mattmgh - Tumblr blog

[mattmgh]

This turned out a lot better than expected (at Framework Knitters Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt1FqEPlXwE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=oxh1zn53zmm7

[mattmgh]

Frameshop Photo sesh with @lucykizmina (and a few ideas nicked from a few photos from @ghhurt) (at Framework Knitters Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtqCXFxhMl3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=124yjczh0y5jc

[mattmgh]

Tips for Students

[mattmgh]

five tips for study marathons

In Belgium we have this thing called ‘blok’. It’s the name for the two to three weeks of marathon studying between the end of classes and the start of exams, related to the verb ‘blokken’, which basically means ‘hardcore studying’. It’s obviously not a very pleasant time, so here are some tips to survive those study marathons!

1. Hydrate. Of course has been said again and again, but that’s because it’s so important! I usually get myself either a half-liter pint and a (reusable!) straw. Straws really help me to drink more, but they’re not very good for the environment, so if you can get your hands on a reusable one, go for it! You can also try adding fruit to your water for some extra flavour.

2. Breathe ouside air at least once a day. I don’t care how you do it. Take a walk at noon, go on a morning run, breathe really deep when you’re in line for the library, stick your head out of a window, I don’t care. Just do it. You need the oxygen and it’s not good to sit inside all day.

3. Don’t wear stuff you sleep in. Now, I’m not saying you can’t wear pjs. What I’m saying is, don’t wear the pjs you wore to bed. Not even if you study at home. Don’t do it. Make sure your brain knows that studying and sleeping are two very different things.

4. Get off your butt during breaks. Sometimes when I’m on a roll at the library, I can study a whole afternoon, with breaks only to go to the bathroom and to refill my waterbottle/make new tea. It works, because I walk around. Point being, have a dance break! Go for a walk! Move!

5. Sleep is useful. I get that if you have an exam the next day and you really need to finish this last chapter, you stay up until 3am. But otherwise, don’t do that to yourself. You can do that tomorrow morning. Your brain needs sleep, you’re not wasting time. Promise. Take care of yourself.

I hope these are useful! You can do this!

[mattmgh]

[mattmgh]

Study methods in University

The first thing my university teachers told us when starting was to not bother rewriting lecture notes about every single thing because you won’t have time.

It’s different in university.

You have a LOT more content thrown at you in each lecture and it’s impossible to deepen your knowledge in everything. You just don’t have time.

This is the time to prioritize prioritize prioritize. Find out through 2nd-year students or past tests or even through the teachers what are the most important things to know (and most often that’s already a lot), and normally stick with that. It’s already super interesting and it’s going to take your time, believe me.

What I do is

lecture notes on my laptop (just because it’s quicker and more organized for me but you can also do handwritten)

when I get home I print the lecture slides (you can print 3 to 4 slides per page to save paper)

and annotate them on the free spaces, with my lecture notes, textbook, and Google on the side

I basically highlight the important things on the lecture slides

copy things from my notes that the teacher mentioned and aren’t on the slides

draw diagrams/tables for later revision

google some questions I’ve had, and write down anything I find particularly interesting (you can consider this google time for you to search deeper on the subjects).

So what I mean is: you can still go on and read extra, search more articles about whatever you’re studying, but it doesn’t mean you should be worried about it. You should be worried about what is mandatory to know.

In conclusion: I understand things in lecture and while I’m annotating the slides. For revision, I go through the already annotated slides and do practice exercises.

PS: if your teacher doesn’t give you the slides you can find powerpoints, pdfs or pages online: google them and they’ll do the job of the base to annotate in. Anything really that has the content given in class so you don’t have to write everything.

So in my case, my lecture notes are less informative and more condensed, and when I review the material through the slides I basically try to organize the content in my brain and find the most important concepts.

There is NO time to start from the beginning and write beautiful notes about everything. Hell to the no. I’m sorry to break this to you babe, but you do have to make it easier on you.

Now, like you said, loads of people have this problem, I’ve had this problem. Coming into uni, we have to find new study methods and ways to get organized.

What distinguishes the great students is the capacity to prioritize and never lose the big picture of all the things you learn organized - like a big mindmap. Or drawers or rooms inside your brain, if you wish.

So always keep that in mind. How each lecture material relates to the other given before and how everything fits together.

Getting behind is also very common (a 2nd-year student told me) especially because you’re still trying to figure out how you’re going to study. Tips for catching up:

never stop studying this week’s lectures because you’re studying the last week ones. This will create a snowball effect. The lectures that are behind are behind, as long as you understood them well, it’s not half as bad as you think. Catch up on the annotating slowly whenever you have some minutes to spear, on a weekend p.e. But don’t prioritize them over this week’s lectures. That is key.

find your study method as fast as you can. Don’t keep switching up. Maybe rewriting your lectures notes on a binder is too time-consuming, maybe you’ll prefer to do mindmaps instead, maybe you’ll follow the method I explained above, but whatever it is! Start studying now because you need something simple that works for you and for the modules that you’re taking.

don’t try to catch up those 10 lectures at the same time. Do the most important ones first, the less important ones last. Spread them over a big period of time, in between studying the week’s lectures. You’ll be fine.

After all this I just want to say one more thing: don’t overthink it. University is different than high school because you can never know everything. The lectures touch on so broad subjects that you can spend hours studying just one. So don’t stress out too much, no one is expecting perfection from you. Just do your best, and you’ll be amazed by your results.

Hope this helped, the best luck! ♡

[mattmgh]

Study methods in University

The first thing my university teachers told us when starting was to not bother rewriting lecture notes about every single thing because you won’t have time.

It’s different in university.

You have a LOT more content thrown at you in each lecture and it’s impossible to deepen your knowledge in everything. You just don’t have time.

This is the time to prioritize prioritize prioritize. Find out through 2nd-year students or past tests or even through the teachers what are the most important things to know (and most often that’s already a lot), and normally stick with that. It’s already super interesting and it’s going to take your time, believe me.

What I do is

lecture notes on my laptop (just because it’s quicker and more organized for me but you can also do handwritten)

when I get home I print the lecture slides (you can print 3 to 4 slides per page to save paper)

and annotate them on the free spaces, with my lecture notes, textbook, and Google on the side

I basically highlight the important things on the lecture slides

copy things from my notes that the teacher mentioned and aren’t on the slides

draw diagrams/tables for later revision

google some questions I’ve had, and write down anything I find particularly interesting (you can consider this google time for you to search deeper on the subjects).

So what I mean is: you can still go on and read extra, search more articles about whatever you’re studying, but it doesn’t mean you should be worried about it. You should be worried about what is mandatory to know.

In conclusion: I understand things in lecture and while I’m annotating the slides. For revision, I go through the already annotated slides and do practice exercises.

PS: if your teacher doesn’t give you the slides you can find powerpoints, pdfs or pages online: google them and they’ll do the job of the base to annotate in. Anything really that has the content given in class so you don’t have to write everything.

So in my case, my lecture notes are less informative and more condensed, and when I review the material through the slides I basically try to organize the content in my brain and find the most important concepts.

There is NO time to start from the beginning and write beautiful notes about everything. Hell to the no. I’m sorry to break this to you babe, but you do have to make it easier on you.

Now, like you said, loads of people have this problem, I’ve had this problem. Coming into uni, we have to find new study methods and ways to get organized.

What distinguishes the great students is the capacity to prioritize and never lose the big picture of all the things you learn organized - like a big mindmap. Or drawers or rooms inside your brain, if you wish.

So always keep that in mind. How each lecture material relates to the other given before and how everything fits together.

Getting behind is also very common (a 2nd-year student told me) especially because you’re still trying to figure out how you’re going to study. Tips for catching up:

never stop studying this week’s lectures because you’re studying the last week ones. This will create a snowball effect. The lectures that are behind are behind, as long as you understood them well, it’s not half as bad as you think. Catch up on the annotating slowly whenever you have some minutes to spear, on a weekend p.e. But don’t prioritize them over this week’s lectures. That is key.

find your study method as fast as you can. Don’t keep switching up. Maybe rewriting your lectures notes on a binder is too time-consuming, maybe you’ll prefer to do mindmaps instead, maybe you’ll follow the method I explained above, but whatever it is! Start studying now because you need something simple that works for you and for the modules that you’re taking.

don’t try to catch up those 10 lectures at the same time. Do the most important ones first, the less important ones last. Spread them over a big period of time, in between studying the week’s lectures. You’ll be fine.

After all this I just want to say one more thing: don’t overthink it. University is different than high school because you can never know everything. The lectures touch on so broad subjects that you can spend hours studying just one. So don’t stress out too much, no one is expecting perfection from you. Just do your best, and you’ll be amazed by your results.

Hope this helped, the best luck! ♡

[mattmgh]