Aspiring Ravenclaw

2:33 3132 // some biology notes I took whilst studying for the mcat! It’s summer break but I’m not truly on vacation since I’m always studying.

While most of the studyblr community is really empowering, uplifting and inspiring, there are also ideals and misconceptions that are really harmful, so please always keep in mind:

You don´t need straight A´s. In some subjects, or basically in life, passing is sometimes enough. Don´t expect yourself to get only straight A´s and destroy yourself for these grades.

Your health, physical and mental, is more important than your grades.

Not everyone enjoys studying. Some studyblrs may be there because they try to motivate themselves, not because they love studying.

You don´t need expensive stationery. Cheap ones are more than enough.

You don´t need to wish for stationary for christmas or your birthday. Wish for something your really want and what brings you joy.

Staying up all night and having only 4 hours of sleep is not healthy!

Drinking multiple coffees per day every day is very bad for your stomach and heart!

Being productive can mean lots of things. It means something different for everyone, and while for some of us it means studying 8 hours a day, for others it may mean 2 hours, or maybe just organizing and sorting out stuff.

Not every day is the same. While today may be wonderful and productive, tomorrow may be not so productive. You are a human being, not a machine.

Honestly, being 100 days in a row productive is more harmful than helpful. Take that day off if you need too!

Your bullet journal must not be perfect or artsy. As long as it helps you organize your stuff and as long as you are happy with it, everything is fine!

You don´t need to do calligraphy to be a studyblr or a good student.

You don´t need to rewrite all your notes. As long as you know how to learn from them, that is enough.

Your handwriting doesn´t need to beautiful. You (and your teachers) should be able to read it without problems, that´s all.

Studying too much can make you depressed. But that is normal and will pass.

Just because others may find a class easy does not mean you have to. Everyone has weaknesses and strengths.

Ambience and piano music is not for everyone. It is totally okay if you listen to heavy metal while studying, as long as you can concentrate.

Getting up early is not always good for being productive. If you are not a morning person, you might not be able to concentrate.

Your background does not have to be white.

You do not have to study on your bed or wrapped in blankets. There are enough people who get tired by doing so.

Your desk will be messy more often than not, and that is totally okay.

Everyone is procrastinating sometimes.

Planning your whole day or week, including every single minute, does not make sense. You will have moments where you will just sit there and stare, you may want to eat an unplanned snack or whatever. Don´t try to plan every second. Give yourself some freedom.

Enjoy your breaks. Don´t minimize them down to just 5 minutes. Take breaks as long as you need them to be in order to feel well and to focus again.

Don´t revise in your head as soon as you´re not studying. Give yourself times where you don´t think about it at all.

04/100 days of productivity

[31.12.16]

{25.2.16}- 30 day studyblr challenge with @hayley-studies Day 18- your favourite pens to use

So I recently got an anonymous ask about English literature tips, so I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to make my first masterpost!

 (disclaimer: I am currently studying AQA English lit Love through the Ages which is a very strange specification, so apologies if this doesn’t really apply to your course)

1: Read like hell This is a really obvious tip, but you’d be surprised by the number of people who take a literature course and don’t actually read. Reading is necessary if you are on my course where wider reading is assessed, but even if you aren’t assessed on it reading will greatly improve your vocabulary and give you a greater understanding of different periods of literature. Sure, if you read Shakespeare you know a little about Renaissance Literature, but you should also read some Donne, Jonson, Wyatt and Spenser if you want to get a really broad and detailed knowledge of the period. Also (again this is obvious but you’d be surprised) make sure you read poetry and drama as well as prose. On top of reading fiction, pick up a non-fiction book! Reading a book about, say, literary criticism is going to give you lots of really strong points to make in your essay.

2: Short but sweet quotes Doing two literature based subjects, I’ve definitely learnt my lesson about quotes. There is absolutely no point in memorising hundreds of long quotes that you can say nothing about. What works best is saying a lot about a little, rather than a little about a lot. Find maybe one or two quotes for each theme, and analyse them now (see point 3), rather than try to analyse it in the exam.

3: Analysis My best tip for analysis, whether that’s of a one line quote or a whole poem, is to learn a lot of literary techniques and their effects. That way, when you see a technique being used in a text or a poem, you know what to call it (rather than some vague description) and you have an analysis already done for you. For example, let’s say you find some really juicy foreshadowing, if instead of just pointing out that it exists, you know that foreshadowing can create some really heavy tension then half the work is already done for you.

4: Revision You know how you revise best, whether that be with visual, auditory etc techniques. But you need to use that appropriately with literature. I revise really well with mindmaps and flashcards, so I make a massive mindmap covering everything from character analysis to themes to quotes all on one piece of paper, and then I use flashcards for technique definitions and effects and quote memorisation. But maybe if you are an auditory learner you could make your own podcast (obviously you don’t have to upload it anywhere if you don’t want) or a verbal essay on the text. Find a method that works for you and adapt that to Literature.

5: Practice, practice, practice As it is with any subject, practice makes perfect. But I think this is more so with English lit than any other subject. You need to nail your exam technique, and once you’ve done that the rest is (relatively) easy. Also, if your exam gives you questions that you can predict quite easily like discuss how [theme/character/relationship etc] is portrayed in [text], then it might be possible for you to write up some model answers that you can revise from.

[39/100] {5.5.16}