Study in Style

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.

A good library 

will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.

- Mark Twain

The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom. 

- H.W. Beecher

The most important part of studying is when your books and notes are far away, but you stil find yourself thinking about the things you have learnt and you ponder.

If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn’t call it genius.

- Michelangelo

Me:

I’m not going to make movies that tell children, 

“You should despair and run away”. 

I would like to make movies that tell children 

“It’s good to be alive”

A true gentleman

helps those in distress

cleans up after himself and others, should the need arise

leaves no puzzle unsolved

doesn’t pry into other people’s business

never underestimates the power of tea

shows gratitude to his teachers

keeps an open mind

keeps promises

expresses gratitude for the hospitality of others

has hobbies

stays strong

never makes a scene in public

always has good penmanship

keeps calm and carries on, even when distressed

gets some exercise

doesn’t play on ladders

(by x & x)

You wake up in a lecture hall. When did you get here? How did you get here? You look down at your feet. They’re gone. You have merged with the floor. You are one with uni and uni is you. Everytime a bored student scribbles on their desk, they carve into your skin. You smell blood.

Your field of study is divided into 3 main schools of thought. Each school consists of 3 main areas. Each of these areas is divided into 3 main topics. Each topic splits into 3 major theories. Each theory is supported by 3 observations. You stare at your 3 hands with 3 fingers. Your 3 eyes blink. Thrice.

You awake from your homework as if from a dream. What language is this? Illogical hieroglyphs stare at you and shuffle around on the paper. You have forgotten what you were trying to prove. What lnguaudka i sdha s? The paper giggles and you’re so tired. You smile and answer in a language you do not understand.

You will need to buy a book for this course. It is pricey. Maybe you can afford a hand-me-down. A hand descends from the ceiling. It beckons you and offers you a deal: the cursed volume for a bracelet of ramen. You sigh and knit another bracelet, while the hand massages your scalp. The pact is made. Finally, you get to open the first page. Your professor wrote this book. … Your hollow, desperate shriek wakes the ever-sleeping students in the last row. They climb over the tables, slimey hands embracing you from behind, and they whisper “There’s a pdf online. For free.” Coffee is pouring out out of their eyes, staining your shirt.

Hello, fellow students! I’m sure I’m not the only who has been really, really, really busy with uni lately, so I’m afraid the last two parts of “How to be a good student again” will take me quite a while to write, if I want them to be good enough to actually help people (which I do).

I don’t want to go full radio silence, though, so I thought I could share two of my study mixes :) 

LIGHTNING FLOOD (listen on youTube, listen on 8tracks)

This one is great for a literal brainstorm! It’s loosely based on my own thought process as an INTP, which might seem very chaotic and even destructive to an outsider, but which actually consists of razor sharp thoughts which take apart and analyze everything around me.  There are smoother, more relaxed instrumentals in it, too that reflect what it feels like to me to be “in the zone”, so, at least for me, it’s a harmonious ebb and flow of ideas. 

I use it when I’m

thinking “vertically”

making mind-maps

using an unusal, “creative” solution

writing essays

introspecting

FLASH FIRE (listen on youTube, listen on 8tracks)

This one is great for burning through your project! It’s loosely based upon the thought process of an INTJ character I’m writing a story about right now and a very close INTJ friend of mine, so it’s similar to “Lightning Flood”, but definitely not the same. Compared to my usual blunt aiming and freakishly precise bullets, this is more on the freakishly precise aiming and blunt bullets-side.  You want to get things done? You want to feel powerful, efficient and in control? You want to burn a clear trail to the goal without distractions? You also want to have fun on the way? Then this is the mix for you! 

I use it when I’m 

thinking “horizontally”

making to-do- or have-done-lists

using a tried and true, but complex method

doing maths

in dire need of a pick-me-up

In the winter 

she curls up around a good book 

and dreams away the cold. 

- Ben Aaronovitch

I know it’s been literal years since I posted on here*, but wow, am I glad to be back!

1) Where have you been, man?

Well, basically - I was testing myself and seeing if my theory on procrastination was any good. tl;dr: I’d say so? I finished my BA in English Literature and Linguistics, I founded a Creative Writing Society, I published three anthologies, I got my first real job as a translator and worked at as an independent contractor at a company for three years, I slept a WHOLE lot and I successfully applied for my Masters in Cognitive Science. Right now, I’m enjoying the hell out of my CogSci classes and trying to figure out whether my procrastination thesis holds up not just to personal experience, but also to scientific scrutiny.  But most importantly: I had a ball. It’s been a tough few years on a personal level, so I was really grateful to have my productivity and creativity to help me make sense of life in the eye of the storm. And I’d like to help you do the same :)

2) Will you finish your “How to be a good student (again)” series?

I’m certainly planning to! In fact, this is related to the next question.

3) So how about that YouTube channel…?

It’s happening  ~  I’ve finally managed to carve out some free time every week for this and I’m very excited about it! I’m thinking old-school, low-budget, cosy-in-your-bedroom YouTube? 1) Because I miss it, 2) because I like it, and 3) because I literally can’t afford anything else. 

And this is where you come in! 

I’d like to work my way up to the last “How to be a good student (again)” post (in the form of a video), so I’d like to practice my editing, voice-over, etc. skills with smaller, shorter videos on a variety of topics. My head is exploding with ideas, so please let me know which you’d be most interested in - and please suggest topics you think would be cool, as well! This is what I have so far: 

Study Advice (obv “How to be a good student (again)”, but also my Notion/Calendar set-up, weekly habits, Building Habits for People Who Hate Habits, balancing work/study & life, Study With Me’s, etc.)

Manga/Anime (An Essay on the Ghibli Generation, Best Detectives in Anime, Best Female-Led Manga/Anime, Best Underrated Manga/Anime (including, but not limited to, Kino’s Journey, Mushishi, Bokurano, Oyasumi Pyun Pyun, the Promised Neverland (WHAT are they doing with the anime??) and the Magic World of Kai), All the Japanese You Learned from Anime, Opinions™ on Detective Conan, etc)

Videogames (Best Otome/Dating Games with Actual Storylines and Fleshed-Out Characters, Underrated Indie Games, On the Magic of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Games/Novels, Best Puzzle Games, Too Many Thoughts on Dragon Age, The Cosiest Games for a Tea and Socks Evening, maybe even Let’s Plays?)

MBTI/Cognitive Functions (Best INTP/INTJ/ISFJ/etc anime/book/series characters, A series on NT characters in anime in general and why they contributed to attracting nerds (like myself) to anime over other art forms, INFP Characters in Anime I Admire And Fear, Why Cognitive Functions Are Superior to MBTI, My Paper on the Scientific Validity of Cognitive Functions, etc)

Cognitive Science (CogSci Concepts that Completely Changed the Way I Look At the World, What Optical Illusions Tell Us About Our Brain, What is Cognitive Science and why is it Detectives?, A novice’s look at Artificial Intelligence, etc)

Books (On the Superiority of Agatha Christie’s Plotlines, Why the Literary Sherlock Holmes is the Best Sherlock Holmes, The Genius Action of Red Rising, Best Underrated Books, Great Books By Marginalised Authors, My Favourite Poems, Opinions™ on Popular Book Series, maybe some of my own poetry/ readings of my bedtime stories for kids, Creative Writing Advice, etc)

Random Info Dumps on Whatever I am Interested in This Week 

Artsy Swoosh-Swoosh Whoa Videos

(Oh, and I’d also like to make a video on The Symbolism in “Whisper of the Heart” (where anime study girl below is from) because it’s near and dear to my heart)

And that’s about it! I’d also like to kick things off with a Q&A, so please send me any and all questions (and I mean ANY and ALL questions) to my askbox over here and I’ll get into it on my channel over there.

(That being said, I’ve been gone for a loooong time, so I wouldn’t at all be suprised or offended if only two or three of you are left to look at this post. (…tell me, is the “studyblr” tag even still a thing? Or is it something else now? “studycore”? “quarantisophia”? “Cosy Academia”?) Anyway, to ye veterans that are still around, I’d just like to say: thank you. Thank you for sticking around and for giving this ol’ blog another shot! And to y’all spring chickens - happy to have y’all on board! :D) Have a good one,  Study in Style