got a lot farther by working a lot harder

ya girl caved and bought (expensive) washi tape!!!

I was casually looking at mechanical pencils and when I turned around *BAM* they were there. I gasped so loudly my dad thought something was wrong lolllll

also here’s this week’s spread! (I know everything is a mess but life is a mess rn so bear with me) + SIX OF CROWS WHICH KILLED ME!!!

Notebooks/Binders Kate Spade Knockoff Notebooks Ombre Journals Personalized Sketchbook Customizable Notebooks for Back-to-School 3 Ways to Make a New Notebook Pop With Watercolor Washi Tape Decorated Notebooks Ombre Notebooks Watercolor Notebook Binder Folder

Pencil Cases/Backpacks No-Sew Print Pencil Case Knotted Zipper Pencil Pouch Open Wide Zippered Pouch Watercolor a Backpack

Organization/Storage Kate Spade Inspired Acrylic Desk Accessories Anthropologie Knockoff Gold Pencil Holder Clay Desktop Paper Holder Wood Bangle Pencil Cup Cereal Box Drawer Dividers Geometric Pencil Cups Cork Containers Desk Organization Command Center Gold Desk Accessories Simple Stationery Organizer Desk Magazine Holder Decorate Glass Jars with Porcelain Paint Pen

Stationery Washi Tape Pencils Wire Heart Paperclips Paper Marbling Washi Tape Script Cards

Bookmarks Color-Block Bookmarks Tassel Bookmarks Cat Bookmark Pressed Flowers Bookmark

Boards Geometric Organization Inspiration Board Pineapple Cork Board Gold Wire Memo Board Quick + Cheap Mood Board Idea Ribbon and Linen Pinboard

Calendars Ombre Calendar Washi Tape Calendar Post-It Calendar Paint Chip Calendar Wall Calendar Using Color Chips

absolution; act of absolving; a freeing from blame or guilt; release fromconsequences, obligations, or penalties.

acquiesce; accept something reluctantly but without protest.

asterismos; a rhetorical term for an introductory word or phrase that has the primary function of calling attention to what follows.

astronomy; the scientific study of matter and phenomena in the universe, especially in outer space, including the positions, dimensions, distribution, motion, composition, energy, and evolution of celestial objects.

ataraxia; a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquillity.

aura; a distinctive and pervasive quality or character; atmosphere.

boisterous; noisy, energetic, and cheerful.

bling; a slang term popularized in hip hop culture, referring to flashy, ostentatious, or elaborate jewellery and ornamented accessories

brontide; a low muffled sound like distant thunder heard in certain seismic regions especially along seacoasts and over lakes and thought to be caused by feeble earth tremors.

burgundy; a deep red colour like that of burgundy wine.

cacophony; a harsh discordant mixture of sounds.

camaraderie; mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.

capricious; guided by whim rather than reason.

cosmic; relating to the universe or cosmos, especially as distinct from the earth.

decadence; moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury.

defenestration; the action of throwing someone out of a window, or, the action or process of dismissing someone from a position of power or authority.

effervescent; vivacious and enthusiastic.

eloquence; fluent or persuasive speaking or writing.

ephemeral; lasting for a very short time.

epinephrine; another term for adrenaline.

epistemology; the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.

ethereal; extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world.

eunoia; comes from the Greek word εὔνοια, meaning “well mind” or “beautiful thinking.”

fantastical; based on or existing only in fantasy; unreal.

furtive; attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt or a belief that discovery would lead to trouble; secretive.

gossamer; a light, thin, and insubstantial or delicate material or substance.

halcyon; denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.

ineffable; too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.

intoxication; the state of being intoxicated, especially by alcohol.

lactescere; (Latin) to turn to milk.

leonine; of or resembling a lion or lions.

loquacious; tending to talk a great deal; talkative.

machiavellian; cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics.

mischievous; causing or showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way.

momentum; the impetus gained by a moving object.

myriad; a countless or extremely great number of people or things.

nebulae; a cloud of gas and dust in outer space, visible in the night sky either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.

nefarious; (typically of an action or activity) wicked or criminal.

nonchalant; feeling or appearing casually calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm.

opalescence; the quality of being opallike, or milkily iridescent. 

obligatory; required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory.

orphic; of or relating to Orpheus or Orphism.

parenthetical; relating to or inserted as a parenthesis (explains or qualifies something).

partial; existing only in part; incomplete.

pastiche; an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.

petrichor; a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.

phosphenes; a sensation of a ring or spot of light produced by pressure on the eyeball or direct stimulation of the visual system other than by light.

plethora; a large or excessive amount of something.

pleasure; a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment.

pretentious; attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed.

prosaic; having or using the style or diction of prose as opposed to poetry; lacking imaginativeness or originality, commonplace; unromantic.

resilience; the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

ricochet; a bullet or other projectile rebound off a surface.

sempiternal; eternal and unchanging; everlasting.

serendipitous; occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

sphere; a round solid figure, or its surface, with every point on its surface equidistant from its centre.

soliloquy; an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

sonorous; (of a person’s voice or other sound) imposingly deep and full.

tenebrific; causing gloom or darkness.

twilight; the soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, caused by the reflection of the sun’s rays from the atmosphere.

vespertide; the period of vespers; evening.

vicissitude; a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.

Hey you guys! So summer started for me last week and I wanted to do a giveaway to thank all of you for your hard work this semester (and if you are still in school right now…to encourage you to do great).

If you are the winner, you will receive:

Jansport Big Student Bag (Winner Chooses the Color)

Ticonderoga #2 HB Pencils, 12 Pack

1000 3x5 Inch Ruled Index Card

Post-it Notes Original Pad, Value Pack, 24 Pads/Pack with Bonus Post-it Flags

Sharpie, Papermate, Expo Writing Essentials 34-Pack

Triplus Fineliner, Set of 20

Triplus Fineliner, Set of 6 (in either Nature or Pastel–winner chooses)

Drawing or Watercolor Set (Winner Chooses)

Infuser Water Bottle

Sunscreen

Beach Towel

Beach Tote

AND

Cookies, Chips and Candies Care Package

$30 Gift Card (either to Amazon, Target or iTunes)

Amazon Fire Tablet with 7” Display, 8GB, in Black

To win this giveaway, you must:

FOLLOW HARDCOREASIANSTUDYBLR 

Reblog the official post. You may reblog the post multiple times (each time is an entry). Likes do not count as an entry but can be used to bookmark.

No giveaway blogs.

This giveaway will end on 31st of July, 2016, 8 pm CDT

If you are under 18, please ask your parent/guardian for permission to enter (I will need your address).

I will pay for shipping (US and internationally).

The winner will be chosen at random.

Ask box must be open, and you have 48 hours to reply to the message. If you fail to do so, then another winner will be chosen.

Good luck guys! Just send me an ask/message if you have any questions!

When you’re looking at two compounds and wondering how they may react, pay attention to the carbons - if they are bonded to a halogen or something more electronegative than them, then they have a partial positive charge and they’re going to want anything that will give them more electrons (a.k.a. a nucleophillic attack). If they’re bonded to hydrogen, they have a partial negative charge and they become your nucleophile, which will want to give those electrons to something that’s lacking them. Once you get these basics down, mechanisms become much easier to memorize because you can see the logic in them and sometimes predict them.

Get the basic mechanisms ingrained in your brain. Think of SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 as your new multiplication table. Make flashcards about them and take them to class. Or put them at the back or front of your notebook. Just have them handy at all times.

Draw the final steps in 3D. ALWAYS. You can draw the mechanisms and the first steps in 2D because it will make it easier to understand, but never forget that you’re working with a 3D structure that can flipped (and attacked by nucleophiles) every which way. Also, if you don’t know the basic perspectives used in orgo (Fischer, Newmans, sawhorse, wedge-dash) please take half an hour to learn them. Mainly wedge-dash and Fischer, but Newman is very useful when deciding which position you should put your atoms in if you’re dealing with sin and anti.

Colors. If you’re one of those people who ONLY writes in black pen, awesome, keep using it for WRITING. For reactions though, you’re going to want options. you’ll need to differentiate between:

The molecules (same color for atoms and bonds, unless you want to finish your notes on your deathbed).

Your three types of arrows: electron flow, actual steps in the reaction (think intermediates) and steps you may take to make it clearer for you but that happen at the same time.

Formal charges

The electrons that stay with its original atom and the ones that are given/shared, if you’re like me and you like your mechanisms to be spelled out.

This is not an excuse to go nuts with the coloring, 3 colors are enough. Personally, I use purple for molecules, electrons and reaction arrows, black for electron flow arrows and charges and light blue for clarification step arrows. Also optional but to indicate a homolytic fission I usually write a blue line perpendicular to the bond. Similarly, if two atoms share one electron each, instead of just one them donating both electrons, I link said electrons with blue.

Remember to be consistent, otherwise you’ll end up like me, looking at your notes from the beginning of the semester and wondering if that dash is a bond or a -1 formal charge (to avoid this, preferably circle formal charges. Lol I never do this but I should).

Flashcards are so helpful! Write the reactants on one side and the mecanism and products on the other. Test yourself until you are one with the electrons.

Khanacademy. Khanacademy will save your butt when it comes to mechanisms. Chemwiki is likely to have anything that Khanacademy doesn’t. If it isn’t in either of those, Google images just became your new best friend. Books also tend to explain those nicely but I personally find them to be poorly structured and they usually include much more info than what you’ll actually be requiered to know. If you have the time to read two pages on a reaction though, by all means go for it.

Study in advance. Good luck studying for your final two days before if you don’t understand the mechanisms and you don’t have your material organized. Seriously, don’t do it. A week before the exam you could make those flashcards mentioned above. They’re a great way to review but it will be impossible if you are learning these things from scratch.

Get your hands on past tests. This goes for any subject but especially for orgo. Try to get a past test or at least ask an upper-classman who’s taken orgo with that professor. Does his/her tests focus on mechanisms? Retrosynthesis? Or does he/she give you the reactants and ask what the product is or what environment they should be in to obtain x? Ideally, you should be able to answer any of these if you know the material. However, if they focus on retrosynthesis, it may be a little tricky, so make sure to cater your study techniques to that.

You should also check out @colllegeruled’s Surviving Organic Chemistry, it’s super helpful and it has lots of resources (seriously, you introduced me to Khanacademy, I OWE YOU MY LIFE).

planner covers: floral 2016 (a5) // plaid 2016 (a5) // blue stripes 2016 (a5)*

info pages: floral (a5)* // lemon drop (a5) // plaid (a5)

calendar year: jan - june (a5) // july - dec (a5)

contacts (a5) // emergency contacts (a5) 

birthdays n anniversaries: jan - june (a5) // july - dec (a5)

goals pages: blue (a5)* // orange plaid (a5) // stripes (a5)

dividers: blue plaid* •  blue lemon drop • orange plaid •  peach plaid • green cloud • green plaid •  floral • green polkadot • lemon drop• blue big plaid• yellow polkadot • yellow plaid

dividers a5: stripes • yellow polkadot • yellow plaid • green polkadot • green plaid • lemon drop • green cloud •  floral • peach plaid • orange plaid • blue big plaid* • blue divider • blue lemondrop 

calendar month: January lemon drop, • January orange floral, • January mint plaid,

• February aqua plaid, • February multistripe • February yellow polkadot, • March flowers, • March orange plaid, • March melon stripe, • April coral plaid, • April green cloud, • April yellow plaid • May lemon drop, • May lime stripe, • May mint roses, • June citrus stripe, • June pink plaid, • June flowers • July big blue plaid, • July green cloud, • July yellow roses, • August colorful rosette, • August melon plaid, • August multistripe, • September orange polkadot, • September pink cloud, • September red plaid • October big yellow plaid, • October blue leaves, • October orange plaid, • November aqua PD, • November green lemon drop • November colorful plaid, • December coral plaid, • December green cloud, • December pink rosette

calendar month a5: January lemon drop  • January mint plaid •  January orange flowers February aqua plaid • February yellow PD • February multistripe March flowers • March melon stripe • March orange plaid April coral plaid • April green cloud • April yellow plaid May lemon drop • May mint roses • May lime stripe June citrus stripe • June pink plaid • June flowers July big blue plaid • July green cloud • July yellow roses August melon plaid • August multistripe • August rosette September polkadot • September red plaid • September pink cloud October yellow plaid • October blue leaves • October orange plaid November polkadot • November green drop • November plaid December plaid • December green cloud • December pink rosette

to do pages: cloud (a5) // floral (a5) 

menu plan: floral (a5) // plaid (a5)

expenses/budget pages (a5) // school charts floral • plaid • blue lemon drop

you can easily print these out and put them in a regular sized binder or get this (x) 6 hole punch with this (x) binder and it’ll be more efficient (-;

here (x) is the 2015 version, and here (x) are more free printables from  thehandmadehome :-)

I discovered this by accident and I thought it was really funny and cute:

1. Download the template from MyScriptFont website

2. Write out the alphabet and numbers in your style, using a black marker (felt pen). This is mine:

3. Scan the template  4. Upload to the MyScriptFont website, name it, set the format and click “send file” 5. Download it to your computer and install

And check out my result!