martha studiesss

Since I finally decided to (re)start Uni in April I made a list about things I wish I would have done before I entered Uni the first time. I also made some additional research, combined everything and made a step by step guide from it.  Ideas are added in italic.

Let’s start assuming that you got accepted at a university or college (although I can’t say much about those specifically), you sorted out your future living situation but there still is some time till it really starts.

A System

For each point on this list you have digital or physical options, choose in every case what works best for you. My tip from personal experience is, while you can use both, that you shouldn’t mix it up too much - handwritten notes for one lecture and digital ones for another can get messy easily.

choose a system for dates, deadlines, to dos etc. some options are

a planner

a calendar

a Bullet Journal

prepare a structure for documents, notes and other study material, like

files / notebooks

colour code by lecture or subject

find a technique or format for your notes

don’t think about digital or handwritten here! it’s about how you want to structure and design your notes

think about what was the most useful during school or other learning experiences, for example:

colour coding and what kind

visuals, symbols

clear structure vs. variation

definition sheets

sources or additional reading

prettiness, clear handwriting

then think about if handwritten or digital is more useful for your preferred structure

get everything you need - paper, files, software, pens, …

and get used to it, you don’t want to sit in your first lecture and wonder about the features of your note taking app

Plan it

To not plan my semesters was one of my biggest mistakes in the past. Everything was a great mess and I don’t want that to happen again.

most schools / university offer model outlines from the first term to the last, according to the standard period of study - get the outline and make a loose plan for the next years

stuff those outlines typically cover:

all the courses you have to take

recommended semesters for the courses

the kind of course - lecture, tutorial, seminar, …

the covered topics

the type of test / exam - actual exam, presentation, paper, …

Credit Points / Credit Hours / ECTS

conditions - you can only go to lecture y if you passed lecture x; or have to complete an internship before this seminar

in which terms the courses take place - winter, summer, whatever

(recommended) books and other study material

stay in the standard period but know the dead-deadlines for exams (there might be some, you can only take twice; or some you have to pass till the third semester or something like that) and use that knowledge to prioritise

make a checklist of all the exams you will have to take, as loose or precise as you like, so you can keep track of what you accomplished and what you have to keep in mind for the future

remember that it isn’t a bad thing to study longer than that the standard period but a loose structure over the years can help keeping track of your journey 

plan the upcoming semester

Planning a Semester

With all the following things to plan keep in mind, add a bit more time than you think you will need. Hardly ever something works as it is planned, but that’s not a bad thing. Just add a little extra time to avoid stress and on days where everything works according to your plan, you can use that extra time for a coffee with a friend, an episode on Netflix or whatever makes you happy.

if you have to sign up for your courses, find out when you can do that sometimes they send you this information with other papers, sometimes you can find it online, sometimes they tell you during orientation week

if you don’t have to sign up - you lucky devil ♥

find all the courses you (should) take in the next term

when and where does the lecture take place?

how many hours are you supposed to work on it? (Credit Hours / ECTS)

how many points will it get you? (Credit Points / ECTS)

get the syllabus as soon as possible in addition to the general topics

get the contact detail of the lecturer as soon as possible

get the list of recommended books, readings and other material (but don’t buy yet!)

create a weekly schedule in your preferred planning system

start with the courses you have regularly

add time for the stuff that can’t be avoided: getting to uni, sleeping, eating, housework, …

add time for preparation and review, so you full fill the credit hours / ECTS points

add free time! it’s a reward and recreation and damn important 

keep if flexible enough to be spontaneous with friends

as soon as you know deadlines for papers, dates for presentations and exams add them to your planning system

Make a study or work plan for each one and try to avoid overlaps

by holding a presentation as soon as you can

by submitting a paper earlier than the deadline

you can’t always avoid overlaps, especially with exams but there are plenty of tips out there on how to work in such a situation

Orientation Week & First Week

use orientation to get orientation in the cartographic sense

find the rooms your courses will take place at a campus can be big and a mess and there are those special cases where no real campus exists cause the uni buildings are spread in a whole city or two

find important buildings like the library and the cafeteria

find friends! obviously you don’t have to be friends with everybody, but find a few people you get along with during orientation and first week and everything will be so much easier

when you have your first lectures pay attention to which books the lecturers say are really important

ask older students which books are really important / helpful

find out which books are permanently in the library and can be only read there, not borrowed

look for free PDF versions

buy what you really need second hand to save money

start of strong

go to all lectures 

prepare and review

read the texts your lecturer tells you to read, even if they are boring, even when the guy will tell you the exact same thing again in the lecture you will have to study less and you have more time understanding the matter and practising!

keep everything organised! in school you could sit down a week bevor a big test, write everything from your textbook and some worksheets and get a good mark, in uni that is not likely

use the library

as a place to study

as a resource for study material and research

bring food, snacks and water

“A fat belly, a lean brain.”, they say. But all hungry your brain won’t work either.

hydration is important, we all know that

and it saves so much money, even when you can use student discounts

learn to cook some basic stuff

So far, so good. I’ll make some follow up posts on the first three sections, with some more details and my solutions. Mainly cause that way I will force myself to put a good plan into action.

“I can’t remember what I read” (new)

How to study smarter

How to prepare for a new semseter/ year

First day of classes advice

What to do when you’re overwhelmed

What I Wear to Medschool (Part 2, with Links)

What I Wear to Medschool (Part 1, with Links)

Daily Routine (aka how I survive medschool)

A little thing about motivation. 

The inevitable study burnout.

How I studied Anatomy & Physiology.

My study schedule

My top tips & study resources for the academic years of medschool.

Three things I want every girl to know

My results for 4th year

A little rant about the competition in medschool.

My opinion/reflections on my rotations during 4th year.

A friendly reminder that you DO NOT have to eat clean 100% of the time to be healthy.  (NOT medschool related)

For exams/tests that don’t go as planned

I also do a lot of #study update posts when I’m studying or during finals, those aren’t included here.

I get pretty interesting #asks & sometimes they have some sort of advice so check them out.

You can also find some #stylespo & #wellness posts on here, this isn’t exclusively a medstudyblr.’

do you know what you need to revise for each paper?

have you organised your notes into clearly defined sections?

have you looked up past papers so you can keep past questions in mind?

do you have a realistic revision timetable?

are you taking frequent breaks?

are you learning appropriately for the kind of learner you are?

ask your teachers for help whenever you need it

do you have someone you can ask for help?

do you have a comfortable, quiet space to study?

are you getting enough sleep?

Reading Journal: February 2019

Nearly 2 months late, but its fiiiine.

Feynman This is a mental technique, named after Nobel Prize Physicist Richard Feynman. It’s designed as an efficient way for the human brain to absorb pretty much any information. It is, essentially, the process of teaching someone else the topic in a way which they can understand (even if they are a complete layman and have no clue what it is) in order to learn it. It’s a really simple, four-step method to studying.

As you progress in your college career, you may want to consider putting together a curriculum vitae or an extended resume. CVs look really good for graduate or any other professional schooling as well as grant and scholarship applications. Job interviews, unless they are for a teaching position, lawyer position, doctor position, or other major professions, do not require CVs (do not hand a CV to the person interviewing you for a sales associate position, they will look very confused…this happened quite often to me). I will provide tips and a look at my CV as well:

Tips to Consider:

Keep the format consistent- Everything that needs to be capitalized, should remain capitalized, font is the same, margins are the same, etc

Font should be a certain, size 11-12 point

Arial or Times Roman Numeral are the only acceptable fonts

Order your CV in sections that are the most important and most relevance

Keep dates in mind (start with most recent and end in oldest date)

This is an extended resume so have items on the CV within the last 3-5 years.

Have a VERY STRONG front page!

Go to your career center in college to have them look over it. They are super helpful!

Update this CV constantly!

Here we go onto my CV. My CV has 0.5 inch margins all around. Let’s start with the top that I blocked out my personal stuff for obvious reasons:

My name is in 16 point font and I used Times Roman Numeral. Below my name, I put my address, phone number, and email in 11 point font. I also put a space in between name and address to put my number and email address. I added a shape to divide the CV. 

Next will be my most important attributes to my CV. Since I use my CV mainly for grant applications and graduate school admissions, I put education and research first:

i’d highly recommend Do No Harm by Dr. Henry Marsh for anyone interested in going into medicine! it’s such a good read.

How to study when you don’t want to

I think I have a pretty good amount of knowledge about studying when you don’t want to because studying is not my favorite task

1) quizlet is your new bff

Download the quizlet app on your phone. Make or find a quizlet set for what you’re learning and go through the flash cards when you have some downtime and then play the little games so you’re learning while having a little bit of fun. I know my friends and I really love using quizlet and we made a class that anyone can add to so we have a mix everything and we like playing the games to see who can get a higher score so maybe get a few friends to do that with you

2) summary paragraphs are also your new bff

After you have a class of notes write a small paragraph summarizing all of the main points so you can read it quickly when you have time and don’t feel like pulling everything out to study. This is probably my favorite way of studying when I don’t want to because it’s quick and easy and good for learning material fast if you miss something.

3) flash cards

Make some flash cards with review questions on one side then a general answer on the other side. Go through the cards and put the ones you can’t answer or are having trouble with in a different pile then only go over those until you know them then go through the whole stack again the next day and see if you know more than you did. I like doing this one but sometimes it’s not the most enjoyable so take the cards with you to school and ask a friend if they want to study with you and quiz each other. We do this a lot at my school in my psychology class because we usually have some free time in there and we all quiz each other right before marine science so it’s fresh in our heads.

4) go outside/change location

Sometimes we don’t want to study because we feel stressed so go outside or to a more open place and just read your notes for a few minutes. Even a few minutes of studying is better than nothing.

5) search “*topic* song” on YouTube

I know it’s a little weird but when I missed a day of plate tectonics in science we were moving really fast and I didn’t have the best grasp on plate boundaries so I went to YouTube and found a song that was kinda cheesy but it helped me learn it and I ended up singing the song in my head during the test.

The Little Notebook Memorisation Technique: for people who just can’t rote learn

So I am a terrible rote learner and it has always held me back in exams but here is a technique that has drastically improved my memorization. I tend to start this process 2 weeks to a month before the exam depending on how much I need to remember:

Work out a double-sided A4 page of things you actually need to learn by heart for each exam you take.

You’re going to have to remember everything else by understanding the concept rather than just rote learning.

Buy a cheap little A3 booklet for each exam you’re taking and rewrite your A4 memorization sheet in it everyday day for about a week.

After a week of copying, you’re going to start the “Look Cover Write Check” process in which you look at the start of the formula or fact, turn to a fresh page, write it out before finally checking that you got it right. I like to use a paperclip to make flipping between the pages easier. Repeat this process everyday until the exam.

I also write the corrections to the mistakes I’ve made in the practice exams in this book and rewrite them a couple of times a week.

A couple days before the exam I write down a list of 10 formulas that I’m going to write down on the scrap paper as soon as reading time for the exam starts. I rewrite and use the “Look Cover Write Check” method several times a day at least and I rewrite it at least 10 times the night before or the morning of the exam.

aka why tf am i procrastinating on The Thing (more like a flowchart, actually)

lots of people who have executive function difficulties worry about whether they’re procrastinating on a task out of laziness/simply wanting to be a jerk or mental struggles. this checklist might help you figure out which it is at any given time! (hint: it’s almost never laziness or being a jerk.) (obligatory disclaimer: this is just what works for me! something different might work better for you.)

1) do I honestly intend to start the task despite my lack of success?

yes: it’s a Brain Problem. next question

no: it’s shitty to say one thing & do another. better be honest with myself & anyone expecting me to do the task.

2) am I fed, watered, well-rested, medicated properly, etc?

yes: next question

no: guess what? this is the real next task

3) does the idea of starting the task make me feel scared or anxious?

yes: Anxiety Brain. identify what’s scaring me first.

no: next question

4) do I know how to start the task?

yes: next question

no: ADHD Brain. time to make an order of operations list.

5) do I have everything I need to start the task?

yes: next question

no: ADHD Brain lying to me about the steps again, dangit. first task is ‘gather the materials’.

6) why am i having a hard time switching from my current task to this new task?

i’m having fun doing what i’m doing: it’s okay to have fun doing a thing! if task is time-sensitive, go to next question.

i have to finish doing what i’m doing: might be ADHD brain. can I actually finish the current task or will I get trapped in a cycle? does this task really need to be finished?

the next task will be boring/boring-er than the current task: ADHD brain. re-think the next task. what would make it exciting? what am I looking forward to?

I might not have enough time to complete the task: ADHD brain wants to finish everything it starts. (if task is time-sensitive, go to next question)

i just want to make the person who asked me to do it angry: sounds like anxiety brain trying to punish itself, because I know I’ll be miserable if someone is angry at me. why do i think I deserve punishment?

no, I seriously want to piss them off: okay, i’m being a shithead

7) have I already procrastinated so badly that I now cannot finish the task in time?

yes: ADHD brain is probably caught in a guilt-perfection cycle. since I can’t have the task done on time, i don’t even want to start.

reality check: having part of a thing done is almost always better than none of a thing done. if I can get an extension, having part of it done will help me keep from stalling out until the extension deadline. i’ll feel better if I at least try to finish it.

no, there’s still a chance to finish on time: ADHD brain thinks that I have all the time in the world, but the truth is I don’t. 

reality check: if i’m having fun doing what I’m doing, I can keep doing it, but I should probably set a timer & ask someone to check on me to make sure I start doing the task later today.

8) I’ve completed the checklist and still don’t know what’s wrong!

probably wasn’t honest enough with myself. take one more look.

if I’m still mystified, ask a friend to help me talk it out.

i know there are a million of these posts out there but here’s a personalized one for the apps that i find helpful during the school year! i won’t mention stuff like forest or duolingo bc obv we all know about those. 

1. pocket schedule - this is my go-to new app for glancing at my schedule. because i am a disaster of a human being, my first few weeks of class are spent continuously checking back on the student website for my timetable in order to figure out what room number i’m in. pocket schedule is a basic timetable and also lets you add in tasks and assignments. 

2. overdrive/libby- overdrive has saved my goddamn life. i RARELY have time to go to the library (just look at my library fines, lmao) and when i do i usually get way too much that i don’t read. if you download libby or overdrive you can access your library’s ebook selection. if i remember correctly libby also has audiobooks for those like me who walk everywhere. 

3. onenote- perfect for a digital bujo if the regular bujo doesn’t work for you. it’s easier to look at on a laptop but i like to check my habit tracker if i’m waiting in line for food or on the bus. 

4. bear- a simple and clean writing app. mostly used for grocery lists. can also be used as a diary if that’s your thing.