#study-well

[learn about my desk]

BLACK AESTHETIC 

 small notebook in which I collect all my thoughts 

Architecture and disjunction by Bernard Tschumi, a book I’m currently reading 

Ok so, 

You’ve hit the barrier that we all, at one point or another reach - where we need to supplement our natural talent with discipline and work. 

And that’s ok! That’s normal! This is not a crisis. This is real life! 

The best advice I can give you is to study smart. That means targeting your time/ effort to the things you are going to be examined on. This starts with looking over your course syllabus (or what topics you’ve covered in class), and becoming familiar with the structure of your exams. 

and then leaving the rest to one side. 

So what does studying smart mean?

Here’s some other resources that might help: 

Studying smart, not hard (specifically for semester finals)

Study smart - aka affordable losses

How I stay motivated  

General high school tips 

What to do after getting a shit grade 

Time Management 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, that may also be a time management issue. Now, we’ve all got the same number of hours in a day - it’s how we choose to spend them that makes the difference. 

Some resources on time management 

This comic by @solar-citrus

Managing Time and Tasks (originally by meredithdraper, via working link @elkstudies) 

This amazing post on Time and Task Management by @pensandmachine

@theorganisedstudent FAQ

Finding your best time of the day by @eatwellstudyhard 

this list by @joolshallie

this masterpost by @study-well

On being a doctor 

It’s great that you know that you want to be a doctor. I think a good way to motivate yourself is to ask why you want to be a doctor. Not only for short-term motivation, but for long term motivation. 

This is important because the road to being a doctor (and a lot of ‘traditional’ professions) is much longer than just ‘completing high school and completing med school’. A lot of students don’t realise that it takes, in some instances, decades of hard work. 

Not to mention the financial, emotional and mental sacrifices that you will need to make. 

A good way to make an informed decision about your career choices is to ask people who are already in the field and people who are studying medicine. To that end I’d recommend: 

@studydiaryofamedstudent 

@dxmedicalstudent (FAVOURITE. seriously.) 

@verymedical 

@medicalstate (no longer active, but his posts were always a deep dive into practice, amongst other things) 

On feeling left behind

Here’s the thing.

You’re not. 

You are not falling behind. 

I understand why it feels that way. High school is a pressure cooker. For your entire academic life to date, you’ve been working in this competitive environment. Where success feels like a zero sum game. 

It’s not. 

You have your own route to success. The battles you win, the results you receive, the progress you achieve - the value of these things are not diminished just because “your friends are doing better.”

Its natural to judge your performance against everyone else. What they got for an exam, how much they wrote, what answers they got, how they solved a problem. Don’t give too much weight to what people say they’ve done. In the end you can only control your own performance.

You don’t need +90 to ‘move ahead in life’. 

Just because someone does it first, whether it be graduating high school, graduating uni, getting a job first, getting their first kiss, going on a first date - all these ‘coming of age markers’ - doesn’t mean that you won’t get to achieve them yourself. 

But if you feel like you’re falling behind, and you use that feeling to stop yourself from working, then you will be holding yourself back from success. 

So, stop focussing on the ‘race’. Instead, look to where you’re running to. And where you final destination is.  

Highly recommend reading these wise words from @niuniente. 

And if you’re feeling stuck? Reach out for help. 

SEX. 

State 

Example 

eXplain

(don’t @me. It’s supposed to be SEE or SEEX but don’t lie, when you saw “sex” y’all decided to read on)  

The tip with essays is to have a clear structure. This helps your reader to understand the argument you are making. 

By no means is this structure the only structure. This is probably targeted at the middle school - high school level.   

But it’s a basic structure which you can tweak and add to depending on your level of study (e.g. university) and discipline (e.g. Lit, history, pol sci). 

 So here we go. 

State

Topic sentence 

What is your paragraph about? 

What is the key idea or argument in this paragraph? 

If I needed a one liner about this section, what would it be? 

Example

Back your argument up with examples

These can be quotes, literary techniques etc. 

What evidence supports your topic sentence? 

Explain 

How do your examples support your argument/ thesis  

To what extent? Are they strong examples? Why? Why not? 

Gaps 

If you have absolutely no idea, basically answer the godamn essay question here.  Seriously. Re word it as a statement and incorporate your example. 

If you really have no idea - then reconsider this paragraph. Delete the damn thing.  

Example 1: 10 minute paragraph

[for educational purposes only] 

Let’s say I only have 10 mins to plan and write a paragraph on our good ol’ Irish poet mate Seamus Heaney: 

Using the SEX Method, I’d plan out a paragraph like this: 

Then when it comes to writing an essay, I’d reword those points, fleshing them out as below: 

Ta-da, one paragraph down, 2810178641 more to go! 

If this was a ‘take home essay’ I’d refine some of the sentences. They’re a little clunky + verbose (esp that last sentence). But for a quick in class exam under timed conditions, fuck it, my argument is there, MOVE ON. 

WRITING IS 90% EDITING ANYWAY. SO GET IT ON THE PAGE. 

For info re introductions, conclusions etc see the full post here. 

Other resources

The best (or most frustrating thing) about english is that there’s no one way to do things. So here’s some tips from some other studyblr’s that may suit your style! 

Essay Masterpost by @highscoolering (working link by @elkstudies) 

10 Steps for Essay Writing by @3tznius5this 

Persuasive Essay

THIS POWERPOINT by wittacism (working link by @studyign) 

Essay writing tips by @study-well

Essay writing masterpost by @stuudytips

This answer by @succulentstudy

Essay checklist by @wonderfullifee 

5 tips by @studyfab 

Writing research papers by @post–grad

Stuff you need to write essays by @studyign