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[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

school mindset

essays - make each essay you write better than the last


 small assignments - aim for 100s, expect 100s, get 100s


 homework - pretend they’re assignments


 homework that’s not graded - pretend! they’re! assignments!


 tests - study for 100s, expect less


 long term projects - act like it’s due in four days -even when it’s not- until you’re done with it


 group projects - do not get angry


 presentations - pretend you’re obama

disclaimer - this works for me, it may not work for everybody, do not push yourself too hard!!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

found this on Pinterest & want to share w y'all \\ I don't take credit for this picture

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

40 Study Tips & Tricks

I thought to write down the “script” to one of my most viewed videos, with 40 study tips & tricks. It’s easier to read them and pass on the word!

Organization Tips:

1. Incorporate homework and classes in you daily planner – that will give you an overall glimpse of how your week will be about and how much time you need to spend in your studying sessions!

2. Color coordinate classes – be it notes, your planner, your textbooks or binders, pick a unique color for each class and work around the hues of that color to get more organized!

3. Make your own syllabus – if your professor doesn’t provide a syllabus for your class, try to make one before the school year working around your given textbooks or other given material.

4. Make study guides – make a study guide from your syllabus and draw before each topic two boxes: one for a midtest and one for the final test. When you have one of these tests, check the boxes when you’ve finished studying the chapter so you won’t miss anything!

5. Reference your material throughout – most of the times, we students work with in-class notes, textbooks and a syllabus. Since we get small bits of information here and there it’s important to reference every page throughout all your material so you can quickly access your information without having to flip endlessly through pages!

6. Keep a dashboard nearby – Whenever you use a notebook or a binder, make a dashboard on the first page with post it notes so you can quickly scribble any questions, homework or page numbers. When you get home, you just need to open your dashboard and attend those notes.

7. Print any tests, exercises and exams you can find – keep those in the end of your binder. These are perfect to practice before exams and tests because they really reflect what you will be tested about. Set an alarm clock for the deadline and start working on those!

8. Condense – organization disappears when you have too many of everything. Working with more than one planner in your life will make everything chaotic. If you think you need a second planner because you don’t have enough space to write in the first one, it’s because you don’t have available time as well. Don’t fool yourself and set achievable goals!

9. Customize your textbooks – most of the times, textbooks are formal books where information is hard to come by. Make your own tabs and write every chapter on them so they stick out – flag any charts, tables or graphics. Everything needs to be incredibly accessible!

10 Print a special planning sheet before finals: Organizing your studying by chapters and/or topics before finals is tremendously important since it lets you organize the amount of time you dedicate to each subject,

Study Sessions and Time Management

11. Save at least one afternoon or one morning a week for intensive studying. These is your “life-saver” – when you get so full of homework and projects that you can’t incorporate them into your daily academic routine, one free afternoon to organize your school life will really come in handy! Make an appointment with yourself!

12. Prepare in advance – although most professors may not ask you to prepare a class in advance, if you have the means to, go ahead. Grab a sheet and make a summary of the chapter your class will be about. Write the major topics and key information and take that guide to class. When your professor repeats previously studied information, you will be able to understand everything much better!

13. Never leave something behind – Even if you have a more light class, where professors don’t request homework or any side projects, don’t let that fool you! Be disciplined and be your own professors! Make your own projects and learn everything you can so you can nail those finals when they arrive.

14. Write your questions – most of the time, in a heavy study session, we come up with tons of questions and sometimes we just leave them behind. Write them down in your dashboard or a small notebook and ask your professors (personally or via e-mail). You can also ask your schoolmates in a facebook group created for that purpose!

15. Set an alarm clock and reward yourself – even if you study during an entire afternoon your studying will be pointless if you don’t take regular breaks. Set an alarm clock for one hour/one hour and a half and then take a 15 minute break. Never study for more than 2 hours straight! Even if you don’t notice, you’ll get less and less focused.

16. . Make a list – before each study session I like to grab my notepad and write down everything that I need to do before my session ends: the chapters I need to read, the pages I need to go through and the homework I need to complete. Sometimes I even write theses lists when I’m in college so I’ll have more determination to complete those tasks once I get home.

17 Work on the least interesting thing first. There are always classes or projects that we like the least – and those are the ones that we need to tackle first. You will start your studying session concentrated, which will let you go through the worst tasks faster.

18 Print, print, print. try to print everything you can and never study from your computer. Having your PDF files printed at hand will let you concentrate better, highlight and write some notes in the margins. You can take these everywhere with you and even turn them into small guides for future classes!

19. If you finish ahead, don’t quit. Perhaps the time you’ve saved for your study session has come to an end way before you have planned. That doesn’t mean you should stop right now – Take that time to review what you’ve learned so far or prepare other classes ahead of time!

20. Study in an organized space – make your own studying corner – bring everything you will need, from textbooks, binders and notebooks, to a cup of coffee and your computer. Keep them neatily organized on your desk so everything is at hand and on sight. Put on some soft background music (links down below) and adjust the lightning.

In class notes

21. If your professor provides PowerPoint slides before each class, print them (six or four per page) and bring them to class. Write in the margins and more throughout information in the back so it’s all condensed and tight. This is where you’ll take your notes. If you prefer to write on lined paper, think about copying some ruled paper to the back of your printed slides.

22. If your professor asks you to prepare your class in advance, try to make a small guide for each class. Open the comments column in MSWord and print the pages with that column. When you go to class, incorporate the in-class notes in that column, next to the relevant information so everything is nice and condensed.

23 If you are in a information-heavy class, try to adopt the Cornell method, which is the best, in my opinion, when you need to be a fast writer. There’s a video right here on how to use this method.

24. If you are in a bits-and-pieces class, which is that kind of class where the professor just gives a few key points and then gives practical examples or makes you work in group, try to adopt the box method – you can draw these boxes yourself or make them with post it notes – these are way more visual and perfect to memorize information.

25. Write in-class flashcards – if you don’t have flashcards around, make tiny flashcards on the top of your notes, where you cover the definitions you’ve written with the name of the definition. Each time you open your notes, try to remember the hidden definition. Automatic studying, every time!

26. Participate in class – nothing better than to be actively involved in your class discussion. For most of us, shy creatures, participating can be dreadful – but once you get out of your box, you’ll see how participating really makes you understand the subject!

27. If you have any questions during class, raise your hand and ask them. If your professor doesn’t like being interrupted, write them down and approach them in the end of the class. Sometimes, the little things we don’t understand are exactly the ones that come up on the final exam!

28. Ask for examples. Examples are probably the thing that makes your brain connect the information faster. If your professor isn’t keen on providing examples, suggest your own and see if your answer comes up right. Sometimes, examples are the thing that really makes us understand our material and our definitions, since they transform formal information into relatable events.

29. Sit at the front. It sounds too straightforward but sitting at the front really makes wonders. You won’t get distracted by what you classmates are doing, you will focus on the professor, who is right in front of you and you will resist the temptation of going to Facebook and Instagram during a boring presentation.

30. Write a brief summary at the end of the class. During those five minutes where everyone is dismissed and leaving the room, write a brief summary of that classes’ key points in the back of a page – this is fundamental in the Cornell method but can be used in any other method as well.

Finals Guide

31 Skim through your material two times: at first, you should start by studying your material starting from the end. The last lessons will be fresh in your memory and it’s very important to reinforce your knowledge on these while you can. In the second reading, you should start from the beginning, as usual. It’s important to make these two readings so you can go through the information in a much more flexible way.

 32. Make a mindmap of each chapter. A mindmap is a chart that relates key words and important information, making it easy to understand the relationship and hierarchy between such key words. Use colors and images to memorize your material better. Oh, and don’t forget to check out my video on how to make mindmaps!

33. Read each of the titles and try to say out loud its contents, explaining each concept and the relationship between them. Imagine you are the teacher and are lecturing that subject to a crowd. If you skip any of the subjects, do it all over again. The more you repeat, the better you will memorize.

34. It’s time for some flash cards!  Write the topic or the title on one side and the meaning or the explanation on the other. Try to cover as many topics or titles as you can and go through your cards while memorizing as best as you can each of the concepts. Try to do it backwards if you have time to do so!

35. On the day before the exam, skim through your mindmaps and flash cards again and always try to study while talking. Saying your content out loud will force your brain to relate information in a much more cohesive way and you’ll memorize everything much better.

36. Read the entire exam from top to bottom. Underline or circle any important words that you think will be crucial in you answer. After that, calculate how much time you should spend answering each question: this simple calculation will take only twenty seconds and will help you organize your time. Try to save five minutes at the end for revisions.

37. If you are solving a written exam and not multiple choice, try as much as possible to organize each answer in a structured way, saving two lines just to present your line of thought and writing each different argument in a different paragraph. Draft a conclusion at the end to underline the centre of your answer. Sometimes softly underlining some keywords is important to make your professor notice that you’ve correctly given importance to certain concepts.

38. Use these symbols for each question: one dot if you aren’t sure of the answer, two dots if you are sure of your answer and a circle if you are completely unaware of your answer. Start by answering any question with two dots; after those are all answered, go on through the two dots question. Leave the circle questions to the end – and ALWAYS answer them! Even if you don’t know what they’re about, who knows if you will be able to come up with something right?

39. Review your test one final time – many times, we make a lot of mistakes under stress and now is when you should spot them and amend them. This can be the difference between a B and an A!

40. Don’t take this too seriously – school is an important aspect of our lives but it isn’t everything. Failure comes many times and these failures can even drive you away from something that was simply not meant to be. Don’t stress out because everyone goes through the same!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

personally have listened to Invisibilia and S-Town! excited to listen to more on this list since it doesn’t look like I will be tackling my summer reading list anytime soon...oops

Hey, guys!

I don’t know about you, but I personally find audio stimulation incredibly necessary to my study sessions, drives, and whenever I go running. One of the best (free!) resources for this are podcasts. Not only do you get to listen to real people and expand your worldview, but you can learn something as well! I’ve listed a few of my favorites, feel free to add your own!

Planet Money is a fantastic foray into economics, sociology, and special interest for beginners and veterans in those fields alike. The hosts are always humorous and you will always come out of one of these 20-minute episodes understanding the world around you a little more.

Stuff You Should Know feels like How It’s Made for your ears. Even those boring topics you’d never look into a million years are brought to life with these guys!

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History helped me pass my AP World History exam. He takes the time to explore an incredibly complex era in history with intricate and enticing detail. Coupled with excellent storytelling abilities, you just might be able to cite the succession of the Mongol empire by heart.

TED Radio Hour is a great way to take your TED talks to go. 60 minutes of experts, professors, parents, widows, and so much more of real humans sharing their insights, experiences, and livelihoods with you. What else could you ask for!

Mac Power Users helped me understand that to master your craft, you have to master your tools. Hosts David Sparks and Katie Floyd explore how we can make iPhones, iPads, and Macs work for us and expand our productivity past where it ever could be.

Cortex focuses on the workflows and systems of a popular educational YouTuber, CGP Grey. They talk about email, current events in the tech industry, and how an output-based skillset has to evolve over time. It also brings up the importance of side projects to keep you engaged (Which is what this studyblr is for me!)

College Info Geek is quite possibly the most useful podcast I’ve ever listened to. It’s hosted by Thomas Frank, a college grad who managed to turn his college blog into a very successful small business. He reads hundreds of books on productivity and education and distils them down to bite-size chunks while also taking important questions about college, business, and learning.

Beyond the To-Do List is a podcast that explores the tools that a variety of industry leaders use to remain successful. Each person is unique and brings their own chemistry to the question of how to get your work done with as little resistance as possible.

Serial is a murder mystery. It blew up overnight and brings to light the questions of morality in the criminal justice system. A classic “Whodunit” with a good deal of investigative journalism.

Invisibilia is a podcast for those of you who love psychology and sociology. Through personal epitaphs from around the world, the invisible concepts that shape how we feel and how we see the world are discussed. This podcast gets browny points for being incredibly addictive and informative to boot.

S-Town is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. It was a heart-wrenching, confusing, absolutely stunning piece of auditory journalism from an unexpected source. Warning: heavy language content and discussion of prejudice.

The Mind Palace is an intensive exploration of the history and art from unconventional and fascinating perspectives. Excellently edited and curated for massive historical enjoyment. Perfect for those of you who love Sherlock references and literary media alike!

That’s all, folks! Happy listening! Let me know what you listen to!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

24 Invaluable Skills To Learn For Free Online This Year

Here’s an easy resolution: This stuff is all free as long as you have access to a computer, and the skills you learn will be invaluable in your career, and/or life in general. 

1. Become awesome at Excel.

Chandoo is one of many gracious Excel experts who wants to share their knowledge with the world. Excel excellence is one of those skills that will improve your chances of getting a good job instantly, and it will continue to prove invaluable over the course of your career. What are you waiting for?

2. Learn how to code.

littleanimalgifs.tumblr.com

Perhaps no other skill you can learn for free online has as much potential to lead to a lucrative career. Want to build a site for your startup? Want to build the next big app? Want to get hired at a place like BuzzFeed? You should learn to code. There are a lot of places that offer free or cheap online coding tutorials, but I recommend Code Academy for their breadth and innovative program. If you want to try a more traditional route, Harvard offers its excellent Introduction to Computer Science course online for free.

3. Make a dynamic website.

You could use a pre-existing template or blogging service, or you could learn Ruby on Rails and probably change your life forever. Here’s an extremely helpful long list of free Ruby learning tools that includes everything from Rails for Zombies to Learn Ruby The Hard Way. Go! Ruby! Some basic programming experience, like one of the courses above, might be helpful (but not necessarily required if you’re patient with yourself).

4. Learn to make a mobile game.

If you’re not interested in coding anything other than fun game apps, you could trythis course from the University of Reading. It promises to teach you how to build a game in Java, even if you don’t have programming experience! If you want to make a truly great game, you might want to read/listen up on Game Theory first.

5. Start reading faster.

Spreeder is a free online program that will improve your reading skill and comprehension no matter how old you are. With enough practice, you could learn to double, triple, or even quadruple the speed at which you read passages currently, which is basically like adding years to your life.

6. Learn a language!

With Duolingo, you can learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, or English (from any of the above or more). There’s a mobile app and a website, and the extensive courses are completely free.

Full disclosure: BuzzFeed and other websites are in a partnership with DuoLingo, but they did not pay or ask for this placement.

7. Pickle your own vegetables.

Tired of your farmer’s market haul going bad before you use it all? Or do you just love tangy pickled veggies? You too can pickle like a pro thanks to SkillShare and Travis Grillo.

8. Improve your public speaking skills.

You can take the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking for free online. Once you learn a few tricks of the trade, you’ll be able to go into situations like being asked to present at a company meeting or giving a presentation in class without nearly as much fear and loathing.

9. Get a basic handle of statistics.

UC Berkeley put a stats intro class on iTunes. Once you know how to understand the numbers yourself, you’ll never read a biased “news” article the same way again — 100% of authors of this post agree!

10. Understand basic psychology.

Knowing the basics of psych will bring context to your understanding of yourself, the dynamics of your family and friendships, what’s really going on with your coworkers, and the woes and wonders of society in general. Yale University has its Intro to Psychology lectures online for free.

11. Make your own music.

Step one: Learn how to play guitar: Justin Guitar is a fine and free place to start learning chords and the basic skills you’ll need to be able to play guitar — from there, it’s up to you, but once you know the basics, just looking up tabs for your favorite songs and learning them on your own is how many young guitar players get their start (plus it’s an excellent party trick).

Step two: A delightful free voice lesson from Berklee College Of Music.

Step three: Have you always thought you had an inner TSwift? Berklee College of Music offers an Introduction to Songwriting course completely for free online. The course is six weeks long, and by the end of the lesson you’ll have at least one completed song.

Step four: Lifehacker’s basics of music production will help you put it all together once you have the skills down! You’ll be recording your own music, ready to share with your valentine or the entire world, in no time!

12. Learn to negotiate.

Let Stanford’s Stan Christensen explain how to negotiate in business and your personal life, managing relationships for your personal gain and not letting yourself be steamrolled. There are a lot of football metaphors and it’s great.

13. Stop hating math.

If you struggled with math throughout school and now have trouble applying it in real-world situations when it crops up, try Saylor.org’s Real World Math course. It will reteach you basic math skills as they apply IRL. Very helpful!

14. Start drawing!

All kids draw — so why do we become so afraid of it as adults? Everyone should feel comfortable with a sketchbook and pencil, and sketching is a wonderful way to express your creativity. DrawSpace is a great place to start. (I also highly recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain if you can drop a few dollars for a used copy.)

15. Make your own animated GIF.

BuzzFeed’s own Katie Notopoulos has a great, simple guide to making an animated GIF without Photoshop. This is all you need to be the king or queen of Tumblr or your favorite email chains.

16. Appreciate jazz.

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Have you never really “gotten” jazz? If you want to be able to participate in conversations at fancy parties and/or just add some context to your appreciation of all music, try this free online course from UT Austin.

17. Write well.

Macalester College’s lecture series is excellent. If you’re more interested in journalism, try Wikiversity’s course selection.

18. Get better at using Photoshop.

Another invaluable skill that will get you places in your career, learning Photoshop can be as fun as watching the hilarious videos on You Suck At Photoshop or as serious as this extensive Udemy training course (focused on photo retouching).

19. Take decent pictures.

Lifehacker’s basics of photography might be a good place to start. Learn how your camera works, the basic of composition, and editing images in post-production. If you finish that and you’re not sure what to do next, here’s a short course on displaying and sharing your digital photographs.

20. Learn to knit.

Instructables has a great course by a woman who is herself an online-taught knitter. You’ll be making baby hats and cute scarves before this winter’s over!

21. Get started with investing in stocks.

If you are lucky enough to have a regular income, you should start learning about savings and investment now. Investopedia has a ton of online resources, including this free stocks basics course. Invest away!

22. Clean your house in a short amount of time.

Unf$#k Your Habitat has a great emergency cleaning guide for when your mother-in-law springs a surprise visit on you. While you’re over there, the entire blog is good for getting organized and clean in the long term, not just in “emergencies.” You’ll be happier for it.

23. Start practicing yoga.

Most cities have free community classes (try just searching Google or inquiring at your local yoga studio), or if you’re more comfortable trying yoga at home, YogaGlohas a great 15-day trial and Yome is a compendium of 100% free yoga videos. If you’re already familiar with basic yoga positions but you need an easy way to practice at home, I recommend YogaTailor’s free trial as well.

24. Tie your shoelaces more efficiently.

It’s simple and just imagine the minutes of your life you’ll save!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

Found myself wanting to be productive today and got started on my summer assignment. Realized a few things while at the coffee shop:

Being able to actually annotate right in the book you were assigned is the best feeling.

I may have forgotten how to write a coherent essay so this may take longer than expected.

I love coffee shops

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

Stay determined. Stay fixed on the end result, the thing you want the most, the thing that is calling you. There will come times, where that goal seems lost in the rubble of what is happening around you, keep searching for it, keep pushing forward and don’t stop believing in it. That end result will always be in your mind for a reason.

End games by Amy Kennedy

22/03/17

Like this? Check out my book!

(via satiricalwords)

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

How to make useful annotations in set texts

As an English student, I annotate lots of my books! (Not library ones, or ones I have borrowed from other people - not cool.)

Given the large amount of reading that I have to do, I want my annotations to be useful. I want my annotations to 

make it easy to refer back to the text and find something I found interesting earlier

be able to make cross references across a text - highlighting recurring motifs

highlight passages that I found beautiful (not necessarily to write about for essays, but because I like them - and might even share them on Tumblr later) 

be legible! (So many times I’ve gone back to things and not been able to read them, which is not useful at all! Waving the pages around my mates faces and asking ‘what does that say, d’you reckon?’ is definitely a waste of everyone’s time.)

not be too time consuming to write - I’ve got to read the book in time, or else have other things to be getting on with!

Sometimes I’m reading with an essay question/topic in mind, and sometimes I’m not, so highlighting themes can be useful - just a word or two to indicate why I’m underlining it. It can be obvious while you’re reading something why it’s important, but when you’re going back a year and a half later (cheers Oxford!), it might not be! 

So, some tips:

if you’re highlighting a word, or underlining, make a note of why 

try and have some symbols which you use as a shorthand - have a key at the start of the book if you need - for me a ‘*’ means super-important, whereas a little ribbon means ‘something nice that I’m gonna put on tumblr later’ or else ‘something nice to quote in an essay later’ 

or else have special marks which mean certain literary devices (especially useful for poetry): circles around individual letters indicate consonance/assonance/alliteration, forward slashes can indicate some sort of contrast - whatever you want 

this system doesn’t have to be consistent across all your notes

don’t underline everything - marking a page with a sticky tab or something works just as well, and saves time! 

choose your writing tool well - pencils work great, only use pen if you’re sure you’re not going to pass the book on to someone else/sell it, and make sure not to use fountain pens, because those will really bleed through - fine ink or gel pens work great though, as do those Muji fineliners 

in future, you can annotate your annotations - I go back and highlight super important things when I revise, as my priorities over what’s important change as time goes on

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

just a new blog trying to make its way in the world :-)

200 followers!!

i went on tumblr this evening to see that i had over 200 followers? like???? holy crap, i didn’t even expect to have more than 10 when i started this blog, haha

i wanted to do something in return for y’all, so - if i don’t follow you back, reblog this post and i’ll check out your blog! not promising that i’ll follow everyone (studyblrs have a wayyyyyyyyy better chance, btw), but i’ll definitely at least check out everyone!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

Foolproof Guide to School Success!

Hi! I just finished my first year of college and I definitely have to credit the studyblr community for all the useful information and tips! I currently closed the year with a 4.0 and don’t plan on stopping!

 In high school I was an ok student but I decided to change all that when I started college. So, whether you’re in high school or college, it’s never late to change and attain academic excellence! So here are my tips! 

Try to get an early start on your day and sit closest to the front as possible. Studies show that sitting in the front of class will improve your grades and knowledge! 

A study showed that those who sat in the front achieved an average of 80% while those in the middle achieved an average of 71.6% on their exams. And guess who did even worse.. unfortunately those in the back scored an average of 68.1%

Distractions are decreased because there’s no one sitting in front of you, just the lecture which basically forces you to pay attention.

This increases the likelihood of your professor getting to know you. Why is that important? Well, in an accounting course I once took, I sat in the front, attended extra tutoring sessions hosted by that instructor, and generally put in extra effort in the class. By the end of the semester everyone was really struggling, over 20 students flunked out, and even my tips weren’t getting me to that A I wanted. Well, because I had established who I was and that I was serious about the class, my instructor bumped my final course grade from an 88% to 93%! She said she noticed the effort I put in so she gave me the grade she thought I deserved

Seriously, sit in the front!! 

Ok, now that you have a good spot in the class, make sure you take great notes! The Cornell notes system is great but do whatever works best for you. 

Abbreviate often

Date your notes at the top so you can order them chronologically. This will make studying a breeze later on. 

Find a color coding system that works for you. Highlight main ideas and vocab. 

Find a notebook that works for you. I was lucky enough to score 20 moleskines at my local thrift store at 1 dollar a piece so I’ve been using those. 

If you prefer loose leaf paper, buy a bunch and stick it into a flexible binder so you can organize and reorganize your paper. 

Use post-its and sticky tabs to add extra info that you might have left out during class. Use sticky tabs to find certain notes faster. 

These are some of my favorite note taking supplies:

These Pilot G-Tec pens are some of my favorite pens ever! They are super smooth and the lines are really fine. This 5 pack costs around $11 which is pretty affordable!

Mead notebooks are a classic staple. Seriously these are super durable!

These sticky post-it tab hybrids work really well for marking a page and highlighting important info. 

Mildliners are really nice and the colors are not to bright. A pack runs around $7 and a 3 pack is $15 on Amazon. 

If you want to go the extra mile, retyping up your notes is a great idea. That way your in class notes can be messy and it won’t matter since you’re going to type them up anyway. One Note is awesome for notes. 

I developed my own system for deciding on how I will study and how often I will study. It goes something like this:

Rank your classes in order of difficulty into three sections:

Easy, medium, and hard….

Easy classes get one point

Medium classes get two points

Hard classes get three points 

Is the class math related? ….. add 2 points

Is it science related? …… add 2 points

Is the class a subject that you struggle with? ….. add 3 points

is the class AP? ……… 3 points 

Add up the points for each class. 

Classes with 1-3 points: 

these classes are generally easy and have an easy instructor, contain info you already know, etc. 

These classes get 45 minutes a day in your schedule and minimal studying on weekends. 

Classes with 4-8 points:

These classes might need some more effort so try to…

Set aside an hour a day and 30 minutes on weekends. 

Classes with 9 points and up:

These classes are usually more intense, have daily assignments, have a strict instructor, etc. 

Set 2 hours a day and an hour or more on weekends. Consider going to free tutoring provided by your school, join a study group, or go to your instructor’s office hours. 

Plan your months, weeks, and days in advance! Keep a planner, calendar, or bullet journal. I personally use a bullet journal and keep a calendar printable in each binder I have for my classes. 

Include due dates, exam dates, when your rentals are due, etc. 

Look at it everyday!!! That way you won’t forget important events. 

If you want to, make it pretty! Decorate it with stickers, pictures, polaroids, etc. to make it more personal.

If you prefer minimalism, keep a simple planner or bullet journal system.

If an electronic system works better for you, go for it! But I’ve noticed that writing it on paper works best! 

Here are some great planners or journals to use:

Moleskines are always a great choice! 

This hardcover Yoobi journal is comparable to the Moleskine and comes in pretty colors! The price is awesome, each one runs at $6! 

Bando makes super pretty and trendy planners. They run from $20 and can get pricey though. It’s definitely worth it though!

This Sugar Paper gold polka dot planner is really cute and super affordable!

The AT-A-GLANCE planner has a monthly view and daily sections with plenty of room for writing in important dates and decorating with cute stuff! 

Kikki K has amazing planners. If you want to splurge consider their stuff. I’ve always wanted one but it’s around the price of a textbook :( 

While Studyblr has so many resources and tips, in case you haven’t noticed, a lot of the pretty pictures use muji pens, staedtler fineliners, and those cute lil’ backpacks. Remember that you have to use supplies that work with you. Here are the essentials to carry with you:

Notebooks and binders

A sturdy and comfy backpack. I use the Borealis backpack by The North Face on discount. Make sure it has comfortable straps, back support, enough room for all your stuff, and compartments for your food and water bottle. 

A phone charger. Keep it in your backpack. My phone has died on me so many times and it sucks, especially if you have to take the bus. Invest in a portable charger.

Earbuds are a must, especially if you take public transportation. Also great for when you’re at the library, gym, etc.

As previously mentioned, a water bottle and FOOD! Pack a lunch but also have backup snacks like granola bars or nuts. You need food and water for energy.  

Keep extra change. You never know when you need it!! 

Your planner. 

Pens, pencils, etc. Especially a stapler if you have homework that you regularly turn in!! Its really awk when someone doesn’t have a stapler and everyone in the class doesn’t either..

A laptop, seriously a must! Chromebooks are affordable! 

Hope that’s helpful! Looking forward to another year in college and staying in the Studyblr community,

Thania

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

read!

summer is a great time to catch up on all those books you wanted to read over the school year but didn’t have the time to do so. I personally am catching up on the trials of apollo book one, the kane series, and some of dan brown’s books (one of my favorite authors!) (he’s written the da vinci code, deception point, and something like angels and demons, but i read that years ago!) not only can you read books for fun, you can do summer readings to prep for your upcoming classes!

sleep

knowing that schools has probably deprived you of so much sleep, try to catch up on it over the summer! sleep in to your heart’s content (unless you have other responsiblities!) and enjoy three months (maybe less or more depending where you live) of no all-nighters, dreaded alarms, and the agony of pushing yourself out of bed!

enjoy your summer

hang out with friends, go shopping, check out places to eat! go out there and have fun. treat yourself, whether it be going to a spa, buying an ice cream, or going out for a run. make sure you actually have fun and enjoy yourself too in order to avoid burnout!

prep for upcoming classes

go to the library and check out some textbooks pertaining to your upcoming classes. read them, take notes, and make revisions. you can also watch videos based on the topic you’re learning from crashcourse, khanacademy, amebosisters, etc.

pursue your interests

summer’s the time to actively engage in what you’re interested in! take a course at a university, apply for a job, intern for a position, compete (whether it be in academics, athletics, etc)! the opportunities are endless.

i hope you guys enjoyed this post and found it helpful! feel free to send me an ask @compscigirl or @senestudies telling me what you’d like to see next. i’ve got some compsci based posts coming soon over the school year to all my peeps out there ;).

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

Hi! It’s #optomstudies with a new part to my University 101 series :) Here are 4 points, which are oft ignored by the student population… only to resurface later as some sort of hidden parable (they’re not though).

Of course, everyone studies differently, and this is a rule of thumb that has been suggested by a few universities, but what they’re trying to get at, is that you need to invest some time into studying. 

Students seem to think that you can expect to pencil in a part time job a couple of days a week, church, time to cook meals and do chores, time to chill and relax, time with family and friends, footy night, time at the gym, 8 hours of sleep and what have you, but still expect to have enough time to study. I’m not saying that you can’t have a balanced work-study life (you definitely should), but you need compromise if you want good grades, and obviously with the non-necessities first (don’t go straight for cutting sleep! it’ll mess with your mental health! health is number 1!)

The human psyche is incredibly bad at estimating how long you’ll take to do your own homework. It’s actually been noted as the planning fallacy. It results from both underestimating the amount of time a task will take, as well as overestimating your ability to get the task done. The problem with uni work is, every assignment is slightly different, meaning you don’t have much of a reference guide when planning for a task.

—it’s ineffective, because you’re taking in so much information at once that it’s impossible to memorise it all. You’ll hardly retain anything and will be tired and stressed when the time comes to actually sit the exam. – Taken straight from our university’s student support site [source].

Personally, I would say it’s only about 4 weeks if you have a memorisation-heavy subject. Anything more math based may need a little less time, because you’ll mainly be doing past papers and practice questions to maximise your time. And try spaced repetition people! Use Anki, open-source flashcards that are free. You can store as many cards as you like, and it’s better than manual paper flashcards because of the algorithm it uses to choose which cards for you to revise each day.

(I didn’t want to put this one because I figured it was unoriginal, but I guess every studyblr needs to have said this point at one time.) I heard some girl say, “oh lol, i never go to lectures because i never pay attention anyway” what is the logic in sitting there for a whole hour, but just playing on your phone the whole time and tuning out?

Benefits of attending lectures - as quoted from my university website [source]

- The lecture contains copyright materials, video, annotations on slides or other multimedia materials that cannot be made available on recordings. - The lecture incorporates problem solving in small groups, discussions or other interactions that are difficult to capture in a recording. - The content of the lecture is needed for a follow-on tutorial, practical session or similar. - The lecture is used to get to know you, gauge your progress, identify problems you are encountering and give you immediate feedback. - The social advantages—You get to meet others in your course, exchange ideas and make new friendships. - The convenience—Attending lectures in a regular timeslot can help you establish a routine for study. Some students find they don’t get around to listening to recordings when they don’t have an established routine.

And you also don’t get situations where a lecturer turns off the recording just because only a few people turned up to class… (happened to me!)

MY WEEKLY STUDY TIPS

WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN BEFORE UNIVERSITY STUDY TIPS SERIES

0 Choosing a Degree , 1 Administration , 2 Getting to Class

3 Studying , 4 Extra-Curriculars , 5 Exams , 6 Social Life

7 Part Time Work , 8 Four Secrets Your Uni Tells You

9 Best Study Spots on Campus

10 Saving Money 1 (Food, Transport, Entertainment)

new!! 10 Saving Money 2 (Textbooks, Tax, Scholarships) new!!

11 Adapting to Uni Study coming 16.02.17!

12 How to Study From Textbooks in Uni coming 27.02.17!

SEE ALSO

new!! Weekly Planner Printable with Extra Space for Sat/Sun new!!

new!! Dealing with Bad Teachers new!!

Overcoming the Planning Fallacy coming 19.02.17!

Study Spaces Masterpost , Studying and your Visual System

Catching Up with Your Studies , Dealing with Bad Results

Sleeping and Waking Up Early , Google Keep

My 2017 Planner and Bullet Journal , Study Space , 2017 goals

+ my cute stationery + washi collection + my spreads!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

scholarships are the bomb!! free money to get urself an education!! here’s my best advice aaand resources for applying + getting some of that sweet sweet money :D

advice

use all of the databases!! the scholarships are right there for you. Take advantage of them, srsly!!! many let you input your criteria + they’ll match you up with some, and they help to organize your applications. You can subscribe to their newsletter and get alerts for new scholarships. there’s a whole bundle below all this advice to getchu started :D

start early + don’t stop: your eligibility for scholarships starts pretty much freshman year of high school, and basically doesn’t stop until you’re out of education, so take advantage of them!!! Logically, applying to more gives you a higher chance of winning one, so keep ploughing through them

don’t let essays scare you off: sweepstakes scholarships are easiest to apply for, but this also means they have more applicants. Do your best work + put time into essay-based scholarship contests, and up your chance of winning something!! Factor them into your normal routine like you would a homework assignment and just keep at it.

keep track of what you’ve applied for: seriously. Do it. It’ll motivate you when you’re not feeling like it, + keep you organized. Set up a spreadsheet (google sheets, excel, whatever floats your boat) and give it 5 columns: title of the scholarship, amount worth, whether or not you’ve applied, if you were successful, + the organization offering it. It’s also a great reminder of scholarships to reapply for next year.

check local scholarships: they’re waayyyy more restricted so the applicant pool is a lot smaller!!! Check your school, organizations you belong to, your parents’ companies, + local businesses. You’ll be competing against people in your town/county/district + it’ll give you a much better shot at winning. Check out your school’s website + talk to your guidance counsellors!

be specific: narrow down that applicant pool early. When you’re googling, look for scholarships that will apply only to you, so don’t just search ‘scholarships’. Look for ‘scholarships for bisexual women’, or ‘scholarships for international students’, or ‘scholarships for left-handed volleyball players’. Less applicants=better outcomes.

don’t apply to scams: be wary!!! Two big things: be careful of scholarships which want you to pay to apply, and guaranteed scholarships. Research pay-to-apply ones to make sure they’re legit. There’s more info here, here, and here on avoiding scholarship scams. Stay safe!!

scholarship databases

unigo goodcall scholarships.com niche scholarshipmonkey fastweb chegg cappex dosomething scholarshippoints nextstudent college board

more scholarship masterposts

college scholarships masterpost by @wonderstudying​ 

how to search for scholarships by @adamparresh​ 

scholarships! by @the-regular-student​

it’s ya girl’s college scholarship masterpost by @jesussbabymomma  

scholarship 101 by @thisexpedition​

scholarships: how to find them and apply by @futurecristinayang​

good luck!! you’ve got this :D

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

- ̗̀ a list of my masterposts ̖́-

I now have a big?? list of links under my masterpost, so I thought it would be better to just list them in a single post; hope this helps! + this will be updated every time I make a new one :^)

words for better writing skills

20 ideas for being kind

how to : study biology

making a study routine during exams

how to : maintain a bullet journal

the complete guide to a study routine

how to study and survive when you are sick

all my originals 

++ my art blog - @artistay

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

hoping ill be able to use this in the fall, gotta survive as a broke college student!

hello! I know a lot of people are looking for cheaper alternatives to common stationery that is hyped a lot in the studyblr community. as a certified stationery addict, I gotchu! here’s some of my fave stationery items that you can find for decent prices in the usa.

**some of these pens are pretty inexpensive on amazon and come with prime shipping. I’ve never seen them in stores, but your mileage may vary.

black pens: best value is bolded; faves are italicized

pentel energel 0.5mm needle point - one of my favorite pens for note-taking. the inkflow is super smooth and the ink doesn’t smear/smudge very easil. the pen bodies are pretty pricey, but you can buy two refills for $2.29 - $2.69 (the price varies based on store). the refills will fit into standard gel pens such as the pilot g2. 

pilot g2 0.5mm - I’ve seen a pack of 12 for about $13 at staples, which should last you the whole school year. the ink flow is smooth and they smudge a lot less than the 0.7mm version. 

pilot g2 0.38mm - due to the smaller tip size, there’s less smearing with these pens, and they’re still pretty smooth. you can buy a pack of 12 for about $15 at staples. 

pilot precise v5 rollerball - these pens are super smooth and you can find them at a variety of stores at pretty good prices. because they’re rollerballs, the ink tends to be a bit thin/drippy and you might get a tiny bit of feathering, but personally I don’t really mind that and i still use them. I’ve seen a pack of 2 at target and rite aid for about $2. 

zebra sarasa 0.5 (non push clip) - these pens aren’t as smooth as the push clip version but they’re available at staples for about $15 for 12. 

bic ballpoint pens - they’re super cheap (about $1 for 12 at target or rite aid during back to school sales) and pretty smooth. although I can only find them in 0.7mm and 1.0mm tip sizes, which aren’t great for my small handwriting, they’re really not bad pens, especially considering the price. they also don’t smudge at all when highlighted! 

colored pens: 

zebra sarasa 0.5 (push clip) - i love these pens so much. they never skip, bleed, or feather and barely smear. you can find a pack of 10 for $9 which is great !!! value !!! on amazon prime. (you can’t really find these in stores, unfortunately.)

pilot juice 0.38 - probably my all time favorite colored pens. they’re super similar to the zebra sarasa, but they’re even smoother to write with. you can find them on amazon for about $13 for 12 pens. 

binder paper and notebooks:

tbh expensive paper is… really expensive, especially rhodia, moleskine, and leuchtturm notebooks. i just use generic binder paper and spiral notebooks for class notes.

my bullet journal is an essentials a5 grid notebook, which is about $11 on amazon. it’s a great dupe for the moleskine and leuchtturm notebooks for almost half the price, and i really like it.

sticky notes:

post it brand sticky notes are actually super expensive. a pack of 3 can be almost $8 at staples or office max. usually, i buy generic sticky notes from target or a dollar store. 

that’s about all i have! i hope this was helpful :)

-arohee from camellia-study

also yikes @ my cover photo

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

Realizing that starting this studyblr in the summer may not have been the best idea...I apologize for the lack of content!

But just because its summer doesn’t mean you can’t be productive. My university actually sent me a couple books to read over summer: Tattoos on the Heart by Greg Boyle and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Both have proved to be great reads!

Here’s some highlights of my personal summer reading list (I highly recommend taking time off from organized schooling to find out what really interests you outside of the classroom, it helps keep your mind sharp and teaches you to enjoy learning making other studies less of a burden):

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid, The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, Faster Higher Stronger by Mark McClusky

What interests you and what is on your summer reading list? Message me! I would love to get to know you guys :) Feel free to ask for any book recommendations or recommend books to me as well. Happy reading!

[juliajesuitstudy-blog]

The Daenerys: studies at home surrounded by cats, helps anyone brave enough to bother them to ask for help, looks like they’re paying attention in class but their notes are all doodles (of dragons mostly), listens to storms for white noise while studying, learns by sheer will power

The Tyrion: parties wild the night before exams and somehow aces them anyways, no one ever sees them study????, but stays up all night in the quietest corner of the library and gets stuff done days in advance, doesn’t do hw or participate bc test grades are always good enough

The Brienne: reviews material right before the lecture and then as soon as they go home, records lectures to listen to before exams, goes to the gym regularly to relieve stress and anxiety, notes are the typed up and later printed and bound, works hard to help friends pass

The Jaime: bothers anyone they see who’s taken the class before for study tips more than they actually study, has the messiest notes no one else can read though they’re willing to share them, accidentally drinks too much coffee and is forced to pull all-nighters against plans

The Cersei: best friends with whoever does the grading, never goes to class bc prefers reviewing the textbook, spends most of their time reading random books in cafes or working on a mystery project at a lab, straight up declines to help others, aces everything

The Jon Snow: knows nothing!!!!, like nothing!!!, goes to class but doesn’t understand anything, goes to the ta and asks questions and gets no straight answers, goes to prof office hours and maybe understands things a bit more, but really it all comes together when they’re desperately reading the textbook the day before an exam, that “aha” moment constantly saves them

The Sansa: constantly trying new study methods, goes to office hours to listen to others’ questions, notes are super meticulous, carries a pocket journal around to jot down questions and such, uses their bujo every day and it’s covered with floral doodles, uses the perfume trick

The Arya: initially worked so darn hard but now works smart, does practice problems and old tests to learn, asks upperclassman for advice and lives by it, works alone but in a study group, driven by friendly competition, todo’s are always jotted down on their hand/arm or post its

Bonus, The Hodor: Hodor, Hodor Hodor Hodor, Hodor?, Hodor Hodor Hodor, Hodor Hodor, Hodor, Hodor Hodor Hodor Hodor Hodor!!, jk makes up random acronyms and mnemonics no one else understands, constantly there to help lower classmen