a new academic year, a fresh start

28.09.18

i’ve decided to funk up my notes a bit this year in hopes that i’ll actually want to look over them and use them to revise!

hey!

i know the frustration of looking at a page and being overwhelmed with colours and think “oh crap, i need to know all of this”. 

i now cater my colour coding to each specific lot of notes (no system works for all notes!) and it’s a lot less overwhelming. i would also recommend not highlighting massive chunks of text because there’s no point - it’s a waste of highlighter and time! instead, highlight the core words that will help you remember the whole section you’re trying to revise.

here’s some of my notes for an example:

21.04.21 // 10/100 days of productivity

Can someone please tell me why my school absolutely hates me.

So we started a new semester at school and I was supposed to do college classes so I had gotten my schedule early. Today I went to my homeroom and they gave me a completely different schedule. None of my college courses were on there so I started asking questions. Turns out they wanted me to do my courses during the afternoon but they didn't want to notify the college. I ended up with really confused emails from my professor asking where I was. I then explained that it wasn't my fault and it caused a lot of drama with my counselor and the head of the college.

march 15th 2020, 13:57pm

so this week has been a long year huh…. two weeks no classes over here (with no word yet on whether we’ll get an online component). adapting to working from home is gonna be weird one, but thankfully i have plenty of sunlight and a new found love for tea 🥺 i hope you all are staying safe and doing well!! things will get better. i promise.

24.09.19

03.08.2020

8 hours of studying, 2 coffees, 2 sandwiches and so much biochemistry & immunology later, i can at least safely say today was productive (and binge a new netflix show). still can’t get over how pretty this library is.

Listen to everything they’re taught, not just hearing

Take notes

Listen to opinions they don’t like

Be open to having their minds changed

Don’t listen to music with words when studying

Practise

Commit

Keep a regimen of self-discipline even in the face of a lack of motivation

Take breaks

Sleep regularly and more than expected

Work very hard during the day

Exercise

Plan in advance

Get small tasks done when there isn’t time to do bigger ones

Engage

Take failures as a learning curve

Think positively

Do their best work at the start of the year so they get more slack later

Talk to those who teach them

Debate

Do a little every day instead of all at once

Ask for help

Help others

Drink water

Work hard but work smart

Know what study setup is their most productive

Hold themselves accountable

Figure out which work is a priority

Don’t waste time re-reading as a form of studying

Find out things they don’t understand

Test themselves frequently

Work backwards through things to understand why something works

Learn more than they need

Have more interests and hobbies than just academics

Find out the most important concepts in a course

Learn the most important 20% of the course to get 80% of the grade

Don’t complain

Tailor their courses to focus on what interests them the most

Play hard after working hard

Read in advance

Know how to say no but don’t say no unless they have to

Take every opportunity they can

Eat well

Defend their personal beliefs

Don’t use other people’s successes/failures as an excuse for anything they do

Don’t let studying become the main part of their life

Understand that everything is temporary

Set goals, short- and long-term

Put their phones away/on silent when studying

August 7, 2020 //