How Much Longer Is This Gonna Take For Us To Break

constantly attacked with 3am thoughts

and another hour wasted thinking of you, dear darling - dyngenights

the sweet nothings you spit out play a role in my life where they tear my heart from pieces to pieces

Even Kendall Jenner’s stomach has rolls when she bends over Candice Swanepoel has stretch marks and Nicki Minaj has scars. Selena Gomez has cellulite and Gisele Bundchen gets bloated sometimes. Adriana Lima doesn’t wake up with perfect hair, Gigi Hadid has bad breath, Beyonce cries, and even Kim Kardashian needs alone time. Jennifer Lawrence loses her temper, Rihanna lies, Kylie Jenner gets jealous and Taylor Swift feels hopeless. The point: Everyone is human and everyone does normal humanly things. Let’s stop trying to be so ‘super'human and take more time to focus on things that matter more than our appearances.

i might not show it, and it’ll only remain visible as a glimpse of a burning passion like a star at night and invisible during the day, but it will be forever there

howtobasic? is that you???

world record for most cans opened in 3 seconds

All I know is that I am the most honest when I write because it is real and raw. It is my most vulnerable self.

10:44pm thoughts// please don’t break me (via digressing-paths)

22-03-2015

Does anybody else have one of those working days where you just want to lie on your bedroom floor and work, whilst listening to music and drinking tea/eating strawberries? Well, today has been that day for me. I wasn’t feeling the library, or venturing into town on a Sunday to be faced with reams of tourists filling the coffee shops either. So: my bedroom floor it is, where I can spread my mess (or as I like to call it, ‘thoughts’) all around me. 

Today, I would like to talk about working at your own pace.

I am just about to start writing up my second year dissertation on ‘Nature and Art in Milton & Marvell’. However, I am a lot later in doing so than most people doing 2nd year English with me, and over the past few weeks I have secretly felt very troubled by this. You probably know the feeling - when everyone discusses where they’re at with work at lunch or something, and you have a little bit of a panic as it seems everyone is so much more ahead (!) . Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve repeatedly tried to avoid ‘dissertation chat’, but its been nigh on impossible, and to be completely honest it was starting to stress me out a lot. Which is never a good thing.

Had I been Superwoman (or Hermione armed with a Time-Turner), I would have written my dissertation on top of my portfolio essays, weekly essays, and practical criticism classes last term; only I’m not, and last term didn’t happen to work out like that. Luckily I had done a substantial amount of my dissertation work previously in anticipation of this, but ultimately dissertation work was momentarily pushed aside by me due to my weekly essays, while others had some extra time last term to work on their dissertations instead. Whenever I happened to mention that I’d only met my dissertation supervisor for one out of the four hours we could have had last term, others looked at me in varying states of shock; eventually it seemed that practically everyone apart from me had a complete first draft sorted by the 15th March. I could have cried as panic began to set in. 

But then I reminded myself that dissertations are due on the 23rd April. My dissertation supervisor isn’t worried in the slightest by the time-frame we are working to: I’m meeting him next week with my first draft, which means I have 7 days to write 5000-ish words, all of which I have already meticulously planned. Things could be worse. Had I forced myself to write my dissertation last term, just to have been writing at the same time as others, I feel that it wouldn’t have been of a very good quality because I would have rushed it, and I wouldn’t have been happy with it. It ultimately wouldn’t have said what I really wanted it to say, as I wouldn’t have had the time to put as much thought into it. Moreover, had I taken the time to write my dissertation last term, my weekly work and portfolio of essays would have been drastically affected, both of which were a more pressing matter at the time. 

So:

Even though it is now technically the Easter holidays, I am at university writing my dissertation whilst also fitting in a bit of Medieval/Shakespeare revision: however I feel happy with myself. I have so much time to really think about my own work and really engage with my dissertation. I feel calmer. The thought of writing it doesn’t make me want to cry anymore. To get so caught up in what others are doing/how far others are in work is nothing but stress, and its really pointless. As long as I am content with the quality and (seemingly snail’s) pace of my own work, I need to stop measuring myself against others. Realising this today has meant that I have felt a lot less stressed about dissertations than I have done for the past two months. I only wish I had realised this sooner. 

Try not to think about how great you feel others are doing (chances are they’re actually feeling exactly the same); work at your own pace, and focus on getting the job done well when it comes to big deadlines. 

Right - this dissertation won’t write itself! 

-Sarah 

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.

Im from nz i find u offensive

New Zealand isn’t real, nice try