thebluelyon

[thebluelyon]

How I: Make Revision Notes

Hello everyone! I hope you’re having a productive day. 

I decided to remake a post about how I make revision notes. What’s different about this one? Well, it’s a lot more detailed! I’m really sorry that the font is so small but I needed to fit the information onto the picture (if you click on the post, the font looks larger) If you guys have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to message me! 

[thebluelyon]

Hey guys! As school is coming really soon, I decided to make this masterpost in which I compiled some of my favorite/most helpful posts. I hope you like it and hopefully you’ll learn something new out of them! xx

(Inside of almost every one of these posts there are other posts linked at the end which is a plus!)

BACK TO SCHOOL:

Back to school guide by @softiestudies

Back to school masterpost by @effortanderudition

The back to school timeline: Before edition & After edition by @educatier

Back to school masterpost by @simply-study

Back to school pintables kit by @educatier

Back to school printables masterpost by @veriastudies

“Conquer the school year” masterlist by @hermionegoals

School prep and motivation by @tea-study-sleep

HOW TO:

Figure out the best way for you to study by @larabristudies

Study when you have absolutely no idea what’s going on by @munirastudies

Score better and study better by @unicorn-studying

Study smarter not just harder by @unicorn-studying

Keep binders organized for school by @intellectus​

Stay awake in class by @study-studymore-studyhard

Learn a new language fast (a short masterpost) by @studying-hbu

Ace AP exams by @codeher

Write an essay by @koalastudy

Annotate by @tbhstudying

Get a 4.0 by @ivystudying

TIPS:

Study tips for busy students by @stdyingg

Another tips for busy students by @roeum

Study tips for lazy people by @riseandstudy​

Tips all students need by @gryfhindor

Exam tips, tricks and prep by @pencyls

A complete guide to studying (well) masterlist by @scholarlysquad

Study skills masterpost by @schoollifeandstuff​

Ideas for getting the most from lectures by @study-well

Tips on organizing your things by @mildlincrs

APPLICATIONS:

Ten tips on making applying to schools a little easier by @pencyls

College applications by @katsdesk PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3

+ 10 tips on starting university by @studycubs

The “why us” essay by @learnwisely

STUDY SESSIONS:

Study sessions by @tbhstudying

Eliminating procrastination and distraction during a study session by @simply-study

Keep reading

[thebluelyon]

There’s a difference between challenging yourself and overwhelming yourself.

Something that took me too many years in school to realize (via alltherightnotes)

[thebluelyon]

Each trig function in terms of the other five: color coded. Idk I’m just playin’ around in LaTeX and thought this table on Wikipedia would be worth color coding on its own so I made this little ditty. The reciprocal functions are the lighter colors of their regular trig counterparts. I wouldn’t call this a final version, but, hey, it’s pretty cute. High five for pattern recognition.

[thebluelyon]

[thebluelyon]

10 Steps to Reaching your Full Academic Potential

Always get feedback, whether that be on essays, exams, homework or your general performance. In all cases, especially those where you can’t obtain formal feedback {i.e. from receiving a graded essay or test back}, arrange to meet with your tutor to discuss your progress.

Study efficiently. Pay attention to when you study best {morning or night?} and where you study best. Work on a schedule that falls around that. When you study, give it 100% and don’t give in to menial tasks {such as checking social media} that will break your concentration. Do this on a planned break.

Form good habits. Get roughly the same amount of sleep each night from the same hour at night to the same hour in the morning, if you can. Drink plenty of water. Like I said, take breaks. Study daily, even for a short amount of time if that is all you have.

Set yourself deadlines and stick to them. If you can, start your homework/assignments as soon as you get them, and if they’re longer ones, set goals along the way. 

Fail to plan, plan to fail. A teacher once told me that, and it resonates in my mind even ten years on. It is not wise to write an essay or assignment in your head as you go along. Give yourself a structure and brainstorm ideas, no matter how brief or comprehensive this is.

Study actively. Don’t write and rewrite notes over and over. Get the information in to your long term memory through active recall {testing yourself}, making visual aids {mind maps/diagrams} and teaching others.

Anticipate a certain degree of disappointment somewhere along the way. Even the brightest minds will falter, and understandably, this might knock your confidence or your motivation. Allow yourself to build on those errors in time for your next assessment - let that motivate you. Making mistakes is inevitable, but not making the same mistake twice is key.

Enjoy what you do. Take classes that interest you, and aim to develop a knowledge of that subject which is well-rounded and comprehensive. Taking the extra steps to immersing yourself in your studies will not only make the process easier, but you’ll gain motivation through your inquisitiveness and desire to learn.

Treat your studies like a full time job - that is what they equate to in most cases. Take breaks and know your limits, but remember that if your input is minimal then your output will be too. Resist that urge we all know too well, and don’t shy away from your education.

Don’t succumb to the pressures of studying in the same ways as other people. We are all individuals, and what works for one is not forced to work for another. Experiment with different aspects of your learning experience to find what works for you. If you’re not a morning person, that’s okay. If colour coding feels pointless to you, that’s okay too. As long as you are making progress and you are reflecting on your studies then you’re doing just fine.

[thebluelyon]

How to create a (realistic) fictional language

M'athchomaroon. That’s a hello to you, in Dothraki.

Initially, it may be easy to dismiss those words from the fictional language in “Game of Thrones” as a bunch of made up gibberish, but upon closer inspection, you might realize that the speech and word patterns resemble a real language.

And that’s because it is, in fact, a language with its own fully functional grammar and over 4,000 words.

Before you can even begin writing a single word in Dothraki, you have to do a ton of foundational work to make the constructed language (conlang) seem authentic and natural.

“I used the books almost as anthropological text. Paying attention not just to the dialogue in any given chapter, but also the description of what the land was like, and what people were doing, what they were eating, and wearing,” says David Peterson, the creator of the Dothraki dialect and a UC San Diego alum.

All this detailed analysis of the characters’ realities, culture and attitudes informed the words that would exist in that language.

Here’s an example: Since the Dothrakis are nomadic warriors who believe in taking what they want through brute force, there is no word for “thank you.” But there are seven words just for swinging a sword (like “hlizifikh,” which is a wild, but powerful strike.)

And horse riding is so entrenched in their culture, that their very name Dothraki is derived from their verb “to ride”: dothralat.

Just as modern English was developed from its Old English form, Peterson also created an antiquated version of Dothraki and a modern version. Like real languages that have existed, each word has an etymology that reflects how the language evolved over time. 

All this may seem like an insane amount of work and thought for a few lines of dialogue, but for a language enthusiast like Peterson —who speaks eight languages— creating a conlang is a self-indulgent hobby. It’s fun.

“Creating a language is an art form, like any other. I enjoy doing it. I don’t really think about the endpoint… after all, a language is never really finished,” says Peterson, who would continue to conlangle even if he wasn’t getting paid.

For budding conlangers, Peterson recently developed some resources, including a book and YouTube series that teach more about the process of inventing languages and the history of conlang in further detail.

@teded also has this great video all about fictional languages:

GIF: TedEd

[thebluelyon]

WHAT THIS MEANS:

34 Senate seats are up for election this year.

All 435 House of Representative seats are up for election this year.

A total of 469 seats in the US Congress is up for election in November 8, 2016.

In order to TAKE BACK the chamber, Democrats need to gain 5 seats.

In order to FLIP the chamber, the Democrats need to gain 30 seats. 

Democrats only have 10 seats to defend while Republicans have 24.

Confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice requires 60 votes in the Senate. 

Should Democrats fail to retake the Senate in 2016, it is unlikely that they will get another opportunity until at least 2020.

It’s incredibly important that we place attention not only to the presidential candidates, but to the Senators and Representatives that are up for election this year. 

For more info about who’s running, please check this website: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Congress_elections,_2016

[thebluelyon]

I have one notebook for dailies/monthlies and another for collections. I like to be able to keep my collections notebook a bit messy and cross things out when I need to. It’s also good for random lists.

Per Semester

key

index

academic calendar 

schedule 

course info (professor, times, location, credit hours, etc.)

course requirements (pre-reqs to degree)

club info

volunteering log

goals

memories

grade tracker/paper tracker

Monthly

spending log

habit tracker (cleaning, laundry, workout, no spending, meds, etc.)

mood tracker 

workout log

sleep tracker

meal tracker

grocery lists

time log (how much time you spend studying, cleaning, working out, at clubs/volunteering, etc.)

social media tracker

calendar for appointments  

work schedule/hours

gratitude log

practice log (music, sports, art, etc.)

Daily

to do list

water intake (or other habits not in monthly)

weather

outfit

meals

Collections

favorite washi

pen test

inventory of items you collect (books, records, crystals, magnets, etc.)

places to go/places you have been

breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack ideas

good food places in your city

recipes

packing lists (weekend, plane, etc.)

websites you have accounts on (helpful if switching emails later on)

academic websites

level 10

DIYs

goals/achievements

quotes

wishlist

bucket list

outfit ideas

favorite shops

films, tv shows, musicals to watch/have watched

books to read/have read

favorite musicians

student discounts (places where you show your ID and get x% off)

[thebluelyon]

For those professors that lecture at a million miles per hour, some note taking symbols and appreciations can come in handy and save you a few precious seconds during class.

[thebluelyon]

A Tip for College Students: Talk to Your Professors.

DISCLAIMER: I go to a small liberal arts college with about 1,800 students. I can only speak from my experience, so I know this may not be possible for all schools. 

This past semester has been a nightmare. I was struggling to figure out the state of my mental health, juggling two extra classes, working three jobs, and putting on two separate shows with my school’s theatre company. On top of all of that, at the end of the semester a personal emergency came about which I could not even properly explain because it was less my own issue than that of my friend’s, and I didn’t feel right telling others about it.

I was missing classes. I was turning assignments in late. I didn’t finish three of my finals before the end of the year. But I passed all of my classes, even got A’s in two of them. Why? I talked to my professors. On a regular basis. 

Lots of ‘how-to college’ posts will talk about getting close with your professors so that you will be remembered when it comes time to grading papers. While that’s incredibly true, it’s also important to talk to your professors when you’re not getting good grades, so they know why. 

Near the end of last semester, I met with a professor to apologize for how I had been responding to work the past couple of weeks. I explained my situation to her as best I could, and was not expecting much help. She said she was glad to offer me extra help, and the reason was because I had been so good at communicating my circumstances with her on a consistent basis. She said its often that student who are struggling will just stop showing up to class without even an email of explanation. Professors can’t help you if they don’t know what you need help with.

I got an incomplete on my exams for that class, along with another class. I have been allowed up until September 1st to complete all of my work for those classes with no penalty. My professors understood that life happens, and it does affect your school work. Because I spoke to them, they saw where I was at. 

Make relationships with your professors. Both because it will get you good grades, and because it will keep you from getting bad ones (as well as help you to see the humanity in these intellectual giants who can sometimes seem very intimidating). 

[thebluelyon]

PSA Pokemon GO players

If you have spare lures and spare time, a good place to put them is at the pokestops in or around children’s hospitals. A lot of the kids here really want to play but can’t leave their beds or the hospital.

[thebluelyon]

How to memorise an essay ✌️

[thebluelyon]

[thebluelyon]

Love books <3

[thebluelyon]

Do you have any advice for applying to Mount Holyoke? I am a rising senior and really interested in the school. I am really confused in whether I should send my scores are not, how high my scores should be, and how rigorous your academics have to be. Thanks for answering and I hope you did well on you IB Exams!!! (:

Hi there!My first piece of advice would be to demonstrate interest in MHC. This could be through visiting, scheduling an interview with them (which I recommend), and especially in the supplemental essay that you’ll have to write. Interviews are highly recommended on the MHC admissions website, and are a great way to express how you think you would fit into the community. Same goes for the supplemental essay. Take your time preparing for the interview (if you choose to do one) and when writing the essay, as Mount Holyoke really does look for fit.I’m not sure what you mean by scores, so I’ll just try to cover it generally. Since Mount Holyoke is test-optional, I would only send in your scores if they’ll help improve your application. According to MHC’s Common Data Set, the 50th % for the ACT is a 30/31 (meaning 50% of people who sent in their test scores had a 30/31 or higher). The 50th % for the old SAT is the mid-600s for EACH section; I would apply this mid-600s to SAT Subject Tests as well. If you didn’t do as well on your standardized tests, don’t worry! A lot of people choose not to send them in.As for rigor in academics, it would be good to have taken a fairly rigorous program - not just for admissions purposes, but also to be prepared for the academic curriculum. This is in context of your situation, so if you haven’t taken any APs because your school doesn’t offer them, then don’t worry. You’d need grades largely in the B-range or higher, although the occasional C won’t kill your chances (I know this from experience!). Above all, I think that Mount Holyoke looks for intelligent and interesting people, where intelligence isn’t solely defined by good grades and interesting-ness is a result of curiosity and a drive to learn outside of the classroom.I hope this helped you!      ~Emme

[thebluelyon]

LISTEN UP MOTHER FUCKERS

SEE THIS WEBSITE? 

ITS CALLED WOLFRAM ALPHA

THIS IS THE BEST GODDAMN WEBSITE FOR ACADEMIC SHIT. FUCK GOOGLE. 

THIS MOTHERFUCKER WILL LET YOU SEARCH “HOSPITAL BEDS IN CHAD VS. IRAN” 

AND IT GIVES YOU A STRAIGHT GODDAMN ANSWER 

MAYBE YOU’RE NOT INTERESTED IN DOCTORNESS OF THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES COOL SHIT 

HAVING TROUBLE WITH MATH?

HOLY SHIT

OR MAYBE YOU WANNA DICK AROUND

WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT