m i a

snow white

apple and cinnamon tea, having the cleanest of clean studying spaces, instrumental covers of pop songs, needs to study on her own for important things but loves organising study groups, makes mind maps and diagrams for all her subjects, studies first thing in the morning as the sun rises, always gets a full night of sleep.

cinderella

likes dressing up even for the most basic of social work study sessions, never without a full pencil case and oversized mug of darjeeling tea, lives on her own away from her step-relatives and loves being able to study in peace, doesn’t do study groups but organises collaborative Google docs and always helps others who don’t get the material (she gets the nickname ‘fairy godmother’ as a result), can’t wait to become a social worker.

aurora

sleeps in late but is ready to go almost immediately, never without a full mug of vanilla coffee, everything is coordinated pink and blue, loves studying out in nature with her notes, listens to lo-fi music and romantic songs from the 1950s to help her relax, has the prettiest studyblr out there for a english literature student, audits fashion classes in her spare time, sketches out dresses when listening to her lectures.

ariel

mulls over what she needs to revise and study in the shower every morning, dreams of life after college, even though she loves her marine biology course, spends time at the marina any chance she gets, sneaks on her father’s yacht to study with the smell and spray of the sea around her, breaks up chunks of studying with swimming in the college pool, has a part time job at the pool to help support her studies.

belle

always overruns her study sessions with exploring new concepts and materials that aren’t on the syllabus but fascinate her anyway, studies with pastries from the local bakery and brings them to study groups, loves studying in coffee shops and cafes, practically lives in the library, never without her glasses, always about the extra credit, is planning on her masters and doctorate in mechanical engineering.

jasmine

needs google calendar to keep on track on everything, has the fanciest stationery, immaculate handwriting, studies with her cat on her feet, drinks only sweet turkish coffee, uses pomodoro technique but with keeping up with the kardashians, takes extra semester courses alongside her business management course.

pocahontas

super motivated environmental sciences student, spends a lot of time studying with the geography and geology students too, uses her studies as a way to advocate for environmental change, herbal tea all the way, covers entire tables in the library with her maps and research, leads live study sessions on facebook live, uses recycled paper notebooks only.

mulan

listens to lectures on her phone while she works out, uses her morning run to work out difficult concepts in her head, drinks only green tea when she studies, but chugs red bull when it hits midnight, uses the library late at night with noise cancelling headphones, listens to power ballads and motivational jams.

tiana

the hardest working student you’ll ever meet, balances work and school really well, takes breaks on her waitressing and barista jobs, dark roast coffee and beignets as study rewards, can survive on three hours sleep, listens to ambient beats and nineties pop to focus, starts internship applications two months early, takes time off when exams are over to just sleep and watch netflix, dreams up ideas for restaurant dishes when she should be rewriting her notes, queen of time management.

rapunzel

notes tend to be speckled with paint, sketches as she listens to psychology lectures, motivating as all heck, listens to guitar music when she studies, likes lemonade to drink alongside her study, hoards books about subjects she’d like to study, her bullet journals feature prominently on her instagram, has highlighters for everything, documents her entire studying process on snapchat.

merida

listens to heavy metal and rock music, never without her massive headphones, uses archery as an analogy for everything in her classes, studies for sports science on her rooftop when things get too loud at home, happier when she’s out in the woods studying, red bull and coffee as study aids, hates studying but does really well in exams.

anna

has no formal organisation method for her notes, super colourful highlighters everywhere, always hits snooze, hot chocolate with cinnamon all year round, amazing at energising people in study groups, queen of the study whatsapp group for their theatre and performance class, has nothing but broadway musicals on her study playlist.

elsa

doesn’t do study groups, but will occasionally study with anna if she needs it, likes her cold press coffee and frozen lattes, uses pastel highlighters exclusively, reads the textbooks from cover to cover and not just the assigned readings, leads the curve for her history and environmental chemistry course, has debussy and saint-saens as her soundtrack for studying.

moana

matcha and avocado smoothie.. sounds weird but tasted sooooo good ugh 

26/100 days of productivity. I think i’m actually going to get work done today, I just feel productive which is gr9 

use actual note cards for vocab. yes, apps like quizlet are dandy when you’re on the go, but actually physically writing out each note card helps put the information into memory faster than typing them.

visual learner? make charts and diagrams. they don’t have to be pretty. the lines don’t have to be perfectly straight. it doesn’t have to be photogenic. but if it helps you learn, do it.

after you take notes (in class or at home/from your text book), write down possible quiz questions about the material on the next page while it’s still fresh in your mind. later on when you’re studying for the test, use these questions to gauge what specifics out of that chapter you need to work on the most.

start sooner rather than later. i know, you’ve heard this a million times from every teacher ever. but it’s legit. especially as you get into harder level classes and college courses because there is literally so much material that the tests cover that you simply can not accurately learn all of it over night. instead, start about 10 days in advance (but of coarse, the sooner the better).

studying doesn’t have to be a big giant study session that takes hours. if you start far enough in advance, study sessions can be around an hour, hell even 45 minutes is a good. if you go too long in one study session your brain will be fried and studying will be pointless because your brain won’t be processing any of it. that’s why it’s important to take breaks and not just cram for 5 hours the night before an exam.

actually study. hold yourself accountable and make your education a priority. if you have homework and studying to do, make it a priority over going partying or watching tv. there will be another party. you can dvr your show. you can’t take your test on a later day because you don’t feel ready. so be ready.

be careful with study groups. if you have a study group with all of your best friends, lets face it, you’re going to end up spending more time talking about harry styles and supernatural than actually studying. it’s better to have a study group with people who are your friends, but not best friends. and it’s better to keep it between 5-7 people so that everyone can be involved.

if the material is just super confusing and you can’t seem to understand it no matter how hard you study, it’s not you. it’s the way you were taught it. each teacher teaches a bit differently, and maybe their style of teaching just isn’t for you. if this happens, find a way that explains it the best for you. for example, if chemistry is just super confusing for you, try watching the Crash Course chemistry videos on youtube or have a friend explain it to you. this will give you a completely different perspective on the material and will help you understand it better.

speech acts • oct 26th