One day we'll reveal the truth...

Hello guys! I made this post with some phrases that I ussually say to myself when I don’t wanna study. So, this is a collection of non-cutesy motivation and things that your mother would say. I’m sorry if I sounded a little harsh, but this a post with tough love. ^~^ Hope y'all like it, and feel free to add more stuff in the end. PS.: Sorry about the bad english

1. Don’t be afraid. Sometimes we get so terriefied of the perspective of failure that our brains just say: “Well, I don’t wanna do this!”. We love to call ourselves lazy, but sometimes we are afraid of getting a bad grade, so procrastination happens.

2. Compromise yourself. You have to get out of bed, and stop complaining! Move to a desk with bright light, coffee/tea and ALL the material you gonna need in the study session. In this moment you have to choose between giving up or be brave and just studying.

3. Put your phone away. Your phone is the devil! Its fun to watch cats on Youtube, but the first moment you get tired or bored, you gonna run back to those f*cking puppies! So, don’t invite Satan to your house. Put it on airplain/silent mode and see your work flow in amazing speed.

5. Don’t give up on the first difficulty. Never say to yourself “OMG I’M SO DUMB I CAN’T DO THIS!” You just haven’t tried enough! Look for the solution/explanation on internet, try to aply it, solve it. If this process didin’t work, do it again. And again. This is how perfection come.

6. Think positive. Remember those times you really needed a good grade, so you worked your ass of and earned it. Or that time your dog didn’t want to take the pills recommended by the doctor, but you made it accept it. Or that time you made a really god cake. I don’t know, but look in your past and find the times you upgraded yourself and made progress! This will make you feel confident and powerfull.

7. Extra motivation. Maybe you can separate 5-10min to be on tumblr and look for people who are actually working (;-) Seeing pretty notes and some numbers can make you feel more involved in the activity.

8. Don’t complain. I see so many people be like “ohhhh god I have so many things to do!!!”. You know how to make all that things desapear? Working. Actually, be grateful for the oportunity of studying, because there’s so many people who would kill to have the oportunities you have right now.

[ @studymei‘s Inspirational quotes for bullet journals and whatever else your heart desires! ]

I have had a rather long collection of motivational and inspirational quotes on my computer for a while which I use for my white boards, exercise books and bullet journals. I thought it time I share them, because I know how difficult it can be to find any that strike a chord. 

I hope you find these useful! 

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” ―Aristotle

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

“Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ― Maya Angelou

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” ― Lance Armstrong, Every Second Counts

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” ― Vincent van Gogh

“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” ― Thomas Jefferson

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” ― Jack London

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” ― Babe Ruth

“There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.” ― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain

“A single day is enough to make us a little larger or, another time, a little smaller.” ― Paul Klee

“The problem with people is they forget that most of the time it’s the small things that count.” ― Jennifer Niven, All the Bright Places

“Life gives us choices. You either grab on with both hands and just go for it, or you sit on the sidelines.” ― Christine Feehan, Night Game

“Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.” ― Suzanne Weyn, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

“Dreams are only dreams until you wake up and make them real.” ― Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story

“Take it easy, but take it.” ― Woody Guthrie

“A bruise is a lesson… and each lesson makes us better.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” ― George Lucas

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.” ― Andy Rooney

“Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” ― Paul Brandt

“All knowledge is worth having.” ― Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel’s Dart

“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” ― Rabindranath Tagore

“Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

[There are more quotes under the tab!]

This is more for my reference than anything else, but if you find this info helpful then cool. The ones with *** are the one I found most important or didn’t find on the internet when I was looking for tips. 

***Your feet will hurt from walking around so much. Don’t bother getting new shoes to cope because by the time you break those in you’ll be used to walking around. Save that money for food. 

***Go to career fair. You’ll probably not get the internship or job your first year, but at least you’ll know how to dress yourself, research companies, and present yourself. 

Go to club meeting where a company rep is present. Company reps have insane memory. They’ll remember you. Especially if you go see them every time. Helpful for when you’re applying.

Get a foam mattress topper. 

Don’t have a crush. You’ll waste so much time thinking about it it’s not even funny. 

Make friends. Make connections. Have fun. Get lit (safely).

Always plan your safe ride home or you’ll spend $56.50 on an uber at 3 am. 

Use the free bus rides you get with your tuition. 

Always ask for student discounts. 

***Don’t just do academics. Having a 4.0 is cool and all, but no company or grad school wants you if that’s the ONLY thing you did. 

***Be busy. When you’re busy, you manage your time better and be more productive instead of procrastinating because “oh that test is in like a week and I have nothing to do besides that so I’ll do it later.” 

***Know your limits. You can’t handle being actively involved in 5 clubs and school. You’ll kill yourself in the process. Limit yourself to 3 clubs because it only gets harder from here.

Join clubs. Find something besides just academics that peaks your interests. It’ll make you a better student and expand your views. 

Join one fun club like a sorority and one serious club like business council. 

Work out. You’ll gain weight if you don’t. Set a routine in the summer so you can follow during the year when things get busy. 

Be safe. Let’s be real, it’s college and there’s drugs and alcohol everywhere. If you choose to do it, be safe about it. Here’s some safety tips. 

Always use a condom. Get them free from your university health center. 

If you’re gonna drink for the first time, do it at home or somewhere that you are comfortable and know 

If you’re gonna do drugs, again do it at home or a safe environment 

Don’t ever leave your open drink unattended. Get a new one if you do. 

You know when someone is sleazy or creepy. Stay away. If they’re persistent, give a fake name or number, get some random girls to let you (Oh jessica we’re leaving lets go), or straight up get away 

Never go somewhere alone at night. Even if you have pepper spray. 

Visit your family at least twice a semester if you can. They miss you and do a lot for you. Go visit them. I visited mine once a month because empty nest syndrome is real. 

Don’t study where your friends are. You’ll get distracted because when it’s 3 am and your getting sick of studying, procrastinating with friends seems super fun. 

***Study with a group. Sounds counter intuitive considering my last tip, but for things like ochem, engineering classes, business projects, or whatever, the classes are designed that if you don’t work in groups you will fail. Find a group of people/friends that are actually productive for studying and stick with it. Form a study squad. Join with other squads from time to time. 

Don’t eat out a lot. You’ll get fat and broke.

Drink lots of water. Refillable water bottles ftw. 

Get off your phone in class. No you can’t pay attention and listen at the same time. 

Email your professors. Go to extra review sessions. When you’re .04 off from getting an A this will help you. 

***ONLY go to TA sessions if they grade the work and/or actually help you learn. Some TA’s are garbage because they’re required to do it for grad school. But they grade your stuff and if you’re one the few people who’s name they know, that’ll definitely help you. If you learn nothing from them and they don’t grade your stuff, don’t waste your time. 

Sleep. That all nighter is worse for you than not knowing anything. Cram the best you can and at least get 3 hours. 

Save your notes. You’ll never know when you’ll need it, if your friend needs it, or sell it. 

***Use a notebook. Don’t write notes on loose leaf paper. You’ll lose track of it. If you take notes on a laptop, use onenote or something idk I have math and science notes, I can’t take that on a laptop. 

If you’re business or something along the line of that, look nice to class. Everyone else is too. Don’t have a professor notice you for your scrubbiness. Comb your hair, throw on some mascara, and wear whatever makes you feel good to class. 

***If you’re stem or something like that, don’t worry to much about looking nice. Unlike business, the professor is probably dressed scrubbier than you. If you look nice, cool, you’ll get noticed for not being scrubby like everyone else. 

***Have desk space. You’re gonna have your laptop, a million papers, and studying utensils out. Have the space for it so you don’t go crazy trying to look for stuff. 

***Have a planner. The most important one. Whether it is hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or whatever, have one. You have a lot of stuff to do, and you can’t remember it all. Buy one, print one, use google calender, doesn’t matter just have it.

How to Write a Literary Analysis Research Paper

 Part One: Notes

Notes are a daunting part of reading a book for school, and, whenever the teacher doesn’t require it, most skip out on taking them. They’re annoying and mostly seem pointless until you are left scrounging for pieces of evidence the night before the paper is due. However, most people don’t know how to take notes. That’s why I’m here. 

1. Literary Devices

First, whenever you notice a literary device being used, such as foreshadowing or symbolism or the like, mark it with a tiny flag. Then, when you’re doing your notecards you can find what you need easily. My friend Emily was calling me her savior when she was using my notes to find last minute quotes for her note cards because they were so organized. They’re so easy to take and so helpful. It would be lazier to not take them in all honesty. I used flags like these.

2. Questions

The next thing to do is ask yourself questions while you’re reading. You ask these in your head easy enough, now just write them down. They will jog your memory later when you need to remember what was going on in that part. And they’ll help you come up with a topic of discussion for your paper. You can write these on your flags or your regular old run-of-the-mill post-its. You can even use questions from movies and other books. My essay was titled ‘Who is the Monster and who is the Man,’ which came from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It kept running through my head as I was reading the book so I smacked it down onto a sticky note, and then it was the center of my paper. 

3. Thoughts

I had to take notes like this anyways, but sometimes it’s nice to just put what exactly you’re thinking onto paper, no matter how ridiculous the ideas are. They make for an interesting read when you go back through for quotes, and they can even help you to understand what exactly is going on. I had several sticky notes about his poor brother Ernest, and he wasn’t even important. I would summarize the plot on some, I would yell at Victor on others. I would write down whatever I really wanted to and then some. These are the notes most teachers want, and they’re not that hard to take. 

Notes may seem daunting, but there’s nothing to them. Don’t let them scare you, and don’t let them seem like too much work. They’re so useful when it comes to writing your paper.