05/10/18 - 23 Days Of Productivity

How did you self taught yourself mathematics?

I asked my school if they’d give me the textbooks, and then I went away and pored over the material, doing all the practice questions I could find. I used videos and tutorials to help me and wrote down lots of examples in my notes :)

12/5/19

Got some motivation to work so I’m going to run with it until the discipline has to take over

Edit: my stupid ass got the date wrong haha

24/10/22

My fourth and final year is in full swing! To get started on big documents like literature reviews for my thesis, I find it easier to just start writing. Pen to paper, because I’m an old-fashioned girl (and Word is annoying when you need sub- and superscripts and words you don’t find in a dictionary, as does a chemist). I was then able to overcome the paralysis and start typing the actual thing.

(This was a brain dump — what do I know and where did I get the information from? What do I need to look up that should go into the review?)

Sorry for the absence lol

12/8/19

3 days until A Level results day and I feel physically sick knowing that what’s on that paper is not going to be a reflection of my best work by a long shot.

However, I know that I will have plenty of opportunities to prove myself at uni. New chapter, new start. It’s all a learning curve and those results can’t hurt me. I’ve already got a confirmed place at uni; now I need to focus on that.

Good luck to any fellow A level takers of 2019. We will get out the other side x

7/9/19 - Gouache experimentation

So as you can tell, I’m not great with paints but I really do enjoy painting with gouache and just felt like painting to kill my boredom. I decided to continue despite my most important colour for this piece having dried up in the tube beyond salvage, so this is purely a just-for-the-hell-of-it kind of thing. There are like a million things wrong with this little thing (eep those antennae ahaha) but the fact that it exists is progress.

2 weeks to go until I start my degree... I’m a bit nervous and to be honest, I still feel quite burnt out but I’m hoping my mood improves when I actually get there.

20/11/18 - 72 days of productivity

I got an interview from Cambridge!

Oh my goodness I’m so excited that I get a second chance to show them I’m up for this. I was whinging this morning that I just wanted to find out and then opened my inbox to find the email I’ve been waiting for :)

So what you see above is the product of a newfound energy and zest for life. I’m writing up some biology notes in advance and also got to play with some logarithmic graph paper (OMG that stuff is so cool!) and did some (heavily tippexed) maths. They were just the examples haha I suck at copying things down

Happy Tuesday folks, I hope today has treated you as well as it has treated me!

11 Question Tag

Rules:

Answer 11 questions

Nominate 11 other bloggers by tagging them

Ask those bloggers 11 questions

Thank you to @marie-curie for nominating me! Right then, let’s get started! Oh, and Happy New Year’s Eve haha

1. How many books have you read in 2018?

29. I kept a diary of what I read. It’s a pathetic total but it’s more than I’ve read in a year before AND I’ve been super busy so I’m quite proud of that :)

2. What is your favourite book character?

Werner Pfennig from All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. He’s such a bright spark. I freaking love this book. It’s like the only fiction book I’ve read in English in two years!

3. Current favourite TV show?

I don’t watch TV as a rule but actually I’m quite into Grey’s Anatomy and Doctor Who.

4. Have you made any New Year’s resolutions?

To read more *English-language* fiction! And also to start learning to code. I’ve wanted to for a while

5. What are your favourite songs from 2018?

Brace yourselves, this answer is quite long. My most recent has to be Scared of the Dark from the new Spider-Man soundtrack (yes. Yes I did go there haha). But then we have:

High Hopes by P!ATD

On Fire by Loïc Nottet (please give him some love omg his voice!)

Almost all of Maître Gims 2018 album Ceinture noire. La Même is THE best thing on it though.

Max Giesinger’s album Die Reise. All of it.

Hier mit dir by Wincent Weiss

6) Last book that you basically inhaled/ read in one go?

I am literally incapable of reading anything in one go or quickly. It takes me days to get through a couple of pages nowadays haha but I guess the fastest I’ve read was L’invitée. And we all know how long I was reading that xD

7. Do you listen to music while reading?

No. I have got to have absolute silence or I can’t focus on the words haha

8. Favourite OTP?

I don’t have one :)

9. Countries you want to visit

Oh my God there are so many! But I guess my top 8 would be (in alphabetical order):

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

The Czech Republic

Luxembourg

New Zealand

Norway

10. What is the coolest fantastic creature and why?

The hippogriff! I love eagles and I love horses and the hippogriff is a very handsome, very powerful mix of both.

11. Fond memory from 2018?

I have had a blast this year, and I am a completely different person now to how I started the year. I’ve grown up a lot from having to travel solo and made some fantastic friends. I’ve really gone out and made memories for the first time in my life. I reckon among the highlights are my time at the summer school at Cambridge University and going to London with just my friend from school. We were sat in Five Guys not having a care in the world. And we went shopping and I let my friend dress me haha

I can’t neglect my best friends of course - the sleepover I had with them a couple of months back was so much fun!

And I guess all the times I have laughed. Including my friend’s birthday, where I tried VR for the first time.

So those were my 11 questions. I hope I haven’t bored you too much. I’m now going to nominate:

@myhighschoolstudies @anatomyandcappuccini @cyclicstudies @etudaire @freckledstudy @psychologyhermione @pianoandstudy @nic-biostudies @a-study-in-letters @helianthusstudy @patriotstudies

Sorry if you’ve already done this! You guys are going to answer the following:

What was your favourite film this year?

What are you looking forward to in 2019?

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

You are given the chance to master anything you wish in 2019. (This could be a language, a school subject or a hobby like ballet or playing an instrument, or literally anything you like.) What do you pick?

If you could change one thing about 2018, what would it be?

What were you most proud about in 2018?

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions?

You can take three books and three songs from this year into next year. Which do you choose?

What is your favourite memory of this year?

Which countries would you like to visit?

Not all of 2018 has been bad news. What happened that made you smile?

To any GCSE/A level students who have to teach themselves because of the coronavirus outbreak

Everyone is very much focused right now on Years 11 and 13, whose exams have been cancelled, but Years 10 and 12 will more than likely have exams next year that aren’t - and this time off means you’re losing a lot of teaching time. Whatever measures end up being taken for you next year, it’s important that you are still preparing yourselves for the eventuality that every exam goes ahead as normal. Even if it doesn’t, it’s better to be over prepared than underprepared. I imagine you’ll have been given resources to help you with this, but it’s not the same as being at school/college/sixth form.

So, if you need help with chemistry, French, German, biology or maths, I am happy to answer your questions. I took these subjects at A level and achieved A*AAAA, and I achieved 11 A* grades at GCSE. I am now doing a chemistry degree at a Russell Group university. I taught myself the A level maths course in a year, on my own - I know how difficult self-teaching is and I know that there will be people who will struggle more than others with this. I’m not saying this to brag at all; I’m saying that I am more than qualified to give you some tips if you would like them!

I have no doubt that your teachers will be doing their best to help you as well; I am just offering to do what I can because these are unprecedented circumstances. Nobody knows what next year will look like, or even if we’ll be able to return to our respective institutions in time for the new academic year. The best thing you can do for yourselves is to keep your heads down and do the best you can to keep learning, ready for your eventual return.

I know you probably feel a bit lost (or maybe you don’t - lucky you!) without a teacher in front of you to guide you, but if I were in your boat - and to some extent I am, because I still have to think about standing myself in good stead for next year - I’d be looking to do all I could to minimise my disadvantage.

(Obviously I am busy with my own work as well so I won’t be able to respond immediately, but wherever I am available I will try my best to give you a different perspective on a topic, or perhaps point you towards some new resources if I know of any!)

Good luck guys.

14/09/2018 - 3/100 days of productivity

No pictures today - sorry! I’m a bit rushed but I thought I’d update to prove I can finish what I started hehe

I spent an hour reviewing German vocab I learned last year in my last free period of the day, and I also got all my homework completed in time for the weekend. That included biology and chemistry. I got a lot out of my lessons today - I had my first lesson with a teacher I haven’t had since Year 9 (and I’m in Year 13 now!)

(I’m off to Nottingham tomorrow for a uni open day, so I can’t work)

I hope you’ve all had productive days!

18-19/11/2018 - 70-71 days of productivity

I’m having an awful mental health day. I don’t know if I’m worried about something or not... that is the beauty of depression. It’s been at bay for a while but I’m afraid it’s going to come back and I hate feeling like this :(

I just want a hug.

And to hear back from Cambridge. Anything. I don’t care if I get rejected, I just want to know.

Other than that, this morning was ok, and I got a fair amount done. It was my Maths morning today so I did a bunch of integration. Fun times!