Studyblr

hi my name is quinndolyn harley, you might remember me from my patreon campaign! i am 21 years old and a transgender lesbian

i am currently living with two of my girlfriends, katja and maxine, who are both also gay and trans. maxine is disabled and katja is not a us citizen, so income has been very difficult for us, but i’ve been keeping things together with income from Patreon, the generosity of my friends, and income from sex work.

my current living situation is rapidly collapsing. we had been living with people we considered friends who agreed to house us when we initially ran into housing issues in the bay area. the initial agreed upon rent was $450 per month for the basement, which included a single bedroom, a bathroom, and a laundry room that we used as a place for maxine to stay, while me and katja stayed in the bedroom.

this agreement is suddenly being changed by our landlord, who is adding hundreds of dollars to our rent in the form of utilities, something i LITERALLY cannot afford with my current income. i make JUST enough to pay rent and literally nothing else, i don’t buy anything extra, everything i have is a gift.

they have also adjusted the terms of the rent agreement so that maxine is no longer allowed to stay in the laundry room, instead terming it a “family room” that “cannot be occupied”. there is no actual reason for this beyond spite. the landlord couched it in legal terms, saying it was a “single family household” and that maxine was a “guest”, despite the fact that she has contributed literally thousands of dollars - ALL of her savings - to help pay rent.

effectively, this means that in 30 days, we are no longer going to be able to afford to live here, and maxine is going to be kicked out onto the street. maxine is disabled, black, and trans, and being homeless in the bay area with her situation is essentially a death sentence. our other roommate, kay (an absolute angel) has agreed to let maxine stay in her room some of the time in order to artificially extend our time, but the terms of the contract we are being forced to sign to continue living here mandate that maxine will absolutely have to leave eventually.

while donations WOULD absolutely help with me having more time to figure this out

what i need mostly is housing. i need a place for us to stay.

we are currently based in the bay area and while we’d prefer to stay here (for insurance reasons mostly, my bottom surgery is scheduled for a few months from now and if i leave the state i won’t be able to receive it anymore)

i have about $300 in my bank account, and i make $310 a month through patreon. this is actually not enough to cover my current rent, but with the additional income from my sex work, i’ve been able to make it in this house, given the low rent. since rent is being raised (we were also threatened with a 10% rent raise each month, though that has yet to be instated) i don’t have confidence that i can find enough work each month to continue to pay.

our landlord lives with us and is aware of our financial situation. he is aware that what he (and his mother) are doing is going to remove us from our home. given that we are all poor and trans and various levels of disabled with no resources, and no where else to go, this is essentially a death sentence for us if we do not find an alternative housing situation.

so how can you help?

what i need more than anything else is a place to stay for me and my girlfriends. we can afford some rent, and we all have EBT that can be used to contribute to food costs.

if you cannot do that, donations would be helpful to help take care of things like deposits, moving costs, transportation.

my paypal is [email protected], or you can click the donation link on my blog at quinnharley.co.vu

i’m so sorry to ask for this again, you guys have given me so much support over the past few years. i may potentially be able to move out with my roommate kay, but that situation is very unstable, and right now i want to do whatever i can to find somewhere, anywhere, that can house us and not leave us at immediate risk to be kicked out at any time.

03/05/16

so many “study tips” on tumblr are cutesy, unhelpful and downright unrealistic. i’ve complied the best of the best actual study tips to share with you all. 

1. start studying early! if you get test stress, it can be drastically reduced by starting to study for that test early. 

2. know what’s going to be on the test/what you are supposed to be learning in this unit. this will help you know what to focus on while studying teachers who give out “learning targets” or even a syllabus are the real MVPs.

3. you can get a much deeper understanding by overlearning. overlearning a subject is when you take what you have learned in class, and take it to the next step. apply what you are learning to how you would need it in real life. or if somethings just not connecting, google it. watch youtube videos. etc. find other ways to learn/understand it more.

4. don’t rely on the teacher alone. you have sooooo many resources. like google, youtube, khan academy, etc!! use them cause they’re free!!

5. find your study mojo and do what works for you. try out many different techniques, but once you find what really works, stop wasting time and get to it! work best alone? don’t feel bad turning down your friend invite to a study group. don’t waste your time once you know what works.

6. plan everything. less stress + more time = better learning!

7. don’t let selfcare go down the drain while studying. eat, sleep and hydrate cause you need it!! trust me.

8. don’t do your studying in huge chunks. take. study. breaks!! go to the gym, watch an episode (or 3) of parks & rec! all that info isn’t gonna sink in unless you plan!

9. discipline. if you can’t do it, get a friend who will tell you straight up that you need to suck it up and START STUDYING!! rely on discipline, not motivation. get discipline by sticking to a schedule. see what comes out of it, you’ll like the results.

10. i love this quote so much it always helps me when studying a class i can’t stand: “you’re studying what you hate so one day you can do what you love.” and that is soooo true!! picture your goals and have AMBITION!! that will get you through the hardest of study sessions. 

11. don’t be a robot-reader. make sure you are comprehending what you read. to check yourself on this, give yourself quizzes, do practice problems, etc! 

12. organization goes a long way.

13. be self-reliant. would you hire yourself if you were a boss? focus on self imporvement, NOT perfection. chasing perfection is like chasing the wind. 

14. turn off your damn phone. now.

15. master material by looking for how it fits into the big picture. big picture is key. break down the info, then step back and watch it make sense. 

03.14.16.

Day 8: What I am looking forward too…