Introduction To LaTeX!

Setting some goals as i enter college ✨

Taken from my studygram: @equaticnss

this is a masterpost dedicated to those who want to organize themselves but are too lazy to start aka me everyday

01. organizing your schoolwork

there are so many ways to organize your papers nowadays, so it’s pretty important to find what works best for you

I personally use binders and sheet protectors for my handouts that I get at school

pros: binders keep your papers secure, you can use dividers for further organization

cons: that loud noise from opening the binder rings, can be heavy, the binder rings can mess up your papers, the plastic pockets on the inside of the binder often tears

as mentioned, to combat the tearing of papers, I use sheet protectors

if you’re not a fan of binders, a nice alternative is expandable file folders

see this video by @studyign/sareena for some more info!

pros: not as heavy as a binder, there is some organization already with the extra pockets

cons: depending on the brand, might be flimsy, the plastic pockets can tear

I currently use one of these to store all of my homework, and so far it’s worked out for me quite nicely! I would definitely recommend them

if you don’t get that many papers in class but still want to hold onto them, folders are always a nice choice

pros: are lightweight, capable of holding a lot of papers

cons: can tear, papers can fall out (unless you have the kind w/ brads)

I use both folders and binders bc sometimes I’m too lazy to open the rings of the binder oops

also, if you want to store more, it can help if you buy the folders that contain brads

psa: if you don’t keep binder clips or paper clips with you, then you should bc they’re extremely useful and will make your life easier when you’re sorting out papers

for more tips, see this masterpost by @tbhstudying/seo!

02. organizing your supplies

some of you might have a lot of stationary and pens lying around

for those that don’t, it’s totally fine and you might have it better off bc you don’t have to keep track of that many things ahahaha

it’s always nice to have a pen case or pouch to hold your supplies, it can really help you keep your supplies together

if you’re willing to make the investment, try the kipling 100 pens pencil case

here is a cheaper alternative

this website is also really nice, their products are super cute and they have a large variety of pen cases to choose from

when you’re organizing your supplies, it’s important to know what you need the most on a daily basis - it’s not helping you if you keep a complete set of staedtler triplus fineliners in your pen case when in reality you only use two colors every day

ask yourself: what do I need? will it be okay if I leave it behind?

if you choose to leave some supplies at home, be sure that you have a place to leave them hehe

03. organizing your desk space

okay so if you’re like me, you probably have a lot of papers and things that stay on your desk, such as stationary, extra paper, textbooks, etc.

to organize some of my pens/pencils, I recommend using a jar or cup of some sort to keep on your desk so that it’s within reach

for those extra packs of lined/graphed paper you might have, you can store it on your desk in a magazine file or in your drawer

going back to the magazine file: 11/10 would recommend

for me, I have a small desk, so I can’t afford to have everything being piled on my desk - the magazine files are really nice for organizing

be sure that when you’re working, you only have the things you need on your desk! anything that isn’t needed should be stored as neatly as possible

you can find different desk organizers and containers in places like target and amazon!

I hope this was helpful to you guys! I personally still struggle with organization, but over the course of my 2015-16 school year, I’m starting to find ways to keep my things and my life together. if you have any questions, feel free to drop an ask in my inbox ^-^

- soko ◟(๑•͈ᴗ•͈)◞

Some melodies have soul in them, don't they? What you listen to in instrumental music or classics that has the same feeling? I absolutely loved Petricor that you recommended.

Oh, I do.

Beethoven, Für EliseTwo Steps from Hell, Big SkyDebussy, Clair de LuneChopin, Nocturne op 9 n°2Bedrich Smetana, VltavaLudovico Einaudi, ErosLudovico Einaudi, DivenireLudovico Einaudi, PrimaveraLudovico Einaudi, NefeliPhilip Glass, DuetErik Satie, GnossiennesDario Marianelli, Dance With MeDario Marianelli, AtonementDario Marianelli, Cee, You and TeaClint Mansell, Lose YourselfTom Tykwer, The EscapeTom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas FinaleYann Tiersen, Summer 78Hans Zimmer, Cornfield ChaseJohn Wasson, CaravanTchaikovsky, Dance of the SwansTchaikovsky, Waltz of the FlowersProkofiev, Dance of the KnightsCraig Armstrong, OpeningAdolphe Adam, Dance of the WillisPhilip Glass, Morning PassagesZoe Conway, Half Day RoadJoe Hisaishi, Dragon BoyMartin Phipps, Saint PetersburgEmile Pandolfi, Once Upon a December

etc.

Hot tea is refreshing to me the same way rain is. They both make me feel like I have a fresh start. I’m late again, but Day 11 of the April challenge by @journa

Sometimes, when we are presenting, our bodies act completely irrationally. Sweating, stuttering, or just shutting down completely are all things I have encountered during public speaking; behaviour that is usually connected to extreme danger and fleeing behaviour. Completely unnecessary, as your teacher won’t kill you (hopefully), but trying to convince your body to be just as rational is a tough task. Turns out that this is exactly what we’re going to do. 

The basis for this (personal) advice all lies in my musical training, where posture is extremely important. Performance practice lessons have taught me one important thing: you can trick your body into thinking it’s okay, and with that, your audience. disclaimer: I have posted this information before in a slightly different way. Regard this as an updated version. Hopefully one with better spelling.

hoooooow???

Stand up and try to follow these instructions. I’m your only audience right now, so mistakes aren’t a problem. 

Start by relaxing your shoulders. Many people tense their shoulders when they’re anxious, which is a very natural reaction. However, tension in your shoulder automatically reaches through to your back and arms, and even your neck, tensing up your entire upper body. It’s confirming to your brain that yes! this is scary! Well, brain is wrong and we’re going to prove it wrong by relaxing our shoulders. Just let them hang down (make sure you don’t start leaning forward though, it should be just your shoulders). Doesn’t that immediately feel more relaxed?

Keep your feet a little bit apart, firm on the ground. This sends the message to your brain and audience that a single push will not have you fall over. Standing with your legs closely together simply isn’t as stable, and you want to radiate stability and confidence. Even if you’re feeling dizzy, this simple way of pretending will keep your feet on the ground. Literally. 

Chin up, back straight, eyes at the audience. I used to tend to look at the ground, or to lean forward. No, no no! You want to maintain an open posture, and to address the entire audience. When you do this, you’ll look more secure, and maybe you’ll even notice people will listen to you more closely. Make sure you address the entire room, and not just one spot. if you’re scared to look at faces, look at the back wall. But not just one spot, find some nice different wall spots to look at. 

What to do with your hands? I know I used to put my hands in my pocket, or fidget with something. Instead, try to talk with your hands more. When you’re using gestures, people will usually pay more attention to what you’re saying, and they’ll sometimes understand more easily (if you’re interested as to why, message me). 

Do not hide. This is special advice to musicians, too. I used to hide behind my music stand because it was nice and safe. During public speaking it’s easy to hide behind some notes or to stand behind other people of your group, maybe. Don’t. Remember, fake the confident posture till you make it. 

When you’re finished, don’t stop pretending just yet. When people ask how it went, always say it went okay. This is so so so important! Because if you’d say “ugh it was awful!! So many things went wrong, I suck at presenting!” they’ll start thinking hmm, yeah, there were indeed some mistakes… Could have been better. Whereas if you just say it was okay or good, or even decent, they’ll hardly even question it and will most likely remember the positive aspects, as humans tend to do. 

I promise this works, at least to some extent. It may not help you get rid of anxiety right away, especially in really severe cases, but it can help you feel more at ease in front of a group. After that, you can start working on other things, such as volume, intonation, powerpoint use etc. 

Just take a few seconds before you start talking to breathe, focus on those muscles, and to follow this with an amazing presentation (and a good grade). 

You can always send me an ask for advice on public speaking! Even though I’m not a professional coach or whatever, I have overcome my speaking anxiety and maybe I can be of any help at all <3

as requested by quite a few people - a masterpost of educational podcasts. links go to either the site or the itunes podcast store. an excerpt of the description is included with each.

* indicates a podcast that i listen to regularly

entertainment

*welcome to night vale - twice-monthly updates for the small desert town of night vale

*muggle cast - everything harry potter

general information 

radiolab - investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea

*stuff you should know - about everything from genes to the galapagos

*stuff mom never told you - the business of being women 

tedtalks

good job, brain - part pub quiz show, part offbeat news

news

no one knows anything - the politics podcast from buzzfeed news

wait wait…don’t tell me - weekly current events quiz

college

*college info geek - the strategies and tactics the best students use

*getting in - your college admissions companion

math

math for primates - a couple of monkeys who decided that arguing about mathematics was a better use of their time than throwing poo at one another

math mutation - fun, interesting, or just plain weird corners of mathematics

science

60 second health - latest health and medical news

the naked scientists - interviews with top scientists, hands-on science experiments

60 second science - the most interesting developments in the world of science

startalk - astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe

nasa science cast - science behind discoveries on earth, the solar system, and beyond

history

*myths and legends - myths, legends, and folklore that have shaped cultures

stuff you missed in history class - the greatest and strangest stuff you missed

the podcast history of our world - from the big bang to the modern age! …eventually

witness - the story of our times told by the people who were there

the history chicks - two women. half the population. several thousands years of history.

entrepreneurship & finances

practical money matters - better managing their finances

the internet business mastery - learn how to create an internet based business

social triggers insider - the fields of psychology and human behavior

listen money matters - honest and uncensored, this is not your father’s boring finance show

writing & literature

professional book nerds - it’s our job to discuss books all day long

a way with words - words, language, and how we use them

grammar girl - short, friendly tips to improve your writing

classic poetry aloud - recordings of the greats poems of the past

language

esl (english) - improve english speaking and listening skills

language pod

coffee break

search in your podcast app for specific languages!

art

99% invisible - exploration of the process and power of design

tips and tricks photography 

the arts roundtable

hobbies & other

stash & burn (knitting)

practical defense - staying safe in our increasingly dangerous urban environments

zen and the art of triathlon - a triathlete’s view on living the multisport life

the art of charm - make you a better networker, connecter, and thinker

the indoor kids - isn’t just about video games, isn’t not about video games

rationally speaking - explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense

the dice tower - board games, card games, and the people who design and play them

motivational & inspirational

back to work - productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more

personal growth podcast - classic and contemporary self development audio

what it takes - conversations with towering figures in almost every field

here be monsters - exploring the dark corners of the human mind

on being - the big questions of meaning with scientists, theologians, artists, teachers

What I think is really interesting about the papyrus account of the workers building the tomb of Rameses III going on strike to demand better wages is really fascinating to me because if you look at the description given by the royal scribe you see that there was an attempt to satisfy the workers by bringing a large amount of food at once but that was rebuffed by the workers who declared that it wasn’t just that they were hungry at the moment but had serious charges to bring that “something bad had been done in this place of Pharoah” (is poor wages and mistreatment). They understood themselves as having long term economic interests as a -class- and organized together knowing that by doing so they could put forward their demands collectively. It so strongly flies in the face of narratives that are like “in this Time and Place people were happy to be serve because they believed in the God-King and maybe you get some intellectual outliers but certainly no common person questioned that”. If historical sources might paint that sorta picture of cultural homogeneity it is because those sources sought not to describe something true but invent a myth for the stability of a regime.

College Textbook Lifehacks

Okay so it’s not the beginning of a semester but whatever. While I’m thinking about it, let me, a bonafide degree holder learn you some knowledge about college textbooks so you don’t have to take out a mortgage or try to short the market just so you can have a $1,000 paperweight that you never read.

Rule #1 I don’t care what your syllabus says or what your pre-semester welcome email from your professor says or what the bookstore website says, don’t buy the book before classes begin. Show up the first day and ask the professor if the book is necessary for passing the class. Sometimes, it’s not. Sometimes the professor teaches from his or her own memory and never consults the course textbook. If this is the case, unless you just love reading textbooks or want to keep them for whatever occupation you pursue once you have your degree, don’t get the book and save yourself some money. If he or she can teach the course without a book, you can pass it without a book.

Rule # 2 If your professor’s response is yes, you absolutely do need the book, ask them how different the required issue is from previous issues. Book publishers are dirty swindlers and will release a new edition of each book every year or two. Often times the new edition has minor changes like maybe now chapter 14 is split up into two chapters or they changed a couple of the review questions. If an older edition will suffice, just like iPhones, they will be a lot cheaper than the newest edition and you have a better chance of finding an even cheaper used copy which brings me to rule 3.

Rule # 3 Don’t buy the books from your university. Like publishing companies, universities also tend to be dirty swindlers. Copy the ISBN listed for your textbook and paste that shit into a site like half.com valorebooks.com or amazon.com where you will find discounted versions of most every textbook. You could also try to torrent them off of those sketchy russian sites that are listed under that post with the “Leak college textbook PDF’s not nudes” tweet but when that doesn’t work, you go to those sites I listed. Now you have to choose what quality you want, this is important because it can affect the resale value which I’ll talk about later. Obviously the higher the quality (New, Used-Like New etc.) will give you book without creases, markings etc. but will be more expensive. If you don’t care about this (again I’ll explain why you might care in rule 4), maybe go for the rental if the rental is cheaper than purchasing a high quality book-ONLY DO THIS IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT RESALE AND DON’T TEND TO MARK IN YOUR BOOKS. Otherwise, the choice is yours. Now you might ask, what will I do for the two weeks it takes to ship my book? This is where making friends in class comes in handy, just ask them to borrow their book for the time being, or better yet, if you have a close friend already in the class, split the cost of the book 50/50 and share it. If neither of these options work for you, visit your professor in his or her office hours, give them some BS like “I’m so sorry professor, I think I mixed up the shipping and billing address so it’s taking forever for the book to get here boo hoo feel bad for me.” Usually, professors have no problem photocopying the first chapter of the book for you or will be a little lenient with deadlines for the whole class if you’re not the only one. This is fun because not only do you get away with not buying the book right away, but you’re a hero for your class.

Rule #4 Even though it’s the beginning of the semester, think ahead to the end of the semester. Your university is going to offer to buy back your books at the end of the semester. Do not sell them your books, I repeat DO NOT SELL THEM YOUR BOOKS. Those dirty swindlers that sold you an overpriced book a few months ago? Yeah they’re going to buy it back for $5.00 or less. I don’t care if it’s a 10 lb, 700 page biology textbook that’s still in the plastic wrap, you will get cheated. Sell them on amazon. Seller accounts are free and though you aren’t likely to get 100% of what you paid for it back, you will make much more money selling there than you would to the school. If you bought the higher quality book and kept it in decent shape, you’ll get some good beer money. If you went with the $0.99 acceptable condition book, maybe don’t try and sell it on amazon because you’ll pay more to ship it than you’ll receive profit this is why it’s important to take into consideration whether or not you think you will mark up your book. Rentals are cheaper than buying new but you can’t mark them and can’t sell them but don’t worry, there’s other places you can sell your book if you bought a crappy one. Find out if your school has a student run for sale Facebook group (hint, it probably does, especially if you’re at a large state-school), advertise your books on the page and sell them for cash to a fellow student. 

Rule #5 Sorry to say, but these rules don’t work for every course. You might have that professor that wrote their own book and makes you buy it which means you can’t find it on any third party website. When this happens, the most you can do is see if someone who has already taken the course still has their book so you can buy it from them. You can also leave a scathing review during evaluations at the end of the semester and on RateMyProfessor.com which may not do much but is good for the soul. 

Also, especially for labs and beginning language courses, you may need to buy a workbook. Used ones are hard to come by but they do exist thanks to people like me who do their assignments on a separate sheet of paper so they don’t have to mark up the textbook and can resell it later (I advise doing this). This works for language courses, I don’t know how well it works for labs since I am not a science student, if it does work-sweet and if not-I’m truly sorry.

These are my rules and I promise they work. If any one else has additional hacks that they’ve figured out I’d love to hear them! Seriously, doing these things saved me a load of money. 

✨30.09.17 last minute math revision notes~ uni is starting on monday, i’m filled with 49% anticipation and 51% crippling fear tbh