Study Blog

attempt to show

advance the idea/plot

avoid

allude

anticipate the reader

argue

associate

appeal to

build up a picture

borrow images/phrases/ideas

bring out

conclude

claim

clarify

comment upon

consider

capture

concentrate on

characterise

contrast

confine him/herself

conceive of something as

compare/make comparisons

confront us with

create

disarm us

describe/depict

draw our attention to

demonstrate

develop an idea

dwell on an idea

explain

exemplify

expand an image

elaborate

evoke an atmosphere

explore

exploit the gullibility of the reader

extend our understanding

examine

fill in details

fix our attention on

focus on

fuse together

give an impression of

give an edge to

give vividness to

give immediacy to

highlight

introduce an idea

illustrate

invoke

imply

linger on

lead us to an awareness

maintain suspense

make a point

make an appeal to

present a picture/image/idea

produce an effect

pinpoint

reveal 

recreate an experience

remind us of

set the stage

state

structure

trace

The Western world demands that we be extroverts. This can be stressful for an introverted person who feels she has to act, or change her personality. If you experience this, perhaps the following tips may help:

1. Most important, don’t feel bad about being an introvert. Be proud of who you are, and affirm your gifts and strengths. Remember, there’s no one ideal type of personality

2. Try and speak out more – even though you find it hard – as your viewpoints won’t be noticed if they’re never shared or heard. And what you think’s important – you deserve to have your say.

3. Give yourself a break and sometimes miss social events. There’s no point adding stress by doing more than you enjoy. Why should you go to everything, and not spend time alone?

4. Make sure you take the time to recharge your batteries – as spending time with people may tire and wear you out.

If these help anyone, great!

Wear sports bras/bralettes to lectures instead of the ones with a buckle at the back. They tend to poke and prod your back after a while if you’re leaning back. Sports bras don’t.

Set your timetable as your phone background for the first few weeks. Use this method for no. 6 too if you can be bothered. 

Lay a towel on your bed a few days before your period is due. If you leak on a towel you can just wash it or throw it away. Easier than washing and changing the sheets.

When you’re in a lecture taking notes on a laptop remember to turn down the brightness on your screen, especially if the lecturer has dimmed the lights. Otherwise you’ll annoy others and drain your battery. 

Save your recordings at every given break instead of making one continuous one through pausing. Sometimes files are too large to save and you don’t want to risk losing the entire lecture recording. Save as you go along.

If you need to remember something (e.g. a library book, USB, locker key..) write it on a post-it note and stick it on your shoes before you sleep. Make sure they’re the shoes you intend to wear the next day!

Don’t shoot me: if you have left an assignment really late, stay up as long as you can completing it (yes, that means an all-nighter may be needed). Sleep as soon as you’ve handed it in. 

If you use tech in a lecture e.g. phone for recording or electronic notetaking on your laptop, then mess around with it before uni begins. Know what buttons to press and when, otherwise you’ll mess up your notes and annoy others, with your excessive clicking. 

Always, always, ALWAYS carry a plastic bag/carrier bag. You might need to make a trip to the library, drink may spill in your bag so you’ll need an alternative or you may not be able to dispose of a pad/tampon until you get back home. Seriously, just carry one.  

Find out where coursework/assignment are submitted within your first week on campus. Ask admin how the procedure works and make sure you know it inside out. 

Spend a day wondering around campus (before timetabled lectures start). Find out where the library is, talk to the librarians and ask them how to borrow/return books and also how to reserve!

When you get your timetable be sure to visit the lecture halls and seminar rooms a few days before the term starts so you know where to go. Find out where the toilets are in those buildings too. 

Find out where your lecturers offices are. Know the building and floor that they’re on (they’re usually all in the same place). 

Carry cereal bars and other non perishable foods that take up little room. Sometimes your tummy rumbles really loud in a lecture, give it some love.

Hey guys! I know I haven’t posted a masterpost in a while! It’s short, but here are some tips for speaking in front of your class/crowd/judge!

1.     Know what you’re going to say. If you’re giving a speech, have the main points and important bullets memorized. This will give you confidence and decrease the chance of you stumbling on your words or freaking out!

2.     Speak in a moderate pace. Don’t rush, because you might stutter or forget your next words. Don’t speak too slowly either! The audience may think you are not confident with the content or you are afraid! Choose a pace where you can think of your next words/look at the power point and still have the leisure to look around the room and add points to your own sentences.

3.     Speak naturally. This goes hand in hand with don’t panic. Choose a tone that comes from your belly, not your head. Your voice should be strong and powerful, but not too commanding. If you panic, you might have a high, soft voice or a low, mumbling voice. Smile and tell yourself that you can do this.

4.     Address your audience mentally before you speak. Look around the room and understand the crowd. If they are your classmates, do not panic because mistakes are going to happen. Realize that the teacher doesn’t expect a stellar performance either! Calm your nerves, and you might see that you have no serious pressure.

On the other hand, if you’re in front of a judge or a crowd, you’re going to want to externally and internally show that you are confident. This may be a very scary audience to address, but don’t fret. Think that you are the ruler of the stage and have come to show everyone how intellectual you are about the topic. Boost the self-esteem and maybe add a hint of ego ;)

5.     Practice! Practicing in front of a mirror and family/friends may relieve the initial stress of speaking and the pressure you may feel from speaking in front of others. Be open to criticism! Make notecards and read from them, enunciating every word so that you remember it well. Laugh at your mistakes but note them too so that you don’t repeat it later!

6.     Have fun with it. Speaking in front of people is actually kind of fun! Everyone gets to hear your share/ opinion or hear something you researched! This is a great moment for you, so do everything you can to make it the best moment!

Extra Side Tips!

1.     If you make a mistake, don’t falter! Keep going and show everyone that one little stumble won’t make you fall!

2.     If you find yourself rushing, subtly slow down. Don’t abruptly slow down, because that will make you look unprofessional.

3.     Make eye contact!

4.     Don’t look at the board (too much: if you’re presenting)!!

someone once told Captain Hook that he looks like a Stuart so he started dressing like Charles II complete with long black ringlets

ringlets… which he combs using his hook

he also uses his hook for “other homely uses.” I have no idea what, J. M. chose not to extrapolate

Hook’s great master plan to kill the Lost Boys is to BAKE THEM A CAKE and put dodgy stuff in it so they eat it and die

Wendy is like “you ain’t eating shit you found on the floor” and makes them use the cake as a missile, which Hook later falls over in the dark 

speaking of Wendy, the Lost Boys are All About Wendy when she first arrives. Peter is like never touch Wendy. build a house around her. we are her servants. she is a lady.

John is literally like “are you fucking kidding me" 

Tinker Bell is super not here for Peter’s flight of fancy shit and yells YOU SILLY ASS at him literally about ten times

Peter is kinda dumb actually 

at one point he falls asleep on Wendy Guard Duty "and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy”

????????????????

there are non-binary fairies! girls glow white, boys glow mauve and the blue ones are “little sillies who are not sure what they are” which is… really really cute!!!

there’s a whole section where Peter and this bird are yelling at each other but Peter doesn’t speak bird and the bird doesn’t speak human and they’re mad about it

J. M. makes sure to point out that Hook “was not wholly evil; he loved flowers”

when the pirates kidnap Wendy and the Lost Boys, Hook bows to Wendy and sweeps his hat off and gives her his arm and she’s so starry-eyed about it she forgets she’s being kidnapped

the thirst is real, Wendy

Hook is scared of Smee. all the kids love Smee cos he’s little with funny glasses and thinks he’s really fearsome but. Hook is. actually. scared of Smee

at one point Peter is helping Hook up onto a rock because a) good form and b) he wants to have a proper nemesis fight, and Hook BITES PETER and Peter is fucking beside himself about it

in fact 100% of their interaction reads like Kate Beaton’s nemesis comic 

Tiger Lily is a stone cold badass. all the men in her tribe want to lock that down and she’s like “fuck no”

when Peter rescues her from Hook and Smee, rather than carrying her bridal-style back to her camp (no thx Disney) she’s just like TIGER LILY OUT and swims home, abandoning Peter to his dumb pirate fight

Peter may be slightly unhinged actually. like one paragraph early on basically says that sometimes he’d go for walks on his own and not talk about it when he came back, then the others would go out AND FIND THE BODY

like the book pretty much insinuates that when the Lost Boys start getting too old Peter takes ‘em out back and puts ‘em down

and before the big boss fight he’s picking pirates off one by one and a Lost Boy is just calmly keeping an out-loud count of how many throats Peter’s slit

and after the boss fight he literally kicks Hook overboard to where he knows the crocodile’s waiting 

that kid is fucked up, I’m just saying

the narrator loses his shit towards the end. I’m serious. one minute he’s like “I HATE MRS. DARLING SO MUCH” and the next he’s all “I love Mrs. Darling, those kids are some selfish brats though”

Mr. Darling blames himself for the childrens’ disappearance because he locked Nana outside, so he starts… living in her kennel. a taxi picks him and the kennel up every morning and takes him to work in it. he becomes famous because he lives in the kennel 

?????????????????

STUDY HABITS: 

Writing a side post on studying efficiently – These are the things that I do, at least, to make sure I keep my GPA up and workload under control. 

UChicago gives a ridiculous amount of homework per week (ie, fall quarter this year I was spending 15 hours on homework in an econ class, 20 hours on a CS class, 5 on math, and 2 on engineering = 42 hours of homework, in addition to going to class (12 hours), working for 10 hours a week, and orchestra rehearsal (4 hours)), and these habits absolutely SAVED me. 

Here we go:

1) Read/skim last class’ notes before this class. 

This one seems to surprise people but it is insanely effective in cementing material in your head and learning efficiently in the classroom. I started doing this because I would forget what we learned last class – and found that with two-three extra minutes (speed reading) I could follow lectures a whole lot better. 

This allows me to retain notes better too – I normally don’t have to look at them again until when I’m studying for exams.

2) Take advantage of audiobooks and other online resources.

-Audiobooks: Here, we take a sequence of humanities classes and a sequence of social science classes. This is around 100 pages of reading every class (~2 nights to read) very difficult stuff (Marx, Foucault, De Beauvoir, etc.). I’m not a fast reader so I only get time to read it around once (and then I always fall asleep reading so that doesn’t help). Listen to the audiobook version. Seriously. Why? Because then you can get readings done while you are brushing your teeth, eating, exercising, walking to class, riding the bus, etc. A lot of people don’t finish the readings but are really good at grasping the structure of the argument. If you can combine both, you will be good to go.

-Videos: I learn math best through videos. Short concise walkthroughs help you condense important information.

-Other people’s flashcards Chances are, the material you are studying or the textbook is not one of a kind. If you are lucky, someone else would have made study materials (on sites like quizlet) that you can borrow.

-Textbook website: Sometimes textbooks have outlines and practice problems and visuals. Use them!

3) DO NOT RECOPY SHIT

Every rendition of notes that you produce should be different from the last. Straight-copying is a huge time-waster. Unless you’re one of those people who remember exactly what they write down (I’m not and I’ve met very few people who are), this is so inefficient. You process information  much faster than you write. Why are you burning excess brain functionality on writing something that you don’t need to turn in?

That’s not to say don’t write. I like to go through my notes and condense them into an outline using short key words to remind me of important ideas. 

But, to the people who are making pretty, colorful, and comprehensive notes–where are you getting the time? I normally assume that you just write that beautifully or are doing it in class to keep awake  (and even in class, shouldn’t you be paying attention?)– but if that is a study method…

4) Take advantage of office hours. Or if you don’t have them, make your own office hours by requesting them from your teacher (even if they decline, you will still look like a hard-worker). 

Go in with questions to ask your teacher/TA. Saves you so much time going about a problem on your homework completely wrong.  If you are ill-prepared (been there, done that), here are good “questions” to get your teacher to divulge information: - “Can you explain the intuition behind ….” - “I’m a little stuck on this problem. Can you recommend a good approach to get me started?” - “I didn’t quite understand the material that this problem is written on when we went over it in class. Do you have a textbook reference or a good resource for me to go over the material?” <– huge time saver, because flipping through a 300 page book not knowing what you are looking for is the absolute worst. 

5) Prioritize

I like to block off specific hours to do specific things, but the most important part of that, is that you do not sit down without a clear idea of what you need to get done.

I prioritize by 1) how much brainpower a task requires (studying takes the most, then essaying brainstorming, then problem sets “solving”, then essay writing, then problem set write ups*, etc.) 2) Their deadline 3) When I am the most productive. 

*I split homework into ‘solving’ and ‘writing up’. I know that I am sharpest during the morning/ early afternoon, so I save the most difficult/thinking intensive solving part then, and then actually type/write up my answers when I’m less functional. 

Make journals of:

dreams

food

finances

writing ideas

love

ideas for architects

city design ideas

beautiful and/or ugly sights

a history of one’s own writing life, written daily

reading/music/art, etc. encountered each day

rooms

elaborations on weather

people one sees-description

subway, bus, car or other trips (e.g., the same bus trip written about every day)

pleasures and/or pain

life’s everyday machinery: phones, stoves, computers, etc.

answering machine messages

round or rectangular things, other shapes

color

light

daily changes, e.g., a journal of one’s desk, table, etc.

the body and its parts

clocks/time-keeping

tenant-landlord situations

telephone calls (taped?)

skies

dangers

mail

sounds

coincidences & connections

times of solitude

Other journal ideas:

Write once a day in minute detail about one thing

Write every day at the same time, e.g. lunch poems, waking ideas, etc.

Write minimally: one line or sentence per day

Create a collaborative journal: musical notation and poetry; two writers alternating days; two writing about the same subject each day, etc.

Instead of using a book, write on paper and put it up on the wall (public journal).

and so on …

Hey guys!! So this is my first masterpost about some study hacks and tips that really helped me :) hope it’s helpful ^^

In class:

Sit somewhere where you can pay attention.

Write notes. Really do write your own notes! I see my classmates struggling with classes because they don’t write their own notes and they take them from other people… It’s really good to have a colour-coding system, so you can sort out the information you get from your teacher, but don’t overdo it! Too many colours = confusion. Don’t forget to kinda customize your notes. Use a format you can effectively study from. I personally use the outline method or a hybrid of the cornell method (without the summary).

If you don’t undestand the material, ask questions!

After class:

Reread your notes several times the day you made them and read them everyday once. It’s good to retain the information and in the long run, you won’t have to study that much (okay, you will have to study, but you will have already remembered most of the important stuff).

It’s really helpful to check out what is written in your textbook. There might be even some exercises you can solve while studying.

Studying for exams:

First of all, find a spot where you can focus. It can be anywhere, in the library, in a local coffee shop or even at your home. But do not study in your bed. From my (limited, but still) personal experience, it does no good :D 

If you’re studying at home, organize your desk - your stationery, notebooks, textbooks, binders, loose paper, whatever, so you can find them when you need them. Plus, you’ll feel more motivated ;) I recommend tidying your room in general - making your bed, hanging your clothes… it just gives you a good feeling and some motivation (at least to me it does :D)

Study snacks! Don’t forget you have to stay hydrated, bring some sweet fruits, don’t eat unhealthy food while studying! It’s not absolute, like a piece of chocolate really helps, but I mean, don’t overdo it ‘kay? :D also, don’t stuff yourself with caffeinated drinks (tea is better than coffee for your health), and do not even think about energy drinks, that is yuck and it’s not good for you :D

Put your phone away. Make it silent and put it somewhere where you can’t reach it.

Plan your study session. It really comes in handy to see what you should accomplish today and what you should do the next day. Prioritize your tasks.

Now it’s up to you. Take out all of your materials, rewrite your notes, make cheat sheets, summaries, flashcards, mind maps, read your notes aloud… find a method that suits you. I  personally make summaries, sometimes even flashcards, and I like reading my materials aloud :) Also, finding a study buddy might help you ;)

I think we’ve all been there - the class is important and you know you need to study but when you sit down you end up feeling grOSS AND YOU don’t want to. So here are some tips to overcoming that:

 Take a deep breath and reevaluate why you need to study. Try to stay positive.

When I’m not motivated I keep saying things like “what if I just don’t do it?” And then - surprise! - I end up not studying and suffer/regret it later. When coming up with reasons to study, try to keep it positive. Don’t say things like “if I don’t study I’ll fail the class.” Instead, say things like “if I study, I have a better chance at doing well on the exam. Future-me will be so proud of current-me.”

If you truly cannot find a single reason to study, set your studying aside for later and do another productive activity or take a long break.

Drill it into your mind that you really don’t need motivation to do well.

Even if you find the reason to study, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are very motivated. Sometimes we feel like no motivation = unable to study. This isn’t true.

Make a deal with yourself. Try studying for ten minutes. And actually try to study. If by the end of ten minutes you feel like you can continue studying, great! Keep going! If not, then you can take a break and do something else.

Choose a study scheduling method that works for you.

Some people feel great studying for hours on end once they get in "the zone.” Others feel the need to take quick breaks every half hour. Studying and scheduling methods are different for everybody! Play around with scheduling to find out what works for you.

In high-stress times, work (studying, assignments, etc.) can feel pretty overwhelming. To organize all the stuff you have to do, write it down! This takes some of the stress of remembering tasks off from your brain, so that your brain can focus on the more crucial things.

If you’re making a to-do list, keep the general list short. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed by too many tasks. (You can keep sub-lists on separate paper/sticky notes to break down each task.)

If you’re making a time-table, keep your schedule loose. Give yourself buffer time to complete each task, just in case you overestimated your efficiency.

It’s totally okay to overestimate efficiency! - ifyou do, you learn more about yourself and how you study best.

Small (pomodoro) breaks

Pomodoro technique in a nutshell: 25 minute blocks of working with 5 minute breaks in between. Feel free to change the length of the blocks according to your preferences! During your breaks, you can

Get more water

Get snacks

Make tea/coffee

Stretch

Do a tiny bit of yoga

Walk around the room/building

Stretch

Five-minute meditation

Head massage

Try to avoid looking at a screen. When you look at a screen, you stimulate your brain and it won’t get its rest. Also, the internet might suck you in and your break could last longer than intended. (cough tumblr)

Long breaks

Sometimes I really really really really reALLY don’t want to study. Or do anything. And I feel kind of gross and am on the verge of a mental breakdown. If you feel this way, stop.

Take a hella deep breath. And another one. One more. Aaaaand one more just for good measure.

Get away from your desk. I associate desk with studying, so getting away from it helps me relax. Lie down on a bed, or move to a different room if you can. If you can get near a window, try looking into the distance to relax your brain and eyes.

Breathe for a couple of minutes, then evaluate how you feel. Again, try to stay positive. Instead of “I feel shitty and I don’t want to do anything,” try “I feel tired right now and resting can help me feel better.”

Based on this evaluation, estimate the amount of time you need to rest. If you have a lot of studying to do, try to keep it under an hour. Set a timer for the amount of time you have decided on. (remember to include buffer time!) Getting back to work on time can make you feel more productive, which conduct better productivity!

During a long break, do an activity that makes you feel good and takes your mind off studying. You can

Take a long walk. If you live near a park or a trail, try strolling around in it.

Eat healthy food. Junky comfort food can make you feel groggy, especially foods that are fried. Instead, try eating some fruits or nuts.

Take a shower/bath

Talk with a friend

Make some art

Enjoy a long coffee break. (avoid caffeine if you feel anxious/panicky, though)

Play with a pet

Take a power nap

Longer meditation/yoga

Again, try to avoid looking at screens. Also, avoid thinking about studying. Let yourself have the luxury of NOT THINKING ABOUT STUDYING for a while, so you can return to it with a fresh mind.

Mental health days

Sometimes everything is just too much and you might feel the need to stop everything for a day. If so, take a mental health day!

Think of mental health days as physical health days. If your body isn’t feeling well, you are allowed to stay in bed and sleep/not do anything for a day. Similarly, if your mind isn’t feeling well, you are also allowed to stay in bed and sleep/not do anything for a day.

Let your parents and teachers know that you don’t feel well and can’t go to school. From my experience, most teachers are pretty understanding and will let you have the day off. (You might have some work to make up later, though.)

Do not study on mental health days. Don’t even think about studying on mental health days. Instead, just focus on getting better. You can

Sleep in

Clean your room

Take a super long bath, complete with bath bombs and candles

Watch a good movie

Read a good book

Sing your favorite songs really loudly

Literally anything that (IS HEALTHY and) makes you feel good about yourself.

Study groups can keep you going, even when you kind of don’t want to

Setting up a time (like a date!) can keep you on track

Study with someone you trust to keep you accountable. Don’t study with someone you know you’re going to gossip or watch cat videos with.

If you really feel the need to cancel a study date, it’s ok! Just like canceling any kind of date, it’s 100% okay to back out if you feel uncomfortable.

My Top 5 Tips for efficient studying in university: 

1) Take your basic notes before the lecture 

(you can take them with you and annotate them in class) This is probably the most important thing I’ve learned from my two years at uni so far, for two reasons: 

a) Taking a full set of notes during a lecture is time consuming, and you will tend to focus on keeping up with note taking, rather than what your lecturer is saying. Its also really easy to get behind, and writing quickly for several hours hurts your hand! 

b) If you go to your lecture totally unprepared, you are likely to find a lot of what your lecturer is saying going totally over your head and it is so easy to switch off completely and end up gaining nothing from being there, where as if you have a vague understanding of the lecture before hand, just being there is effectively revision, and helps you memorise the content.