My Tips For Doing Highers :)

reblog and put in the tags something that you were looking forward to and can’t do it because of coronavirus

[ one hundred days of productivity: 3/100 ]

sun 18 august

powering through some physics revision while listening to ‘come from away’ before i retire for the night and watch some himym :)

[ one hundred days of productivity — 7/100 ]

thu 22 august

english research for my persuasive folio piece while once again listening to ‘come from away’. god i love that musical.

academia things that genuinely make me happy

large textbooks filled with extra papers which hold the answers to the problems you thought were too brilliant to be thrown away, or the simple short summary of a part you were struggling to understand before

having your textbook absolutely ruined by highlighters and sticky notes all over it, those little tips and ideas you picked up from the lesson. anyone who opens that book immediately knows that you’ve studied the crap out of it and know the concept by heart. “this is the most annotated book i’ve ever seen” is literally the highest form of compliment for me.

solving math or chemistry problems to a soundtrack album or ambient sounds, extra points if it’s in afternoon lol

when you’re so focused and keen on getting to the final answer that your hand physically can’t keep up with your eagerness so you end up with the most incoherent solution. but you’ve finally got the answer right!

being self-taught in a subject or a few chapters of the textbook, and still smashing the quizzes and the exams

coming up with a new solution to the problem, or seeing the problem from a new perspective, and finally being able to solve it because of just that.

confidently walking out of the exam room. 0 doubt in your mind that you crushed it!

actually feeling how you’ve grown academically, and how much more knowledgeable you are compared to the beginning of the semester

casually and confidently having conversations with a professor about your studies, exchanging ideas and discussing the existing theories, methods, on-going research and all

all of this is everything i want in life- god 

some things i’ve learned while studying in quarantine

drink more water instead of more coffee.

weekly goals are bullshit. set yourself 3-day goals. you’ll be less laid-back.

don’t just mindlessly stare at words. before you start studying, know your approach to it. have a plan.

summarizing the concept in your own words is the key part of taking notes. don’t just copy things down, convert them into your own way of talking, your own vocabulary, no matter how dumb and unprofessional it sounds.

don’t let the “studyblr aesthetic” fool you. studying doesn’t have to be pretty. summaries and notes can be messy as long as they’re comprehensible. you can always rewrite and reorganize them later. (honestly, you better do. and you better keep them.)

don’t throw away the papers you’ve solved your problems in. staple them to the fucking textbook. you need to see them constantly. cause you’ll need reminders of how far you’ve came, when you’re feeling discouraged.

don’t be an armchair analyst for your issues. if you have an idea then act on it.

remember: the exact point where it becomes difficult, is where your growth begins. take a deep breath, and try to focus on the paragraph in front of you.

get off your high horse and understand that if you’re a zero, you won’t go to 100 in a couple of days. first, you’ll need to reach 30, then from 30 to 60, and then from 60 to 90. nobody is 100 everyday. that happens very rarely.

you need to have fun everyday. you need to have peaceful time every single day. even on exam night. especially on exam night, actually. so make sure you’ve studied enough so you can have some time to yourself.

once you’re on a roll and in need of some challenge to stay on track, start writing down your studying hours. tell yourself you’re not allowed to do less than 80% of what you did yesterday. whatever the hell it was, even just one hour. so if yesterday you really studied for like, say 8 hours, today your goal is to study for at least 6 and a half hours. if you can’t keep up with that, make it 70%, or 60%. 

be forgiving of yourself. be kind to yourself. even if you bounced back and lost your streak. start again. as slowly as you did before. take your time. it’s okay, you were there once you can get there again.

18 march 2020

day one working from home. scottish schools officially shut on friday but following guidelines i was having to self isolate for a fortnight bc of family members anyway. stay safe!

21/08/20

maths problems this long feel like a workout for my brain. also this q was Not worth enough marks for the amount of working i had to do.

boys complimenting me:

me: :// 

my teacher leaving an ‘excellent work!!!’ on my essay: 

me, holding a wall for support: bro i’m just…..bro i’m just really teary i’m ghjdgfsdhjfjsdhf i’m hgjggjkhfkdjgj wow thank you idk what to say….bro idk why i’m fjhdsfkjdfg crying right now 

8th may

this years reading challenge has really encouraged me to read more and it’s been soo lovely! cr: the dream theives by maggie stiefvater

summer of indulgences. takeout for dinner two nights in a row. glass after glass of cold peach juice. scratching mosquito bites for the sensuous pleasure of it. climbing past the point of my fingers giving out. taking the long way home. gently pressing the bruises on my heart just to feel the twinge