the studyblr for the real student

18, 19 & 20/ 100 days of productivity 18.3.2019 | sorry for not posting over the weekend - again. I went stationery shopping for the new semester on saturday - and as you can see, injust bought the necesseties, from a German brand that uses no plastic. So yes, sustainable stationery is possible!

i love traveling so much! we went to central europe for spring break and it was amazing!!!

[ January 7, 2019 ]

· that moment when you notice spelling mistakes in your notetaking photos!!

Heyo, so school is fast approaching, and seeing as Tumblr is made up of a lot of younger users who will soon be shipping off to college or university soon, I thought I would take it upon myself to help spread my knowledge of essay-writing. Essay-writing is my thing. I love it. I live for it. It’s how I make up for my shitty test marks, and still get by with an 85 average+ in University classes. I’m a historian by trade, so perhaps this information will seem a bit off from what you’re used to, but hopefully, It’ll help you out. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an ask.

1. Consider your question and find your thesis.

      I know, I know. People always say, no! Never start with your thesis/intro paragraph! Go to the body!! Well i’m here to say forget everything you’ve been told. Forget that, forget the stupid hamburger shit they teach you, forget it all and start reading. 

I ALWAYS start with my thesis. Why? Because you cannot make good paragraphs without knowing what you’re researching. You need direction, and a thesis is your map.

So, the question we’ll use shall be: What is one way in which the Union won the American Civil War?

Now remember, your thesis is your map. It shows you where to go, what to look for. The thesis is the heart and soul of all your work. You want a good, solid thesis. What does that include, you ask?

An idea

A reason for said idea

Evidence to support said reason, and thus validate the        idea.

So, lets do an example. Let’s say I’m writing on the use of media during the American Civil War. I like photography, and wrote a paper on this in my second year, but im gonna be doing this example freehand(idk where I put that essay lol) so lets work with how I got an A+ on that paper. This will be my idea:

                “Photography during the American Civil War influenced the war’s outcome in the Norths favour.”

This is VERY vague. This is an example of a thesis in bloom! Let’s take it further. Look at the above. What questions would you have from this thesis?

-Who was taking photos at that time?

-Why did it influence the outcome?

-How did it influence the outcome?

-Who consumed photography as a media at that time?

This is where you STOP, and start the next step.

2. Research

                Start your basic research with your idea, and the above questions in mind. Look at libraries, ask your professor or TA or librarian, or just do some basic google searches to get to know the subject(but for the love of god if you include a google link in your citation I will personally hunt you down and castrate you.)

I like to start with the basics of any inquiry: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW. Who was taking photos? Where were they displayed that caused influence? ect…These, in relation to your beginner thesis, will help guide you in what form your thesis will take.

Once you’ve finished that, and have a general feel for the time period, go back to your thesis.

3. THESIS 2.0

Go back to your original question: What is one way in which the Union won the American Civil War? Now look at your thesis again. It’s too vague, isn’t it?

As you can see, our original thesis was too vague to be a real thesis. So, we NARROW IT DOWN using our WWWWWH progress we focused on during early research!

                “Photography during the American Civil war influenced the war’s outcome by providing a visual for ordinary citizens about the horrors of war, and thus helping to increase donations and awareness to the cause.”

Great! But once again, too vague! Questions that may arise include:

Who was taking the photos

Evidence for donations?

Evidence for social awareness?

So, we NARROW IT DOWN again. I’m going to use Andrew Gardner’s photography during the Civil war, as he was one of the most famous and influential at the time.

                “Andrew Gardner’s photography during the American Civil war influenced the war’s outcome by providing a visual for ordinary citizens about the horrors of war, and thus helping to increase donations and enlistment in the Union through awareness to the cause…”

The above then gives us the following(why and how are sometimes grouped together):

Who: Andrew Gardner

What: Photography helped the north win the war.

Where: Union-aka northern states

When: American Civil War

Why/How: Because Andrew Gardner’s photography raised social awareness through this new and budding medium

Use this sort of outline to guide you in the next step!

4. Now that we have a thesis, you need to do some more research and evidence gathering.

The way I like to do this is to go check out a few books from the library(look for text books in particular), and leaf through the index for matching terms. Our matching terms would be:

                Photography, civil war, Andrew Gardner, media

From there, you read over the pages, and see if any of the info relates to your subjects. Copy down quotes, page numbers, book title, author, publishing date and publisher. You need these for your bibliography. Pick and choose relevant information. The filter for relevant information relies entirely on your thesis, because it decides what you need to be looking for—this is why I hate when people tell me to start writing paragraphs before I write a thesis! It’s simply impossible and counter productive, and will cost you hours in revision.

So, gather your information from the library, and cross-reference with peer-reviewed articles and data. For our thesis, we would need data on enlistment numbers in an area after a date of Andrew Gardner’s photography exhibit showcases. No matter what type of essay you’re writing, you can always back up your evidence with data, and it won’t hurt one bit. Don’t be afraid of the numbers, kids!

So, if we were to go back to our thesis, we could now expand on it like this:

             “Andrew Gardner’s photography during the American Civil war influenced the war’s outcome by providing a visual for ordinary citizens about the horrors of war, and thus helping to increase donations and enlistment in the Union through awareness to the cause. An increase in  donations and enlistment in relation to exposure to Gardners work is seen in data/evidence point A, as well as in data/evidence point B, which will be fully outlined in the points below.”

This gives you an example of how to lead from a thesis, to your opening paragraph.

5. Data and Evidence Justifications–Paragraph making

This is the section where you can branch your essay into your data and evidence points you gathered in steps 2 and 4. You can have as many paragraphs as you like, just make sure your evidence and data is strong and supported. I personally like to work with my thesis copied and pasted onto the top of every page I write on. This keeps you on track, with your clear goal in mind, and will help you from straying. I will give you an example of how a paragraph might sound.

                Andrew Gardner’s photography during the American Civil War became heavily influential upon the American population at the time, particularly the north, wherein which his work was showcased. The influence of Gardner’s photographic works is seen in the _____, which shows us that without the influence of Gardner’s media influence, war efforts and awareness may not have been as successful as they had been.

This is an alright opener for you to work with. The ___ is where you could put in your data point or evidence piece. The point of the paragraph is to show your support for your thesis by confirming it with evidence.

Your paragraphs should take this form:

Present, Confirm, Conclude, Lead.

You present your evidence, confirm its relation to the thesis and confirm the validity of the thesis, conclude by brief revision of evidence, and then lead into your next paragraph. 

6. Conclusion

        Your conclusionary paragraph should be a look-over of the above paragraphs. Restate your thesis, present a summarized version of your paragraphs(one or two sentences only), and perhaps take the time to look at your own views on the subject. An example might look like this:

        “Taking a moment to step away from the above mentioned evidence, I believe it to be scholarly acceptable and even necessary to state my own views on the subject presented. In drawing conclusions, I felt that the above information was correct in that it presented a reality of the time period, in which photography was becoming a medium to be embraced by popular society. People were not only astounded by Gardner’s photographs on a social level, but also a technical level. The astonishment people held at seeing the war-torn battle fields spurred them into action, and even today can still present feelings of dread, fear and loss when looking at his photos…blah blah blah”

Why is it scholarly acceptable and perhaps necessary to state your views? Oftentimes, it is to reassure the reader of your own personal bias’, which exist whether you like them or not, to the subject at hand. Having a small tidbit on your own thoughts about your research ect, breaking away from the third-person droning of an essay can be refreshing and welcoming for a prof at the end of his stack of essay reading. 

7. In summary

Thesis

WWWWWH

NARROW IT DOWN

Data and Evidence

Present, Confirm, Conclude, Lead

Self opinions/Conclude

Hello! I’m about to start uni in a few weeks so I thought now would be a good time to share my top tips for writing a good personal statement. There is no ‘special formula’ for writing a good one but these are some tips I picked up from family, friends, online articles, teachers and universities themselves:

WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT?

you need to say why you want to study that course - how your interest developed, how you’ve pursued it (e.g. extracurricular activities), how you’ve drawn inspiration - basically demonstrate a lot of enthusiasm but be specific

give evidence that you’re right for the course - demonstrate with examples that you have researched it, understand what it entails and have the correct skills

say what you’ve done outside of the classroom - further reading and opinions (but try to be original - don’t talk about books that are really well-known in your subject)

explain why your experiences are relevant to the course and to a future career - reflect on experiences, don’t describe them!

give examples of transferable skills - teamwork, time management, problem solving, etc. and then expand on the most relevant skills - success in projects, how you grew from particular experiences, biggest challenges you’ve faced, etc.

also show you’re a critical thinker and mention long term plans

AN EXAMPLE:

as an example, here’s what I wrote about in my personal statement:

a public lecture I’d been to at a local university and how this inspired me (you could watch a TED talk online and discuss it)

how I was interested by the lab equipment and research I’d seen at a university when I went on a taster day

hobbies I have and how I was interested in my subject outside of school (books, magazines, podcasts I like and why)

a line about my EPQ and how this follows on from a podcast I listened to

how I’m finding my A level subjects (e.g. I enjoy science practicals)

how my AS levels helped me (e.g. AS history really helped me with essay writing)

what I learned from tutoring some GCSE students and volunteering at a charity shop

how I found shadowing a PhD student at a local university - how this inspired me and motivated me in my chosen subject

TRY TO INCLUDE:

paragraphs and GOOD GRAMMAR!!!!!

balance of academic and extra-curricular 

evidence you’ve done research

show genuine engagement 

lateral thinking - link to a more obscure theme that you find interesting 

honesty and a desire to study 

what you want from course 

positivity

CURIOSITY! 

make it interesting, thoughtful and personal - say what inspires you

DON’T INCLUDE:

academic achievements - unis know what qualifications you have and which grades you’re predicted so don’t waste your characters! 

quotes - this is YOUR personal statement, not Winston Churchill’s!! 

lists - you need detail and explanations 

clichés - you have not wanted to be a doctor for as long as you can remember! 

sweeping statements 

‘passion’ and other commonly-used words 

stilted vocabulary - use language that you actually use (but not slang)

exaggeration 

humour - it’s a dangerous move to use humour 

negativity 

irrelevant facts - it’s not a school essay!

OVERALL:

show not tell - “I’ve been able to develop my communication skills by tutoring three GCSE science students” is better than saying “I’m a good communicator” 

DRAFT!!!! you will not be able to write a good personal statement in one go - it took me months of regular drafting and re-writing to get mine even close to being finished! 

get help! ask friends, family, teachers, etc. to read it and give feedback

don’t be too precious about it - you will have to cut bits out, shorten sentences, lengthen sentences, delete words, re-arrange the structure, etc. so try to stay open minded!

one uni I visited on an open day suggested using the ABC formula: A is for Activity (say what you did), B is for Benefit (say the skills you gained from the activity) and then C is for Course (relate it to the course and say how it prepares you) - I didn’t use this myself but I have friends who found it useful!

be specific! don’t say “I love French” - say “I love how learning new languages helps me to understand the world around me….”

The food

You will most likely get sick if you are not used to the food that the university cafeteria serves. Not in a “oh god I’m dying and throwing up everywhere” sick, but more in a subtle way: slight stomachache, maybe some constipation, gas, or diarrhea, it all depends of how your body reacts to it, how the food is being prepared, and what you are eating.

Talking about what you are eating. You will have the option to get a burger and fries for every meal, or pizza, or cake. Don’t do it. For your health’s sake, don’t. I know it sounds tempting, and I know fries for every meal is delicious (fry lover here!), but I am telling you from experience, you will regret eating the same greasy food so often and your body will show it for you. 

For about a week in college I started to not care about myself (e.g. neglected skin care, ate crappy food, did not exercise, was barely doing my school work), and it was starting to show. I gained about five pounds in just those days (more about it later), my skin was greasy and I was getting pimples like crazy, I was having stomachaches everyday, and I felt as if I was getting lazier as days went by. I decided to change my eating habits. I chose fruit and salads instead of a burger and fries/pizza. And it helped me get my life together a little bit. I felt healthier and my skin cleared up.

Freshman 15 

Yes. You will gain weight. It is normal, and you should not freak out.

There will be lots of food available to you and no one to stop your from eating what ever you want. You will have more than too many snacks sometimes, or a second dinner because you decided to go eat again with your friends. It’s okay. Try to stay active so the weight changes are not extreme; go for a walk, or go out running, hit the gym often, practice your sport, etc. Just keep moving.

If you think you might be dealing with an eating disorder, contact your clinic and they will put you in touch with psychological help available on campus. Remember, nothing wrong in admitting that you are having problems, help is always there.

Condoms and Sexuality

When it comes to sexuality, I am open to discuss the subject as if we were simply talking about groceries, you can just ask my friends. I consider that I’m a very sex positive person, because it should not be a taboo subject (unless it is making someone uncomfortable). We need more sex education available (luckily, Planned Parenthood had some workshops at my school, and being who I am, I dragged my friends with me to one), many people do not know how to even put on a condom, or what sex might lead to (pregnancies and STIs/STDs).

Anyway, I’ll keep it simple: carry your own condoms even if you yourself are not sexually active (check that they are not expired, ripped, and keep them in a safe place); if you decide to be sexually active, in any way (one night stands or something more stable), get tested (there are many resources on campus, if you do not want to use them, look for the nearest clinic and get it done there); if you think that sex is just not your thing (i.e. asexuality, saving yourself for marriage, etc.) that is perfectly fine and you should not let anyone shame you for your decision or pressure you into having sex.

Snacks and Water

Carry snacks with you at all times, especially if you are planning on being out most of the day. You will get hungry, and therefore grumpy or weak. Also, carry a reusable water bottle so you can keep yourself hydrated.

It can be fruit, bars, trail mix, anything that can be considered a snack. Now if you want to carry a lunch with you, I am not stopping you.

Peer Pressure

This is not something that happens only in HS. It happens everywhere, and if you feel like you are being pressured into doing something (alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, anything) stand your ground and be firm with your decision. I don’t care if you think you might lose friends or look like a weakling, if you do not want to do something, NO ONE should force you to do it. In the case that you are feeling uncomfortable in any given situation where peer pressure is taking place, get out of there; forget about “looking good for your friends” or “being cool with them”.

Extra Chargers

Carry your chargers with you at all times. Your laptop charger and also your phone’s, you might not know what might come up that will force you to be out working for long periods of time ahem, group projects that require you to meet until late at night or that take almost six hours.

Laundry

For goodness’ sake, DO YOUR LAUNDRY once a week. (I usually do it on Thursdays because i have noticed is the day with the least people. Try not to do it on Sundays, everyone does it on Sundays)

Story time because, why not?

I once went about three weeks without doing laundry. It started with me just being lazy and saying that I would do it in a few days, then next thing I know it’s midterm season and those days turned into weeks. By the time I decided to do my laundry, I already had both of my laundry bags completely full (I had to take my spare laundry bag from my storage thing lol). The trips to the laundromat were easy, except for having to carry those heavy laundry bags. Once I got there I had to wait for washing machines to be empty…. 

What I am trying to say is: don’t put yourself in the position that I was in. Be responsible and do your laundry often. I’m also saying this because dirty laundry might get smelly such as gym clothes, and you don’t want to stink up your dorm.

Exercise

Try to stay active. I know we all think that walking from class to class is enough physical activity, but no. Go for a walk, try to go for a run, ride your bike around, go to the gym, and try to do these things at least 3 times a week. If you do not stay active, you will store extra fat, your joints will hurt, you’re prone to suffer stress more. If you struggle with doing physical activity, get together with a friend or a groups of friends and simply go for a walk; it takes away the stress and you are moving at the same time. 

Just stay active.

Majors

No shame in changing your major. So you thought you were going to college to study something but along the way you realize that you prefer something else, good, change it. Don’t stay doing something that makes you unhappy only because you started with it. Changing your mind is part of any process, and in college it will happen a lot of times.

Time management

Get your shit together. I’m saying it like that because that is how I realized that I needed to manage my time better. 

Get a planner, some apps to help you manage your time, study in time lapses and take good breaks, have a plan for the day, prioritize your school work over social events or parties or whatever it is that has been taking your time and distracting you from doing your work, get some to-do lists and cross items out as you complete them, have a goal for each day (”today I want to finish this essay and proofread it”). 

Finish what needs to get done first so you can go and do any other things that you want. Create a balance.

Money Management

We’re broke college students I’m just stating the facts here.

Try to have a spending plan, or a budget, and  stick to it. Save some money from the money you get (when I get $10, I save $3). And I know I am always advocating to the whole Treat-Yo-Self thing, but don’t abuse it. Treat yourself but think, ‘do I really need this? how many times will I actually use it? can I get it for cheaper?’ Think before you buy, so you won’t end up just wasting money that you WILL need later.

You can get a piggy bank if that is what works for you, but just try to not waste money on useless things. Remember that money does not grow on trees, and it is something that is earned with hard work, so value it.

Also, don’t go out every day or try to spend money the way your friends spend money. Allow yourself to say “I cannot afford that right now”, no shame on that. Don’t feel bad for having to turn down plans because you have more important spending to do. It’s okay, really, your friends will understand. 

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any of my points, message me and I will gladly talk to you. And let’s remember that as Studyblrs, we are here to help each other and build each other up.

so simple yet so easily forgotten by so many of us.

our approach to studies is often unrealistic: we think that pulling all-nighters, skipping meals or isolating from all sources of entertainment in order to study will bring us academic success. it might be working out in the beginning, but the truth is, you cannot accomplish anything in the long term if you do not regularly satisfy the most basic needs of your brain and yourself as an organism. 

After embarking on a journey of creating some new daily and weekly habits this month (and managing to succeed except for that week when I was sick), I’ve finally come to understand why I really dread doing certain things.

Simply, it’s just the fact that I hate starting anything. And I mean anything. Even things I find fun. I haven’t watched a new k-drama in months just because I don’t want to start one. And I love k-dramas.

So if you’re struggling to get things done, you likely have a similar problem. It’s just getting started that’s hard. Once I’m actually in the middle of doing something, it’s fine. So here are some tips that help me get started.

Tip #1: Do something similar but simpler.

In my case, the task I dread the most everyday is writing 500 words of the first draft of my novel. Once I’m writing though, I actually have fun. Yet for some reason I put it off everyday haha

But another daily habit I’ve been working on is reading some of a book everyday. Reading is similar to writing but it’s so much easier. I don’t have as much resistance to reading so it’s easy to start.

I either read fiction or a book on the craft of writing so once I read a chapter or so of this book, I find myself more amped up for writing.

Another thing I do sometimes is just think about the story. Without actually writing anything, I start thinking about the next scene and what might happen (I haven’t planned most of this novel so I’m just writing willy-nilly basically lol) and that also usually gets me in the mood to start writing that scene.

So for you maybe this could be:

When studying a foreign language, watch some videos/tv in that language then do your actual studying.

Homework: Do the tiniest and/or most enjoyable bit of homework first then your larger, harder stuff

Chores: Start small like just picking up stuff off the floor and then get into the actual mopping, dusting etc

But there’s an important thing to keep in mind when using this tip. You have to do the simple task and the dreaded task really close together, preferably one after the other. It’s all about momentum. If you do the small task then go do something else that’s unrelated, you lose the momentum. And the whole point of doing the small task in the first place is to gain momentum! Which brings me to the next tip.

Tip #2: Momentum, momentum, momentum

Once I start being productive I’ve noticed it’s so much easier to just keep going and knock off all my tasks.

It’s actually the reason why the pomodoro method just doesn’t work for me and I’ve tried it so many times. I’m not a “take breaks in the middle” kind of person because any break halts my momentum which makes it hard to get started again.

I’m definitely a “do all the things at once then take a break for the rest of the day” kind of person, so if you’re similar this tip will work for you.

After gaining some momentum by doing a similar but simple task, just do everything in one long chain.

In my case, in the mornings, I’ll go from reading a chapter of a Korean book to writing my Korean essay thing to exercising. Reading in Korean is obviously similar to writing in Korean. But exercising doesn’t have anything in common except the fact that it’s another task on my list.

Once I’m in the “productive mood” I like to milk it and do as much as I can then take a long break when I get too tired.

You can chain anything really. The trick is to just not think about it too much. If I paused and thought “hmm do I really want to exercise right now and what exercise should I do” etc, it breaks the momentum. I just see the next task I have to do and start doing it.

Tip #3: Make it more convenient to do the task.

Increasing the convenience of doing a task will lower the barrier to entry by making it feel like the task is easier to start.

A small example from my life is that I really hate washing my face in the evening. I know it’s weird. But anyway after dinner, I turn on the water heater (otherwise the water will be freezing cold) and wash the dishes.

Well guess what? I like washing my face with warm water too. So I always think, “well while I have the water heater on, I might as well go wash my face then turn it off.”

Already having the water heater on eliminates one extra step that I’d have to do to wash my face which makes it more convenient.

This also demonstrates another example of starting with the similar but simpler task, which for me is washing the dishes.

So just do whatever you can to make doing the thing you dread more convenient like:

Lay out everything you need on your desk/work space and keep it there until you complete the task.

Open every program you’ll need on your computer and have them open until you complete the task (in my case I always have Scrivener, which I use to write my novel, open)

Lay out your exercise clothes in advance or maybe even sleep in them if you exercise in the morning.

If you workout at home like me, you can always have your exercise mat on the floor or whatever equipment you use out.

Also for exercise, plan your workouts in advance. Like I said in the previous tip, deciding what workout to do breaks momentum. I usually follow along with YouTube videos so before I go to bed I open up the YouTube video I plan on doing in the morning and just hit play when it’s time.

Tip #4: When all else fails, promise yourself a reward.

If you have a little bit of self-control, this can be an effective method for you, assuming there’s something you want.

It can be as simple as I just want to lay in bed and watch YouTube videos, which is usually the reward I give myself haha

And there’s nothing as sweet to me as lazing about completely guilt-free because I did the task. Because the thing is, I can laze about without having done the task but there will always be that tinge of guilt, the ole “I really shouldn’t be doing this right now…,” which ruins everything.

Now that I’ve experienced guilt-free lazing about, I live for it.

And this doesn’t just apply to my personal life. At work, if I’m smart and effective, I can get all my lesson planning and prep done so that I have one or two hours left before the end of the work day which means sitting at my desk watching junk. Ah yes, the highlight of my work day.

Taylor Swift’s “Red” plays in my head everytime I make notes with a red colour scheme 🤣

Been watching Modern Family (more of, playing the show in the background) while studying. :)

*Click on the image for better photo quality

I thought I would share some advice for the upcoming seniors in their college process! It’s a lot of work, but trust me, it is rewarding. Open for better quality and message me if you have any questions or you just want to rant about how ridiculously tedious the college process is

010219 / turning my old bujo into a journal and decided to keep a planner for this year