Ok Ok But Why Is Language Learning Becoming So Competitive?

George: [to Percy] Pardon my French, but you're being a douchebaguette.

The person I reblogged this from deserves to be happy

I tried to scroll past this. I really did

so your last semester wasn’t great.

we’ve all been there fam. in fact my previous semester was not great either – i got kicked out of my university’s honor program. You need a 3.5 cumulative GPA to stay in, and because of a lot of different circumstances, I finished out with a 3.48 – which is, frankly, better than i deserved. But this semester I’m gonna get a 4.0 and reapply. So here’s how ya do it. 

1. have a good first day. 

a big mistake is to go balls-to-the-wall discipline on your first day. Fuckin… relax, dude. Wake up as early as you need to be ready, but don’t push yourself to be up at 5am or anything like that. Set our your stuff the night before so you can have an easy morning. Treat yourself to a good breakfast or just get that fast food you’ve been craving for lunch. It’s really important not to stress yourself out too much, especially after your last semester kinda sucked, and it’s VERY important not to let yourself automatically associate school with negative emotions like fear and stress, because that will paralyze you down the line when things get more difficult closer to exam season, etc. 

2. don’t be afraid to drop

when going to all your new classes, really seriously evaluate your ability to succeed in a class with that time slot/professor/etc. last semester I had a quantitative reasoning class that was part of our core curriculum – the professor was NOT good at their job, did not teach us the material, and frankly showing up to that class was a waste of my time. What i SHOULD have done was DROP THE DAMN CLASS the first week, and taken it the next semester with a better professor. 

3. limit other activities at first

your first couple weeks of the new semester, cut back on other activities. I’m really active in political stuff going on around my city, and i’m on a leadership team for an organization that does that kind of stuff. I’ve let the team know that I’m not going to be participating, going to meetings, or ANYTHING for the next two weeks while my semester gets started. The reasons for this are many – it helps you get used to the pace of all your classes without being stressed out by other things, it helps you reorganize your priorities and put school first, and it also helps you build credit with your professors, so down the line if you’re having problems (like ‘oh SHIT i forgot this homework’ or ‘FUCK i don’t understand this project i need an extension’) they’ll be more likely to help you out, because they know you’ve been putting the effort in. 

4. try out something new organizationally

if you’re like me, keeping track of assignments is really difficult. I lose papers all the damn time. So this semester I’ve bought one of those accordion file thingies – so I can keep all my papers in one place, while still having them separate and organized. Just remember, the strategy is only one part, but you’re responsible for sticking to it and making it work. 

so there ya have it, friends. you’re ready to start this ‘recovery semester’ off with a bang. you can do it, and so can I!

Sirius: Being gay isn't a choice.

Sirius, grabbing Remus' hand like a trophy: It's a game and I'm winning.

Tips For The New Semester

I. Time Management

Use your planner to map out your weeks

Remember to study smarter not harder

Check your emails before each class

If class is cancelled then use the time to study/review for that class

Take a 5 min break after each assignment to avoid distractions

Break up projects into smaller parts to avoid doing it all at the last minute

If you feel burned out or unmotivated then do one assignment or use the 5 min rule

II. Studying and Learning

Be present in the moment

Actually make the effort and go to class (biggest goal for me)

Turn off your phone while studying

Write notes on the reading before class and add to notes during class

Study in a place with no distractions

Do your own homework

don’t copy other’s homework answers esp. if you don’t understand the topic

Make practice tests for yourself

Always do the extra credit

Go to the tutoring center if you need help

Talk to your classmates and make study groups

Go to your professor’s office hours for help

III. Treat Yourself

Sleep at least 6 hours every day (2nd most important goal to me)

Don’t cram for tests in one night (causes too much stress)

Find someone you can talk to about stress

Find what motivates you

Go hang out with friends or family at least once a week

Take some time to stretch, take a walk, workout, or meditate everyday

Read something for fun everyday

General School Tips

Stay organized.

Organization is hard for some and easy for others. I recommend having a planner of some sort, a folder, and pencil case, and some sort of system to stay organized.

Have a planner. 

You can use any type of planner. I Personally use a Bullet Journal style system in a dotted journal. But you can use a pre printed planner, your phone, a printable or some other form of planner, its up to you. Just have one and use it, write due dates, test/quiz dates, birthdays, holidays, and even your daily tasks. I wrote my work i got in class down as soon as i got it and if i finished it i crossed it out. I would write down websites and little notes to not forget things also. A place to put all of those random thoughts you have can reduce stress

Turn things in on time. 

This one seems like common sense but I will still address it because I personally know people who never turned things in and still expected the teacher to pass them. You cannot get a grade with out turning things in. If your teachers is fine with you turning it in late than turn it it. Anything is better than a zero in the grade book. 

Ask questions. 

I get it, you think your smart enough or good enough or even afraid to ask questions. But teachers are paid to do just that. Their job is to teach you so if you are having trouble with something ask. Also don’t be afraid to ask a question during class. Raise your hand and ask, someone else may have a similar question, it will make the teachers life easier.

Take breaks.

If you find yourself feeling stressed or overwhelmed, take a break. If you’re at home stand up and walk around, get a drink or something to snack on. Get some air. If you are in class ask to go to the bathroom or to get some water. If you cant leave the room then stretch your arms in front or above you and take some breaths. I found that if I couldn’t focus or was stressed that mindless doodling on a blank page for a bit helped.

Find a study style. 

There are many ways to study. Reading over notes/books, rewriting notes, condensing info onto flash cards, quizlet, or using memory tricks. Just find one that suits your life and try different ones out. Personally I like rewriting my notes when I have the time or I will condense my notes onto a flash card using an erasable pen. The ink erased with heat so I would have a candle on my desk and waved the card over it to erase. I would do this while writing the info over and over again until I memorized it.

Write your info on your stuff. 

If you are prone to leaving things around like I am, write your name, the class, the teacher, the period and the room of the class. If you have a water bottle or something not for a class just put your name and maybe a way to contact you.

Carry a water bottle. 

I would highly recommend you have a bottle, just make sure it follows your schools policies. 

Have just in case stuff. 

When I say just in case I mean things like pain relief, allergy medicine, deodorant, maybe some cough drops, and if you have a period, some spare products. Just have things you may need.

I don’t use a bujo but I’m going to use some of these ideas.

How to use a bullet journal, student’s edition

I’ve been using a bujo for a year now, and as a high school student, I was struggling to incorporate my bujo into my studies, aka organising my homework and stuff. Before starting a bullet journal I was using a day to day diary where I wrote down all my homework and exams. As I switched to the bujo, I was so happy to have this productivity-boosting tool, yet I couldn’t figure out how I could write down my school-related dates and assignments on my bujo, since it is not designed for long-term planning. So here are the tips I figured out through time (and a lot of studyblr scrolling hehe) on how to use a bujo as a student! Enjoy ^^

1. Have a Semester/trimester/year overview of your school/uni year

This is so far the best tip for long-term planning in your studies. With an overview of your school/uni weeks, it is very easy to jot down exam dates, deadlines, conferences and stuff. 

It’s very useful when you are given, at the beginning of your school year, the planning of exams. You can easily jot down the dates and subjects of each exam in this calendar.

You can also add vacations, public holidays and weekends. I also like to highlight the days already gone so that at the end of the school year, I’ll feel the joy of highlighting the last day of school ^^

2. Weekly spreads and assignments columns

This is essential if you want to incorporate your bullet journal with study planning. 

It consists of having one column of your page, the weekly assignments overview, dedicated to only writing homework, assignments and upcoming tests. The other part of your weekly spread consists of your usual daily logs. Here are some of my weekly spreads as an example (shoutout to @studypunked for the inspo)

As you can see in the pics, the left column is used solely for writing down my homework and tests.

I also like to add some decorations and pictures to give a bit of life to those weekly spreads.

I also added a month overview and a sleep log each week, but this is personal: you can become creative about how you want your weekly spreads to be.

I usually pre-do these weekly spreads for school weeks after a vacation so that if the teachers give an assignment due in a week or two, I already have the homework column of the due week prepared in advance. When I don’t have school (aka during vacations), I don’t make a weekly spread. I just do my dailies linearly.

3. Useful collections for school

I also like to have some pages of my bullet journal dedicated to other elements related to school:

Homework to do during the holidays:

My grade averages:

A spread dedicated to the list of things I had to do for UK uni application and school during last summer:

And so on… you can get creative and it also depends on your needs for school. 

So here it is! This setup worked really well for my senior year and I will definitely continue to use it for university. 

I hope this post was useful :)