where I’m only going to use a few pages in each of them that day.

Subject Notebooks

At the end of the day, I would revise my notes and compare them to the syllabus so I know where we are in the learning process. I would then transfer my class notes from my Everything Notebook to my different subject notebooks. This is stage two. I also start to jazz up my notes because I use the notes in my subject notebooks to study for tests.

In addition to my class notes, I include material from my teachers’ notes that they might not have elaborated on, as well as points in the syllabus (I’m currently taking A2) that were only glazed over briefly, or not at all, in some cases. (Note: this does not mean they completely skip a chapter or topic; it’s more like they missed a few bullet points that should be in my notes but aren’t. An example would be if we’re learning about phenol reactions and the teacher forgot to mention the use of FeCl3 as a test for phenol.)

Revision Notebooks

Stage three comes a little later, when exam week is just around the corner. Essentially, I rewrite and improve my notes from my five different subject notebooks into a single revision notebook or binder. (Recently, I’ve opted for a revision notebook because they’re lighter and easier to carry around.)

Because my teachers don’t always teach in the order of the syllabus, the first thing I do is organize my notes according to the syllabus. I would then fill in any other missing gaps in the material that hadn’t been filled in stage two.

When compiling material for my revision notebook, I use as many sources as possible: my own notes, my teachers’ notes, youtube videos, online sites, and my favorite, the mark scheme! I add in some answers from past papers (explanations only, so no calculations) mainly to secure marks. It’s safer to memorize definitions straight from the mark scheme than from the textbook or from handouts. I also do this to ease my memorization, especially for topics that require lengthy explanations. It’s a lot easier to remember the 6 points I need to explain the principles of NMRI than to remember everything in the four-page handout my teacher gave me.

Folders and binders are essential to organizing your papers. Some people keep a single accordion folder for all their papers, but for me it’s just too heavy to carry around all the time. The same goes for subject folders that are brought to school every day.

Instead, my binder/folder system comprises my Everything Folder and my subject binders.

The Everything Folder

The folder I carry with me to school every day is this A4 folder I got from Tokyu Hands. It has 5 pockets, one for each day of the week, so all the papers I receive on Monday will go behind the first divider, and so on.

Some people also keep blank papers in their folders; I don’t because my school has its own lined paper and graphing pads that I keep under my desk that I use if a teacher asks us to do an assignment on those papers. If I do work at home, I prefer to just use a plain A4 paper or a legal pad.

Subject Binders

At the end of the week, I’ll sort my papers into my subject binders. Sometimes I’ll keep some papers in the folder if I think I’ll be needing it the next week. This usually only applies to worksheets because all my teachers’ notes are available on Google Classroom, so I can access them even if I don’t physically have them.

Each of these binders have sections inside them:

Physics: 1 for handouts, notes, and tests, 1 for Paper 4 (Theory), 1 for Paper 5 (Practical Planning). I included extra tabs to mark the different topics in the handouts section.

Chemistry: same as Physics.

Economics: 1 for Paper 3 (MCQ), 1 for Paper 4 (Case Study and Essay). A lot of my Economics material is online, though.

English: 1 for Paper 3 (Text and Discourse analysis), and 2 for Paper 4 (Language Topics, which includes 1 for Child Language Acquisition, 1 for World Englishes). Past papers, handouts, and notes all go under their respective topics.

Mathematics: I just keep everything together because I never revise math and just constantly do past papers.

This makes it easier for me to revise each subject because I can just take one binder with me instead of a messy folder with everything just shoved in there.

I keep a magazine file for each of my A-Level subjects (English and Mathematics are combined). All my textbooks, revision guides, and subject notebooks are kept here, so if I need to revise one subject, that’s the magazine file I’ll take out.

These magazine files prevent any small things (like my book of flashcards) from being shoved to the back of my bookshelf, or materials from different subjects from getting mixed up.

In my senior year, I mostly plan using this app called Edo Agenda. It syncs across all my devices for free and has all the features I need: a to do list to organize tasks, monthly and weekly calendars to organize events, a journal to organize notes and memos.

I used to bullet journal regularly, but it takes too much time during weekdays, so now I just bullet journal for the therapeutic effects it gives me, and I use an app for organizing tasks and events. Sometimes at the end of each week, I’ll transfer my tasks to my bullet journal and then decorate the page, but again, this is just for its therapy.

Organizing your school supplies is just as important as organizing your papers and notes. With a more organized backpack and pencil case, you won’t waste time looking for your things at the bottom of an abyss.

Pencil Case

I don’t find it necessary to bring so much stationery to school unless I plan on making notes at school (usually during revision week).

Backpack

Because we’re already in the revision term, I don’t really carry a lot of things in my everyday backpack, just the following:

Pencil case

Everything Notebook

Everything Folder

Revision notebook

Kindle

Phone

Wallet

Earphones

Calculator

Speaker

Drinking bottle

A pouch with things like a hairbrush, pads, and lip balm

[necessary preface that my expertise lies in late medieval english literature, so that’s where the majority of these will come from. if there’s someone (english, european, non-western) in particular you’d like to know more about, feel free to send me a message and i will happily dig up some info for you!]

quick biography:

b. 1342, d. 1416; lived in norwich

anchoress, theologian, mystic

stone cold badass

This was so unexpectedly informative and a delightful, brisk read to boot.

I’ve found that a lot of essays that take a look at women’s issues, especially around the turn of the 20th Century, are really talking about white women and just labeling it “Women” as if women of color were automatically included in these movements or shifting societal norms. There’s still a lot to learn from them and I still read them, but in the back of my mind there’s an undercurrent of “Black women weren’t allowed to…” or “this did not apply to Black women at all…”

In popular culture: wear tweed/plaid/some sort of bland pattern; often in suits; pristine appearance, maybe with wild hair or ink stains; drink tea and coffee; constantly reading books for work and pleasure; erudite conversationalists; love what they do

A friend: hey can you help me out real quick I’m having a mental breakdown

have a look at my phd rejections

last fall, I walked by an office door on campus, one that belonged to a well established professor. letters were pasted all over it. what were those letters? rejections. I was in awe, surprised that someone was willing to be so outwardly vulnerable in a profession so caught up in accomplishment culture. that moment continues to inspire me.

so here are my rejections. they’re not easy to post but I refuse to be ashamed of them.

I applied to 9 programs in total this cycle. I maxed out a credit card (and my mental health) while preparing and submitting them. Through a great deal of desperation and no small dose of luck and chance I was accepted to 2 of them.

what is missing from the “2 acceptances” conversation is the fact that I received >3x the rejection emails than the ‘congratulations.’ 7 rejections. seven. rejections. do you know how difficult reading 7(!) rejections is? even though I counted on that many to start with?

no one prepares you for how it feels, when you want something really bad. when you think a program is a perfect fit. when you picture yourself on the campus, working within and around that specific community of scholars

some of these letters I received on the same day. one notice was a personal one (notre dame), suggesting that I was short-listed in committee but didn’t end up making the cut. another was terribly impersonal and didn’t even include my name (michigan). most were distant and unfeeling, as if I didn’t pour hours of blood, sweat, and tears into preparing the applications after hours and hours of researching their specific program

Reading rejections was horrible. I also applied to Notre Dame and was essentially told to come back when I had my MA. I expected to be rejected from current institution but it still sucks.

We heard back from the NSF-GRFP yesterday. I knew I probably wasn’t getting it but it still disappointed me to get the rejection email. I haven’t been in a good enough headspace yet to read my reviewer comments and I’m waiting to hear about summer funding I probably won’t get (but really need to afford to do research this summer).