#have like a 3.7 but instead it's just counting this semester

[tiredg0ds]

GRADES ARE OUT !!! ya bitch got all A's and one C+. that C+ was college algebra and i struggled so hard with it. i'm so happy that i passed.

[woozisnoots]

modest jeon wonwoo

° pairing: wonwoo x reader ° genre: university!au, host club!au, fluff ° word count: ~1.7k ° warnings: none! ° a/n: this had no business being this long and idek if i like it lol but I want to specifically dedicate this piece to @wonwoosimp​​ bc she’s literally the sweetest, best bean in the world [insert uwu meme here] thank you for gifting me my very first photocard, I literally cried opening it! I love you so much, I hope you enjoy!

welcome to the svt host club!

masterlist!

you entered university with a certain goal, a purpose. eventually, you were going to be the pediatric surgeon that the 13 year old you ushered you to be.

…let's just hope the knowledge of your brain was enough to get you through the first four years of pre-med. with your 3.7 high school GPA, you were lucky to get into your first choice college, let alone your current major

from the start of the semester, you dedicated yourself to studying the anatomy and physiology of the body until you knew every nook and cranny there was to know. and the library was the perfect sanctuary to get your shit together

as much as you loved your roommates, their constant fights over closet space and boy toys gave you no peace of mind what-so-ever

bless the library for being opened 24/7. If your roommates found you sleeping on their only working desk, you would find yourself waking up to the sound of tripping freshmen trying to get to their first 8am class right in the middle of the hallway

but the lone table in the corner of the library just on the third floor did you good at staying focused. even provided some good naps in between every now and then

the day before your first anatomy test, you LOCKED yourself in the library. no one was going in OR OUT of the premise just to sit across from you on YOUR table until you fully memorized the different layers of epithelial tissue >:(

gosh, you even scattered all your notes across the table just so people got the memo that this seat was: [OFF LIMITS]

yes, off limits to everyone except a certain jeon wonwoo.

the way you met was abrupt to say the least

besides your table, you had a pretty good view of the entire campus — from the main health science building all the way to the student parking lot

and just below you, an astonishing sight of a mob of screaming girls chasing after a mouse guy in glasses. not to be inconsiderate and heartless, but unless you heard someone scream bloody murder, diving back into your flashcard you go

tissue after tissue, you start to get delusional because at this point, everything is starting to look the same

slumping down into your chair, you take a second to mentally recharge, drinking the water you’ve neglected for the past three hours

you time yourself for a five minute break, going through the notifications on your phone

before you could read your roommate’s ongoing ramble on the latest update of the “crazy good looking, god-like, elite host club that the university has to offer”

a ‘club’ that you didn’t even know anything about nor cared for

you hear a loud ‘thud’ coming from the bookcase in front of you

from the side the tall, lean guy with glasses that you saw earlier emerged with his hands gripping his tricep

you try not to draw too much attention to him. half the reason being you didn’t want to embarrass him by laughing at the fact he ran into a 10 feet tall bookcase

and you did not need this man distracting you. it’s your eight week streak being this productive, a new record for anything you’ve done in your entire life and your pride wouldn’t let you have it if you lost it just because you saw an attractive man on sight

you scribble down a decent guess to the tissue identification question that you’ve been stuck on for the past few minutes, not bothering to look up

“that’s actually dense connective tissue, not smooth”

jolting up from your seat, you look up realizing the guy 5 feet away is now right in front of your face looking down at all your papers

“you can tell because they’re striated”

you stare at him in disbelief wondering how he could have gotten so fast with just looking at it for a few seconds. eyeing him up and down, he definitely looked around the same age as you but he wasn’t someone you’ve seen around the science buildings. and you would know since you took the liberty of familiarizing almost everyone within the department

“do you mind if i sit here?” his hands already on the edge of the chair ready to pull it out from underneath him

“...yeah sure”

“oh i’m wonwoo by the way,” he says as you both exchange awkward stares and knowledgeable nods

okay well since he’s proven that he might be of help to you, you might as let him stay. from what you’ve gathered, he didn’t have any stuff on him aside from his phone that you watch him get out of his front pocket, getting ready to play pacman

forget how attractive he is, this guy has some brains.

for the rest of the day, as you guys sat across from each other, wonwoo would occasionally bounce back and forth between giving you study tips and playing whatever game he decides to play at that moment in time

he was surprisingly really good at this? he knew more things about the subject than your professors did, and that’s saying a lot. like you’ve been looking at cells for WEEKS and you were lucky to get at least half of them. which begs the question:

“how do you magically know all this?”

the blank expression on his face tells you he wasn’t expecting that question but he quickly shrugs it off. “i just know a few things from my parents that’s all”

you would have questioned him further but the time on your phone read “22:57” and you already broke your number rule about sleeping early before a big test

as you pack up all your stuff, wonwoo pushes his chair in, bidding you farewell

“good luck on your test tomorrow!”

you appreciate the gesture, mentally thanking him for his help and proceed to go back to your dorms, preparing yourself to tell your roommate all about the exciting? day you had

“YOU MORON. JEON WONWOO?”

laying flat on your back on your bed, you cover the bottom half of your face, quivering under your sheets as you stare at your roommate’s outrageous outburst

you explain what happened and who you met today at the library. when your roommate asked to describe him in more detail, all you said was that he was pretty smart for someone who wasn’t particularly in your major

your roommate lets out a loud scream into their pillow, gripping the bed sheets before giving you the earful of the century

“he’s just being modest. he’s a korean lit major but he’s one of the uni’s top students since both his parents are the head of the science department.

…AND he’s one of the most requested host club members. so you caught yourself one big fish today bud.”

top student? science department? HOST CLUB? none of that was processing in your brain. the one club that you wanted nothing to do with and you just happened to meet their top money maker

grand.

the thought didn’t keep you up at night only because you thought that today’s encounter was just coincidence and you probably would never have to see him again.

(sad though, your roommate was right. he is rather good looking.)

the time that it took for you to take your test the next day flew by so fast that you questioned if it even happened. the first step you took out the classroom, you start to second guess all your answers, regretting that you didn’t check a third or even fourth time before submitting

your train of thought halts when you see jeon wonwoo standing in the empty hallway

“i’m sure you aced it”

and just like in a netflix original romance movie, he reveals a bouquet of pink begonias from behind his back while shyly adjusting his glasses

“these are for you. to congratulate you”

weird way to phrase it but you were still gonna take the flowers. “host club tendencies?”

“so you found out?”

from a distance, you can hear the rushing footsteps from downstairs followed by a sense of purpose. “i think i was bound to” :/

you didn’t know how you felt about the current situation. you had no idea what host club was until you got here and you still don’t know what they even do. for all you knew, this could just be a gesture to get them more clients

but if his actions were genuine… you wouldn’t mind seeing him again

“i have to start learning muscles for our next exam. heard it was one of the hardest ones. i’m not sure if you have more studying tricks up your sleeve?”

“i might.” a cocking little grin now appearing on his face

“good. same place at the library tomorrow then. and this time? try not to bring your dedicated fans wherever you go”

so these study sessions continued. you guys occasionally had to change spots - from cafe to an empty bio lab - if the mob ever saw a single hair follicle that might be his

but each time, wonwoo brought something more just himself. one day it would be coffee, others days it would be food. things to keep you motivated.

for a korean lit major, he was taking a lot of time out of his day to help you, being attentive to all the strategies that help you study and such

possibly making your assumption from months back, true.

by the time finals rolled around, aside from the spursts of review here and there, study sessions became more casual. you didn’t feel the need to overwork our brain since you already knew all the information (something you actually learned from wonwoo himself)

possibly the last meeting you’d have with him was similar to your first: just you two together but him playing on his phone. and yet before the night ended

“i have a proposal.”

“i’m not giving you money for your dumb club.” bold of him to assume you would-

“no but i really appreciate the thought :)

why don’t we turn these study sessions into… study dates instead?”

:0

your assumption after 6 months later: finally confirmed

“but that’s only IF you ace your finals.”

well let’s just say at the very end, you had a successful first semester and are now one step closer towards being the surgeon of your dreams.

plus, you even landed yourself a pretty cool boyfriend in the process

let’s hope his parents put in a good word for you when you apply to med school!

[nothing-but-kpop-dreams]

Just Friends (2/?)

Author’s note: So yeah... I got around to doing the second part... Keep in mind that from this point on, the plot no longer sticks to the original request.

Word Count: 2851

Summary: Let’s just go ahead and see who found you in the alley.

ALL PARTS

“Y/n?” the voice called out “Y/f/n Y/l/n?”

You were caught off guard.

 “Huh?!” 

As any normal person would, you looked toward the direction of the person calling out your name. However, instead of wiping your face and calming your voice like an actual normal person would, you locked eyes with that individual with your face a slobbering mess.

As if the night wasn't horrible enough, it had now become a living nightmare. You never thought you would see his stupid face, but there he was. “Y-yoongi?”

That’s right, it was the only and only Min Yoongi. You weren’t the type to dislike people, but he was one you could say you practically hated. The thing was, that asshole, now standing three feet away, was that same asshole that brought you and Tae together all those years ago. Oh but things didn’t stop at making fun of you for your choice of fashion, heck no. He made fun of you for 3 years! Considering that he was two years older than you, his torment should have only lasted 2 years, but the guy was stupid as fuck and he got held back a year. That was an extra year of dealing with him calling you names, tripping you in the hall, and one time even knocking down your lunch tray in front of everyone in the cafeteria. Not to mentioned the times where you had him for elective classes, like art, where he made it a goal to sit behind you and poke you with sharp pencils in the middle of tests, yank your hair, and “accidentally” kick your butt when trying to rest his feet on the back of your chair.

Easy to say, he made high school suck more than it already did. When he graduated you were beyond relieved. You even forgot all about him. The only thing you heard about him since high school was that he was in a study abroad program and was in Europe or England or something like that. So what was he suddenly doing in this downtown alley of all places? Why was he now, as some knight in shining armor, running up to you?

“Oh shit! It’s actually you! What happened?!? Why are you crying? Are you okay?” He asked in a panic.

It was like you were in the twilight zone. Your high school bully was all over you, not picking on you, but instead looking out for your well being.

What you were expecting to hear was “Haha stupid y/n is crying!” “Why are you wearing a dress? Boys don't wear dresses!” or even “Oh are you finally a girl again?” But instead, he knelt in front of you, grabbing your arms and checking for wounds and asking “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Even after all these years, his touch was repulsive and after the night you had you didn't even want to feel someone’s gaze on you, let alone have this stupid orange haired prick in your face.

“Let me go!” You cried, pushing his hands away… pushing him hard enough that he fell back on his butt into a puddle of mud made by the leaky dumpster.

“What the fuck! I’m trying to help you!” He shouted

“Just leave me alone!” you cried

That’s when you jumped up and ran out of the alley. You needed to get back home and hide away forever.

---------

It had been two days since the shit show that was “date” night. You have basically locked yourself inside your apartment the last 48 hours.  You weren't trying to be dramatic or anything, you just needed some space. The last thing you wanted to do was put on a fake smile and pretend to everyone around you that everything was okay or put in extra effort in paying attention in class because your mind wouldn’t stop replaying your fight with Tae.

Another reason (the real reason) you kept yourself locked away was to avoid Tae all together. At the beginning of the semester the two of you had made your schedules around each other, making sure you had lunch at the same time and would walk in the same direction at least once to have a quick catch up before class, you know, like the cute best friends you used to be. The last thing you wanted was to bump into him on campus. It was already hard enough trying to ignore his calls and apology texts.

Sure it sounds extreme, but you were sticking to your guns about avoiding Tae like the plague. You didn’t want to risk forgiving him because of your lingering feelings. You didn’t want to be friends with him anymore. Yes, you could look past him not having feelings for you, but what you couldn’t get over was him betraying you the way he did. The two of you had been friends for years, it hurt that he lied to you, that he ditched you for someone else. Speaking of, he ditched you for some random girl. Tae used to ALWAYS tell you about his crushes and the girls he went on dates with, but you caught him with someone you knew nothing about. What best friend holds back on something like that?

But anyway, your time in hiding was about to come to an end. You were out of food. Every time you opened your fridge, your lonely gallon of milk stared back at you and your empty cabinets laughed in your face. It was time to join the real world once more and get some groceries like a grown adult. Plus, you had a life to get back to. You had school and a job hunt to throw yourself into. You couldn’t let Tae hold you back from living life.

After a long motivational talk to yourself in the mirror, you got dressed in a t-shirt jeans and your favorite converse and walked down to the grocery store.

All throughout the store you mentally repeated your list in order to get yourself to stuck to your small budget. “Juice, eggs, ham, chips, bread, lighter fluid (you know to burn your stupid dress from date night). Juice, eggs, ham, chips, bread, lighter fluid.”.

It didn't take long for you to get what you needed and by the end you realized you had a bit of extra money to splurge on some cereal. So here you were in the middle of the cereal aisle using your intelligent college educated mind to decide which type of cereal you wanted to get.

Sadly, things took a turn when you heard,“Well well well!”

It was that voice again. It sent a chill down your spine. Immediately you were frustrated.

“If it isn't little ole y/n. I see you are back in your regular clothes again.”

You turned to the source of the sounds that were his words and caught his eyes scanning you up and down.

“And if isn't stupid ole Yoongi.” You spat back. “Are you some kind of stalker now or what?”

It was too coincidental to see him in the alley (which you pretty much forgot about till now) but seeing him in the grocery store was all the more nauseating.

He furrowed his brows at you. “Excuse me? A stalker? No.” He said in his usual arrogant voice. “I'm more of a music producer these days.” a sly smirk appeared on his face as if he was so much better than you.

And this was the Yoongi you remembered... and still hated. 

You rolled your eyes at him. “As if I actually care”

“Ouch! Still a feisty one aren't you? I see a lot hasn't changed since high school.” Again his eyes scanned you “Same personality, same taste in clothes-”

“Oh please! You still dress the same too!” you shot back “and you still have horrible taste in hair dye.” You had to take a shot at the obnoxious orange hair

“Hey, I admit this current color isn't working with me, but I rock a mint green alright!”

“Oh I’d like to see that”

His smiled only widened “I bet you would. I always knew you had a thing for me!”

You practically gagged. “Ugh! I was being sarcastic. All that hair dye really has made you stupid. No wonder you flunked a grade”

“Woah woah woah just to make things clear, I only got held back cuz I didn't care about high school, but I'm not stupid. I'll have you know my college gpa is 3.7!”

“Speaking of college, aren’t you supposed to be in England or something, why are you here annoying me?”

“Oh so I'm not allowed to be in a grocery store to buy groceries?”

You stayed quiet. You didn't have a comeback

“But if you’re so curious” he continued in a suddenly normal tone, with sincerity much like in the alley a few nights ago. “I’m back cuz I already graduated. And like I said before, I am a producer.” It was weird having him talking to you like a normal person. “There is an old friend in town that wants to collab and do a rap track, so I'm back for that.”

“How exciting” you said very sarcastically “But would you look at the time” you looked down at your bare wrist as if you were wearing a watch. “Seems like I have to be everywhere else but here since I don't give a shit.” You said grabbing a random box of the shelf and making your leave.

“You owe me a pair of pants you know!” he called out

You turned around “Um, what?”

“Oh, you know, from when you pushed me into a puddle of mud after I found you crying in an alley.”

“So? That's not my fault.”

“Uh, it kinda is since you were the one that pushed me!”

“Well you were the one all over me, what else was I supposed to do!?”

“Um, tell me what was wrong, duh! Obviously you seem fine now. But what happened? Did you get mugged? Were you harassed? Was it something going to the cops over?” With every word his tone went from salty to serious. You couldn't tell if it was an act or not.

“That all seems like something that isn't your business, don't you think?”

He closed his mouth shut, realizing you had a point. “Ok,fine. You're right.” He voice fell into a sigh, a sign that he gave up. “... But you do owe me a new pair of jeans. The only other way I’ll forgive you is if you take me out to lunch.”

He hit you with a curve. “What? Why?”

He shrugged. “I’m hungry. Why else not?”

“Because being with in 3 feet of you makes me want to gag!” you said bluntly.

“Oh c'mon, but we can continue our wonderful little chat.” and he went right back to being a shit face

For what had to be the hundredth time, you rolled your eyes. “I would rather get hit by a car.” you said as you walked away.

From this point on you quickened your pace to the cashier line.

You stuck yourself in the line of people hoping to not bump into some other person you happened to know and not care for. In the next half hour, you were finally out the door. Why it took so long? You didn’t know. Why you could stop looping your interaction with Yoongi? You also didn’t know. How you ended up with a box of raisin bran instead of frosted flakes? That you knew.

You walked out the grocery store and toward the road in annoyance with the box in your hand. “Stupid Yoongi, distracted me!” you grumbled to yourself as you glared at the box. “He just has to keep-”

“Watch out!” you heard a shout

Suddenly your arm was grabbed and you were yanked back. It was like slow motion. Your heels scraped against the curb as the rest of your body went flying back. You let out a yelp, sounding like a small dog when you felt someone grab you before you fell to the ground.

And now everything was a blur. All you could hear was mad car honks and gasps from the people around you.

“Are you okay?!?” it just had to be Yoongi’s voice again

You looked up at him, a bit confused about how he had his arms wrapped around you. You look around, realizing you were on the curb of the highway, the crosswalk flashing the light to not cross.  

“...Why did you do that?!?” you pushed him away when you realized that you were still in his arms.

“Because you were about to get hit by a car!” He shouted back at you.

You stayed quiet, a bit too frazzled to get your thoughts together.

It was easy for him to see how distraught you were, and that’s when he decided o say. “Damn, i didn’t think you were that serious about the lunch thing.” he said with a chuckle.

“...Well I was.” you said in a last attempt to gather whatever dignity you had left.

You couldn't put up a badass facade around him anymore, not after him seeing you in a dress, seeing you sob, and technically saving your life.  You were shookth to the core, you had to run.

The second the light signaled you to walk, you bolted away from him without even a thank you.

Your steps became faster and faster as you got closer to your apartment building. You had to reach your safe haven as soon as you could. Again you just wanted to hide away from the eyes around you and go unnoticed for once this freaking week.

At your building, you rushed to the elevator and smacked your floor button until the doors closed shut. Alone in the floating room, you tried to catch your breath and just settle yourself a bit.

Finally when it dinged on your floor, you steadied your pace down the quiet halls. you felt calmer knowing that you were just a few feet away from closing yourself off from anymore human interaction.

But when you turned the corner, you had the urge to run in the opposite direction.

He stood there like he was a lot puppy. There was a slouch to his stance a frown on his face. He stared longingly at your door s you peeked at him from the end of the hall.

Tae stood at your door with heavy eyes.His arms lifted it self to knock on your door, but suddenly he stopped. He let out a sigh of defeat, his hi hand fell limp to his side.

You weren't sure what to make of the situation. On sight, you missed him… but you were also just so mad.  Half of you wanted to walk up to him and pull him into a hug while the other wanted to bite his head off.

“Y/n, you are an adult.” you reminded yourself. “He came here for a reason. The most rational thing is to hear him out. You don't have to forgive him. you don't even have to say anything back.”

With that little pep talk, you were ready to face him.

You took a few steps, your grocery bags, slapping against your legs. The sudden sounds caught his attention and that’s when he looked over at you.

In that split second, his eyes lit up. “Y/n!”

Just like that, your words to yourself went out the window. Who were you kidding? You were upset as fuck!  You’re feelings  were as raw as ever. It was like Sunday night all over again. you could already feel the stick in r eyes and the stabbing pain in your chest radiating throughout your whole body.

You couldn't do it.

As he walked towards you, you walked past him.

The hint of a smile on his face disappeared and that frown was back. “...Y/n?”

You ignored his existence, simply getting your keys out of your pocket.

The Silent treatment. You had put him through this a few times before. It was never a tactic that he accepted. Right now, like the few rare fights before, he spoke at you in hopes that his words could get you to forgive him again. “Y/n, I’m sorry! I honestly am!” he pleaded as he trailed behind you. “Can’t we just talk again?”

You said nothing, you didn't even look at him as you unlocked your door.

“Y/n, you are my best friend! I miss you! Please just talk to me.”

You weren't too sure why, but his words struck a nerve. Before You stepped inside, you looked at him. You did your best to put on the most serious expression you could. It was hard to not break down in tears.

He stared back at you with big sad eyes, that had just the smallest bit of hope only because you actually turned to him.

“No.” you said simply as you walked inside and closed the  door on him.

-Admin Boat

[canaryatlaw]

Alright, so today was pretty good, fun Memorial Day. Slept in of course, woke up sometime around noon and just laid in bed being lazy for a while before getting up and getting some breakfast. Around 2 or so my roommates two friends showed up, and we hung out for a while, they played guitar hero, before we grabbed our grilling supplies and headed outside. We don't exactly have a patio, it's more like a decently sized concrete rectangle behind our apartment building, which is kind of sad because like, all the houses around us have these awesome decks behind them, but hey, we'll take it. My roommate bought this dinky little grill for like $20 at target or Walmart, and by the time we even get the charcoal in it a bolt had like flown off the handle and two of the leg pads were off, lol, but hey, non-essential parts. The grill just fit 7 burgers, 6 in a ring on the outside and 1 in the middle, and like, I'm talking JUST fit lol. There wasn't one square inch left unused on this grill. They decided to just cook all the meat and divide shit later, I know literally nothing about grilling anything (I'm like watching them with the lighter fluid and in the back of my mind thinking about the jimmy johns commercial with lighter fluid and thinking "that was a gas grill, not a charcoal grill, right?") so I'm just going with it. So we sit and grill, when the burgers are done we do some brats and hot dogs, and we just chilled out next to it. Somewhere along the line I felt the sun on my back and knew if I didn't do something I would get a sunburn, so I ran back upstairs and got the little stick of sunscreen I keep in my purse (year round, cuz you never know) and tried to get it to cover all the space on my back not covered by clothing, lol. The tank top I was wearing actually had a high back so there wasn't that much space left over, and I did a pretty good job covering it, I only ended up with one tiny spot of sunburn on my neck. I still haven't switched my clothing over to summer clothes since its been so cold, something I'll have to figure out when I pack to leave on Friday and spend the next two weeks in New York. But today was obviously going to be in the 70s and we were gonna be outside for a decent amount of time, so I put on the like, one tank top I had in my drawer and grabbed a single pair of shorts from my giant suitcase I use for clothes storage (lol I have too much clothing) and wore those. I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes in terms of weather and whether (lol) I'll fully switch over. I should technically have time after work, maybe Wednesday when I don't have PT, since prison break having its finale should really be the last of my tv shows still airing (I guess you could count the Handmaid's tale but I'm not like dying to watch those episodes ASAP) but I tend to be emotionally drained after work and don't want to do that kind of stuff, which is why the laundry I did last weekend still isn't put away and there's an ever growing pile of dirty clothes on my floor (sigh). But, anyway. Once all the meat was cooked we decided to eat inside, so we closed the grill to try and put out the rest of the fire (again, no idea how grilling works). So we go back inside and I get a hamburger (or I guess cheeseburger, we only had shredded cheese so the cheese was kind of weak but it still existed) and a hot dog since we have so many of both, I ended up taking like two bites of the burger before deciding it just wasn't doing it for me, but the hot dog was pretty good (I've traditionally been a hot dog person, though I do like burgers). We continued to hang out for a bit longer and I ended up making funfetti cupcakes using the cake mix I keep on hand for baking purposes and the hacks I know to make cake mix cakes taste better (because I'm a pro like that). They turned out pretty good and were quick enough, so now we have cupcakes as well. The boys hung out for a little while longer before heading out, my roommate going with when of them (being that she seems to spend most of her time at his apartment anyway) so I had the place to myself and decided it was time for more Young Justice, and ended up finishing the second season and consequently the show for the time being at least, until season 3 comes out some time next year. I definitely enjoyed it, and now I want to watch the other justice league animated shows that exist lol because I love my superheroes. I liked the plot, though I found it kind of amusing that they were handling this giant threat to earth when most of the Justice league's major players were totally off earth and indisposed, like did they have any contact with them during that time?? Their whole trial, or the small pieces we saw of it, was rather amusing for me to watch (especially their apparent having no idea what the concept of mind control is and their non-existent appeals process) from a legal perspective, lol. I liked the whole blue beetle storyline, I pretty much only know him from the like, single smallville episode he was in and that's not much so it was cool to see his character more. For most of the season I wasn't buying that they'd kill off one of their main characters, at least as far as the "deaths" they faked, but in the finale I did remember hearing that they had killed off (spoiler obviously) Wally West and his death felt much more legit all around, although probably sadder being that they were kind of teasing Artemis' life being in peril all season only for him to get killed instead. Aqualad going undercover was all sorts of awesome, as was their showdown battle at the summit between the light and the reach, where aqualad supposedly "dies" and then hologram him outs everything the light has been doing to betray the light (and vice versa to some extent) and Vandal Savage is like I HAVE NEVER BEEN BETRAYED THIS BADLY IN 50,000 YEARS OF LIVING because that was just amazing (and of course he comes back to life like two seconds later). So I basically just all around approved of the show and thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess it's back to The Keepers for now, though I may find something else to intersperse it with. It's a good show, it's just both heavy and dry which doesn't make it the best for always binging, but one of my podcasts is talking about it in next week's episode so I do want to finish it. And yeah, that was basically the rest of my night as I was also only my computer doing my normal computer stuff and reading fanfic which I'm still not at all caught up on. Oh, I should tell you I did get my LARC grade back, though I'm in no hurry to announce it because I was pretty thoroughly pissed off about it. I mean, it very clearly could've been worse, a B is not the end of the world, it just felt very frustrating in this particular circumstance given how much work I put into that class and how much it felt like our professor was not at all invested in the class and it was very much an afterthought to her actual law firm job, and like I got better grades in LARC last year with a(n objectively) better and harder professor, and a B ties con law from my first semester as the worst grade I've gotten in law school, so I'm not happy that now there will be two of them on my transcript (and 1 B+, but that's different). I know I'm probably overreacting to something that really doesn't matter that much at all, it just irks me and it makes me mad that it'll definitely make my GPA drop (though I'm not sure by how much) and probably make my ranking drop, even if only by 5% or so, putting me back in the top 15%. I was just so happy to be in the top 10% that dropping back to where I was after first year feels very frustrating. It's my second worse semester grade wise, just barely beating out my first semester (3 A-'s and a B versus 1 A, 2 A-'s, and a B) which is annoying in terms of progress (considering last semester I got 3 A's and 1 A-) but I guess it's bound to vary depending on what classes you take and how challenging they are. Like I said, I'm probably overreacting to what really doesn't mean much at all, I'd just hate to think a prospective employer would see that and think my legal writing skills are subpar because of it when I've been proven in actual real courtroom experience to have solid legal writing skills, which I of course worked very hard to get. Idk, it's just frustrating. I'm not sure what my GPA for the semester would be, probably somewhere around a 3.55 (given that my first semester GPA was a 3.5) which shouldn't bring down my overall GPA of 3.7 too much, maybe just to 3.67 or something, which hopefully won't kill my ranking all that much, but I was right on the border of 10% as is and the qualifying GPA normally goes up every semester so I kind of doubt I would hit it again. *sigh* idk, we'll see, speculating about it probably doesn't do any good, and I've clearly ranted about it for long enough here when that's not going to solve anything. It is what it is, and I'll deal. Worse things have happened to me grade wise (like the nightmare that was junior year of college). But yeah, that was pretty much my day. Now I just have 4 days (or 3 3/4, since I'll probably leave a little early on Friday to get to the airport in time) of work to get through until I have 2 weeks off in NY with my family and friends. I'm aware of my previous musings on here of how I romanticize going home to be better than it is in reality, but I'm still looking forward to it as some time off being that I pretty much jumped right into work this summer and I'm definitely feeling the lack of break. I'm hoping that will help with my overall feeling towards work, cuz it's not all that great right now, which doesn't bode well for my future in this business, especially if I end up wanting to work for this office and will undoubtedly be keeping a similar 9-5 5 days a week schedule year round. I guess at some point I'll have to get over it. This is long and it's late, I should go to bed now, so I guess that's what I'll do now. Goodnight peeps. Hope you had a good Memorial Day.

[ambitiouslyamanda-blog]

HOW I GOT (NEARLY) STRAIGHT A’S LAST SEMESTER — 05.10.17

Let me start off my post by saying this — grades are not everything, especially not in university if you’re just looking for a bachelor’s degree. However, I’ve always been someone who liked getting high grades in school because it personally made me feel really nice! School is something I work especially hard at, so getting high marks to show my diligence and determination is something completely rewarding to me. Whether you’re someone who needs to raise their marks for their future master’s degree or a student just looking for some tips to raise their GPA, these are my tips and tricks that lead me to garnering a 3.7 GPA last semester, or nearly, straight A’s.

1. I made a schedule and a to do list to ensure I was getting stuff done at a reasonable time.

I am someone who used to be absolutely awful at managing my time. I would leave every assignment or study session to the very last minute, setting me up for poor marks and disappointment in myself. I decided after a very average 3.3 GPA first semester of “winging it” that I should probably get my act together and manage my time better. Getting an impromptu bullet journal this year was a tremendous help in visually showing me what I needed to complete, making it easier to tackle each assignment one at a time. Having a to do list of projects and studying made for a rewarding experience when I could sit down and cross it off the list, diminishing my stress about the assignment because I had finished it! I also put my school related activities into a schedule on my phone to allocate proper time for studying. If you’re someone who says, “I’ll do this tonight”, you’re probably going to end up doing it in the middle of the night rather than the time you had originally sought out due to procrastination. It’s important to set an exact time to do things so that you can work your other priorities like your social life around studying. If a specific time of each day to study is too daunting for you, allocate an entire day to doing readings, assignments, and studying. When I first started scheduling school projects, I always did the bulk of them on my day off, which was Sunday.

2. I studied away from my room.

Something I found would hinder my work rate was sitting in my room. This tip depends on the person, but for me, trying to get anything done in my room always ended in disaster. I would get distracted by a lot of different things and would always end up making an excuse so I can relax or take a nap. Speaking of, do not do your work in your bed! You are likely to fall asleep or procrastinate when you’re comfortable in your bed as compared to a desk or seating area. I decided to do big assignments like essays or presentations and exam studying at my school’s Student Learning Centre, the library, or local coffee shops where I wouldn’t be as distracted. I also like to think that the atmosphere of these places influences students to actually do their work, since they made the effort to get there to begin with.

3. I typed up my notes and wrote them.

A big part of studying has to do with how well you’re retaining the material. Everybody studies differently, but I found that an excellent way for me to retain and remember information was to type out my class lecture notes and then write them out on paper afterwards near exam time. Writing out your notes is equivalent to reading them seven times — so get writing!

4. I did my readings and the notes for them, but only for the classes that count.

One of my high school teachers told me that it is literally impossible for a university student to do every single one of their readings for that week. Well I wouldn’t say it’s impossible — it is highly unlikely that a student has the time to do all of their readings each week. I decided to cut down and only read for two out of my five classes this semester — both classes having quizzes on each reading every week — to save time and energy that was put towards bettering essays and presentations. Because these classes were quiz heavy, I put it upon myself every week to post my notes on the readings to my program’s Facebook group as a way of keeping on top of doing each reading when the fact that there was a quiz the next day wasn’t motivation enough for me. Having others depend on me, in a way, made me much more willing to sit down and do the readings because I didn’t want to let anyone down! 

On the flip side, if you want me to be honest, had I had read the chapter readings for the business class I had (the only class I got a B in!), it absolutely would have helped me understand the subject material more and get a better grade. However, if your prof goes over each reading every class and clarifies what you need to know from said reading, I wouldn’t personally read for that class.

I would also like to quickly state that I’m in a program that is more lecture based than others, so if you’re in science or engineering, for example, you should probably just do your readings to prep for labs!

5. I took breaks.

I am someone who cannot sit still for a long time, so taking breaks and moving around is necessary for me. I would break every hour and a half or so, and go do something that would give me energy, like eating, going for a walk, or a quick power nap. After my break was done (I would usually take half hour breaks), I would feel more energized and ready to get back to work.

6. I made study guides and shared them with my program.

If you haven’t read my article entitled “How I Use Google Drive as a University Student”, you should because I talk more about how I utilize the sharing features to maximum success. A quick run down of what I stated in that post is that basically, I would accumulate all of my notes over the semester and compile it into a study guide that also had practice questions and course themes in it. I would allow other students editing access so that they could add anything I missed or edited something I got wrong to maximize understanding not only for me, but for everyone else who contributed as well.

7. I went to class and paid attention.

This seems like a “no shit, Sherlock” type of tip, but I wanted to include it because a lot of people, including myself, have a penchant for skipping classes. I skipped a lot of classes first semester because I thought I understood everything from the readings, and therefore, got a pass from attending — but when my exams came, I realized I was kind of screwed. It’s important to go to classes and pay attention, and if you don’t understand something, to ask questions. It’s probably the most important tip on my list!

8. Ask your professors and teaching assistants for help.

Leading into my next point, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be asking for assistance or guidance from your teachers. The advice and direction I gained from asking questions, going to office hours, and writing workshops was enormously important for maintaining my average and improving my writing. Even just, “can you read over this and critique it?” will have a massive difference in your mark if you take their advice seriously.

9. I got enough sleep.

This is going to sound crazy, but one of the main reasons my GPA wasn’t super high first semester was because instead of doing my assignments, I would take a nap. I was exhausted first semester and often took 4 hour long naps to make up for the lack of sleep I would get at night due to stress or social gallivanting. It is important to be well rested and caught up on sleep so that your brain can actually function and not doze off, like mine would. Having good sleep patterns also helps with focusing during class, which in turn, helps with learning and retention. Second semester, I took less naps and went to bed earlier, which was a definite help in getting things done the next day without needing to sneak a nap during a lecture!

10. I was creative with my assignments.

Well, as creative as I could’ve been. Each project, whether it’s an essay or photoshopped design has a set of guidelines that you need to follow, but once you’ve met all those guidelines, its time to let your creativity shine. Letting artistic notion flow through my work made it much more enjoyable to do, preventing the dread I would often have towards essays and presentations. I am however, in an arts based program, so take this tip with a grain of salt if you’re in something that requires exact calculations and very specific precision.

I am incredibly proud of myself for getting my GPA this year, but it wasn’t easy to figure out all of these tips. Finding studying ways that work for you takes a lot of time, but once you’ve located the best way for you to retain, study, and get assignments done, stick with it for less stress and more success.

What tip are you going to use next semester? Let me know in the comments!

Ambitiously,

Amanda

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