#student hack

No reason to reblog this 👀

I don’t want this to sound like an ad cause it isn’t but I started writing on this website called 4thewords.com that uses writing goals and time limits in order to defeat monsters, the more you write the better you do. It’s helped me keep on task and I really wish I’d known it’d existed during Uni. 

That being said it is only free for the first 30 days, then £3.50 a month after. And even if you don’t want to pay, 30 days/a few different accounts should be enough to get you through finals.

Personally I am able to afford this and have found it a really useful resource to keep me focused because I HATE to lose. 

Tell them something they did right the first week, or first few weeks, of class.

What is one thing about your class or teacher that you would like them to do again, or continue doing?

Did you like something you read? Are their notes clear? Do they respond to emails quickly? Have you enjoyed or are looking forward to anything? Has anything helped you learn? Did you learn a lot about something you didn’t know before? Does something about their format or style work well for you?

Tell them so they know what to keep doing.

Please don’t offer suggestions or critique, we get a lot of that and you can save it for the evals. This is not about what they could change, this is about what they’re already doing that you want to continue.

It’s pretty easy to tell when you’re not getting an idea across, students are bored, they hated an assignment, etc. Most of us usually know when things are going wrong and we need to stop or make a change. We can do that.

It is much, much harder to know what’s going right for you. Is it good and helpful, or is it just not bad and confusing or unbearably boring? Should we keep doing it this way, or should we try something else or do it less?

Especially with how much our jobs have changed, we’re still trying to figure out how best to do them now. If we get positive feedback on something, we know to go in that direction.

Especially if you do this early in the term/semester, this will not only get them to continue the thing, you will also stand out from the crowd in a very good way. We don’t get much of this, and we value it a great deal when we do. Both the feedback and the time you took to give it.

Any time you’d give a like or thumbs up in a mental Facebook, give it in real life somehow. But especially at the beginning of a year so out of our norm and unpredictable, it really makes a difference, and we can show an email to the people who decide whether or not to keep us, or hire us.

Congrats on getting into uni I hope you have a wonderful time and it’s everything you want it to be and more :) This is a long post with just a few tips for those starting uni (or college). Feel free to add to it with any of your own ideas.

Things to take:

• Buy some plants they brighten things up are are great for covering up odd coloured walls and endless pine furniture. (Then buy some fake plants for when the real things inevitably die.)

• You will not need a kitchen worthy of a pro chef. There’ll be no room in your cupboards for food otherwise. A couple of pans, a frying pan, sieve (doubles up as a colander) and a baking tray will do you. Similarly, 2 plates, a bowl and a couple of knives and forks are fine as long as you keep up with the washing up.

• Bring some of your bits from home - a cushion, picture frames etc. they’ll make your room feel more like home & personal.

• Your childhood teddy. No one will laugh, trust me.

• A desk lamp, unless it’s included in your room already.

• Fairy lights. No student’s room is complete without fairylights + they’re aesthetic af.

Hacks:

•  Cover your baking trays with tin foil before cooking anything greasy - it’ll save so much effort washing up and prolong the life of your trays.

• Cook double portions of things like pasta and save half for the next day to save on cooking nd having to buy meals at uni. Also take a thermos of coffee, uni coffee is either shit or expensive.

• Layering blankets and jumpers is cheeper than turning on the heating if you’re paying your own bills. 

• Get out of the house at least 4 times a week and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Otherwise you turn into a reclusive ghost with scurvy. 

• At first it might seem very quiet compared to home - play the radio if it is, the voices in the background and presenter’s conversations are very comforting.

• Absolutely everything is on facebook - groups for your halls, for your course, for your societies. Even tickets for freshers events are on facebook a lot of the time. Look it up before you go.

Study:

• Do things when they’re set - even if a lecturer says it’s for the assignment due in 3 months time do it when it’s set otherwise you’ll forget the topic and have to spend double time relearning everything later.

• Talk to lecturers, they’re real human people and they want you to pass. Make tutorials, email them at weird hours with bizarre questions and if you don’t understand something TELL SOMEONE.

• Study groups are wonderful, make some friends on your course with similar academic interests to you and work on assignments together. Often they’ll be able to support where you struggle and visa versa.

• If you’re struggling to work at home go out to a coffee shop and work their. In uni towns many places expect students to come in and have free wifi and plugs. Just make sure you buy something when you go in and then a drink every couple of hours after. If it starts to get really busy and baristas are giving you looks it’s time to leave, though.

• Look after yourself, sleep, mental and physical health will always be more important than your studies. You can take time out, resit assignments and drop out altogether if you need to. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR HEALTH.

Social:

• Everyone is in the same boat as you, you don’t have to change who you are to be liked.

• You might have to force yourself to be more extroverted than normal and go to events/talk to housemates and course mates for the first few weeks but it’s worth it I promise. 

• Talk to the people you sit next to in lectures. Its handy if you miss something and need notes, plus I’ve made some of my best friends simply by happening to sit with them.

• Go explore where you live with people, it’s a good way to get to know them and the nice little nooks that will make the place home for the next few years. 

• Don’t feel you have to drink if you don’t want to. You can have a good night out sober (trust me). If you do drink be safe. Have a way home planned and don’t leave by yourself and without telling the people you’re with. Save some cash for a taxi fare. If someone you trust tells you to stop drinking, STOP. 

• People won’t unfriend you for not wanting to go out, or for going to bed early, or for having some alone time though. Make an effort to do communal things, but don’t feel pressured into doing something you don’t want to do, ever.

After Rain (Dermot Kennedy) 

The Other - Stripped (Lauv)

Skinny Love (Bon Iver)

Clair De Lune (Michael Dulin)

Breathe Me (Sia)

Only (RY X)

Gymnopedie No. 1 (Erik Satie)

Varkala (Maribou State)

To Build A Home (The Cinematic Orchestra)

From Eden (Hozier)

If You Ever Want to Be In Love (James Bay)

Holocene (Bon Iver)

Bloom - Bonus Track (The Paper Kites)

Timshel (Mumford & Sons)

Make it to Me (Sam Smith)

Salvation (Gabrielle Aplin)

Iris (The Goo Goo Dolls)

Warm (SG Lewis)

Everything Unsaid (Joshua Hyslop)

Be the Song (Foy Vance)

Ghosts (James Vincent McMorrow)

A Thousand Years (The Piano Guys)

Work Song (Hozier)

No Less (SG Lewis)

The Emperor’s Adagio (Michael Dulin)

Faded - Piano Version (Alan Walker)

All at Once (Jack Johnson)

Happier (Ed Sheeran)

Etude No. 8 (Philip Glass)

Bediuk Kmo Hayareach (Yuval Dayan)

For My Father (Andy McKee)

Cherry Wine - Live (Hozier)

Hands Tied (Billy Lockett)

Hope Springs Eternal (John Gold)

Soul Inside (Antonio Pinto)

Tenerife Sea (Ed Sheeran)

Streetcar (Daniel Caesar)

Into The Woods (Fay Wildhagen)

Woman (HONNE)

Easily (Bruno Major)

Sense of Home (Harrison Storm)

How Will I Know (Sam Smith)

Breathe (Lauv)

You Found Me (The Fray)

Humble And Kind (Tim McGraw)

Angel (Jack Johnson)

Wide Eyed (Billy Lockett)

Where’s My Love - Alternate Version (Syml)

Time Frame (Fractures)

Re: Stacks (Bon Iver)

Too Good At Goodbyes (Sam Smith)

Enzymes

1. Use this website to pretend like you're actually in a cute study spo with a window view. Pretend you're in Paris b*tch

2. Think that you're studying to win the House Cup! This ambience will 100% help!

3. Create a studygram because it will push you to study to have content all while joining a community of ambitious people who also motivate you!

4. MAKE YOUR STUDY SPACE AESTHETIC 😌

5. Get a study-buddy like a Funko 🖤 TRUST me it works!

And you can also reblog this to save a student's life 🥲

Good luck besties!