FantaStudy

I know that you’re investing half of your life between books and notes and journals, and I know that sometimes you may lose motivation, and I also know that the road is long and really really hard. But, please, don’t quit. Don’t give up on yourself when you feel bad for having to decline a plan with your friends because of studying. Don’t even give up when the sunlight passes through your window inviting you to go out through the door. I know it will be hard, listening to the silence in your house while everybody else is sleeping or having fun. 

I know it that feeling of defeat when you invest all your time, you put all of you, all of your hopes, all of your abilities… to an exam that, finally, doesn’t end up like you wanted to. And you miss like hell all your free time, your friends, your naps. 

But, for now, you can’t give up. 

There are so much people who have stayed on the road, and you ask yourself a lot of times if your decision is the right one, if the sacrifice is worth it, or if it would be better if you’d decide to go on an easier road. 

Don’t. 

Don’t give up, because YOU are what this world needs, because your sacrifice will give you a better future, and you will make this society grow. Because it doesn’t matter if sometimes you feel insecure, if you are putting half of your life and your effort on this, it is because you like it. It doens’t matter how many times you think you hate it or feel insecure about your decisions, I’m pretty sure that every single one of them has made you a better person. 

Don’t give up, because I’m sure that someday in the middle of that loneliness at sleepless nights and black coffees, the phone will ring and you’ll find a friend’s voice that will cheer you up. 

You also will cry because of an exam grade, and you’ll also try to find the words to explain to the world that it’s not only a number for you… that behind that grade, there’s all your effort and, more important, all your dreams. 

And you’re allowed to cry for days, but then you have to get up again and conquer the world. A world that is all yours. Don’t quit. Because you’re not alone. Because on the shades of this project there’s your family, your friends, those who are proud of you and make your success their success. 

Because that future you desire, will come. Sooner or later, but it will. 

And while it comes, enjoy your breaks in the library, that little time you spend relaxing in the sofa, enjoy  your friends and your family trying to cheer you up, enjoy the group-studying seasons, enjoy chocolate and tea, that new cute thing you bought to make your desk look prettier, enjoy the laughs between friends, enjoy the hugs and all those people you will meet in the road and will feed you with experience through their own experience. 

I’ve been posting a lot of my lecture notes lately so why not explain the process, you know?

basic stuff

I use a notebook, a black pen or pencil, and a colored pen for lecture notes. I use a notebook instead of loose-leaf because it keeps everything together and in one place, which makes it convenient for study purposes. 

I write the title at the top in black pen: basically just the chapter name + number in all-caps. Also, I try to write the date in the corner so I know what day my notes are from.

I don’t use a lot of colors because a. there isn’t a lot of time during lecture to switch between pens and b. it makes my notes a lot easier to look at and understand. Color coding doesn’t really work for me. Sometimes I’ll use a highlighter after lecture is over, to highlight important concepts / things i forget easily, but that’s about it.

I use tabs to separate chapters in my notebook so I can quickly access notes for any chapter.

content 

If the teacher already gives us a powerpoint or a review sheet, I don’t copy them down during lecture because it’s a waste of time to copy down what you already have. 

Instead I focus on what the teacher is saying and write down their explanations / anything they mention multiple times / anything important that they write on the board / anything that they say is important or will be on the test.

For classes like anatomy and physiology / biology, teachers draw helpful diagrams and pictures on the board, which i copy down and label so i don’t forget what it was about.

For classes like math, teachers write up examples on the board, which I also copy down (woo hoo math :-/ who understands the struggle)

format

Sometimes I use symbols like numbers / bullet points to organize information and I draw arrows to connect concepts / extra information off to the corner. I also use the margin of the paper to add titles for different topics or to write down the #s of the powerpoint slides my teacher referred to during lecture.

Black pen / pencil - writing general body of the notes

Colored pen - for drawing arrows, marking important things, asterisks, etc.

Highlighter - for marking important or easily forgotten things after lecture.

first there’s a bull just shittin on this guy

gremlin dude shooting arrows into a mermaids ass ok

someone fuckin boneless dancing to this hot violin song what

my favorite one a bunch of amputees beating the shit outta each other with crutches