January Study Challenge Ft. The Sunrise

How I Annotate Non-Fiction Books:

Step one gathering supplies. The supplies you need will be based on your needs and the text you are annotating so feel free to fit this to your need or habits.

For physical books: highlighters, pens, sticky notes, page flags, index cards, the book/document

For digital books: your device or choice (might do an in depth post of digital texts later)

step two- creating your key

For small documents, I tend to stick to one color (each of my classes are assigned a single color).

For Longer documents, with lots of information, I will create a key for example:

keys should be based on what information is most important. In my history classes dates and names are more important whereas in a science class terms and chemical formulas may be most important.

You should also keep in mind why you are reading the book/document. For example: Are you reading to write a book report? Then it would be best to highlight the thesis and any points you wish to bring up in your review.

some parts of your key will most likely not need writing down after they become habit, for example after highlighting an important term, I will underline the definition of the term. (I personally tend to under highlight)

very important highlighted text will also get a page flag so that it is easier to find when reviewing, write a review, etc.

step three- your first read through

break the reading into smaller segments, for example. if you are reading a textbook or information-dense book you may wish to use headings or subheadings as your guide for this. if your text is not already broken into smaller section resign yourself to summarizing after every few paragraphs

You can write your summaries in whatever way suits you, your habits, or the book you are working with.

For this book I am writing my summaries in index cards, but I could have written them in sticky notes, or in a notebook (physical or digital.) I have tried all of these techniques and I like them all and tend to switch between them.

On the back of my summary cards, I write the page numbers the information was pulled from so that I can more quickly find the information if I need to quote it.

Feel free to ask questions in the replies or in my asks!

i had shared what is happening in sudan on a long facebook post last night, but it virtually received almost little to no engagement or shares from the nearly 600 “friends” i have on the site.

this morning, my great-aunt was shot by the soldiers fighting for power, and God forbid, i lose more of my family members before eid this friday.

please read below to understand what is happening and how you can help my country. i hope the tumblr community can show more kindness than the lack of support and advocacy i’ve seen elsewhere.

يا رب اجعل هذا البلد آمناً 🇸🇩

the lack of awareness and advocacy from the African, Arab, and Muslim diaspora and the human rights community has been painful.

while Western media has done little to no coverage of the ongoing conflict in the capital city of my motherland, Sudan, it appears that the rest of the world also partakes in normalizing crimes and violence against SWANA people.

violence and war hurting the SWANA region are NOT ordinary occurrences — no one, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, religion, and gender, should experience the unprecedented amount of violence that harms my two living grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and baby cousins who live in Khartoum.

your decision to ignore reading or educating and discussing with others about what is likely to be a civil war is complicity in viewing SWANA people as individuals who regularly experience conflict and are undeserving of help.

the silence is damaging, and it is up to us as privileged members of the diaspora (or individuals living in the Western world committed to human rights) to support the people of my country and their dream for a stable, democratically elected government.

what is happening in Sudan is a fight that started on April 15 between two competing forces for power — the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — neither groups are representative of the needs of our people. The Sudan Army is loyal to the dictator, Omar Al-Bashir, and the RSF is responsible for the genocide in Darfur.

with both power struggles backed by different Arab and Gulf nations, the two parties have been fighting for power for the last few years. While they worked together to try and end the people’s revolution, they lost. however, they are now in a constant power play of who will get to rule the nation.

this all means that war is NOT a reflection of my country — violence does not represent the SWANA people. Sudan is a nation of beautiful culture, strong women, intellectual and influential Islamic scholars, poets, and youth at the front lines of the revolution. we are a people committed to a region of peace for ourselves and the rest of the Ummah.

my family and the rest of Sudan’s innocent civilians are at the most risk, with many currently without drinking water, food to eat, electricity, and complete blockage to any mosques during the final nights of Ramadan, our holiest month of the year.

i ask that you please keep Sudan and our people in your prayers — donate to the Sudan Red Crescent or a mutual aid GoFund Me, email your representatives if you live in a country that can put pressure on either competing force of power, discuss this with your family and friends, and please do not forget to think about SWANA people — our brothers and sisters in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and many others need our love and support.

الردة_مستحيلة ✊🏾

#KeepEyesOnSudan

journal entry ideas:

• what do i love about my life?

• what do i feel like my life is missing, how can i get more of what i need?

• where do i want to be in 5 years?

• who r the people in my life that make me the happiest?

• when am i happiest?

• what do i love doing?

• what am i afraid to do?

• can i improve on any of my daily habits?

• what steps am i taking to reach my goals?

• what makes me upset?

• how can i be happier?

• am i doing all i can to reach my goals?

• 5 things i love about myself:

• 3 negative mindsets i should let go of:

• what will i accomplish next year?

• how can i improve my daily routines?

• what is one piece of advice i would give to my future self?

• how can i love myself more, daily?

• what can i do to practice more self care throughout the week?

• 5 things that make me smile:

• steps i can take to b the most confident version of myself:

• how can i show others more love each day?

• who makes me the happiest?

• what is my number one goal for next year?

• if i could relive one moment it would be:

• if i could time travel i would go:

• i describe a perfect day as..

• if i could be anything in the world, i would be..

• if i could travel anywhere in the world i would..

• what makes me unique?

• what does self love look like?

• what r my top three personality traits?

• what do i miss about my childhood?

• my ideal life looks like..

🫶🏼

i liked the sky when i was walking home today :) today hasn’t been the best tho, a toxic ex hit me up and for some reason i’m being really friendly 🙃 also i have a massive crush on this guy who’s really on and off in wanting to talk to me. on a happier note, i’ve listened to lots of Tame Impala today, and all my studying is going well !

yooo how do u email a prof for a recommendation letter?

Hi Professor!

I am in the process of applying to ____ and they require letters of rec. I sincerely enjoyed your classes, and felt that they gave me a particularly good chance to display my strengths, such as ____ [class participation, writing, etc.] and would love for you to write me a letter, if you’d be willing. The due date is ____, and I can send you further instructions for submission later if you accept.

Attached to this email is ____, the piece of work I did in your class which best showcases my abilities, as well as my current CV [or resume]. If you agree to write me a letter, soon I will also send you drafts of my ____ [statement of purpose, personal statement, application essays, other relevant material] for my application to aid in your writing. I am also happy to meet in person to discuss this with you.

I want to stress that this application is quite competitive, so if you feel you will not be able to write me a strong letter then I completely understand - but please let me know. Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely, ____

—

a few notes:

- you should have all your relevant materials (app essays, etc.) sent to them *at least* a month in advance to give them ample time to write the letter

- thus, your initial email asking them if they’d be willing to write a letter for you should be sent *over* a month in advance. professors are busy

- if you are applying for a really prestigious position/scholarship/fellowship, or grad school, it’s best to have at least a majority of your letter writers be professors (rather than adjuncts or post docs). ideally you’d want them to be full/tenured professors. in lots of cases, especially academic ones, *who* writes your letter matters - not just *what’s in* your letter

- the reason you send them the piece of work you did in their class that you are most proud of is to remind them of your abilities as a student and the quality of the work you produced for them. they have lots of students. sometimes they need a bit of help jogging their memory of exactly what you did in their class.

- the reason you send them your other application materials (personal statement, statement of purpose, CV) is so that they have information to draw from when writing your letter. they know what you’re passionate about, what you hope to do in the future, other experience you have, and can use this information when writing your letter

- on a similar note, this is also why you’d want to list the strengths you displayed in their class

- basically, you want to give them as much information as you can about your strengths, goals, and intentions - give them prompts they can use to write your letter

- the bit at the end about asking for a “strong letter” is important because some professors can only write you mediocre letters (e.g. “this student was always on time to class and gave their undivided attention during lecture” - what does this tell admission committees? well, it tells them that the professor has nothing positive to say about your *academic* abilities and so they’re resorting to other strengths. it’s a polite way of saying “this student was okay, but not spectacular in any notable way”. big red flag for admissions committees.) if all you’re going to get is a mediocre letter, you might as well not get a letter at all

- if the professor you ask accepts, then be sure to send them polite reminders as the date approaches. (i usually send a reminder at the 1-month-till-due-date mark when i send the other application materials, and then again at the 2 week and 1 week marks, and, if necessary, every day after the final 3 days leading up to the due date

—

i know this was a lot, but i remember being in your shoes and being completely lost when it came to applying for stuff so i know how daunting it can be. i figured i’d just throw all this information at you to be of as much help as possible.

for reference, i’ve applied to graduate programs, fellowships, and scholarships. i have been accepted into several of the top 10 graduate programs in my area, as well as received multiple scholarships and a fellowship, and received honorable mentions for some of the most competitive fellowships in the US. i have also worked with the admissions committee at my graduate program to organize multiple informational events for those interested in applying to graduate school and, in the process, have learned a lot about what makes a strong application.

so while you should absolutely take my advice with a grain of salt (different circumstances call for different standards), i do have quite a bit of experience with applications and what makes a strong letter of rec.

i hope this helped! best of luck with whatever you’re applying for :)

What is going on with the world??

day 17 - what does home mean to you?

i’m not really sure. i feel at home when traveling. when i start to get comfortable in whatever place i’m visiting - that’s home to me :)

may your glasses stay clean for an entire day. like to charge, reblog to cast.

recently started reading this book! i’m already in pain, i can tell this will be a frustrating read, but the story is so good ... i skipped school today to study for my finals, and it went well ! i finished a 1000 word essay and made some flashcards for chem 💫

sorry i just really love the sky 🥺i finished the five people you meet in heaven aaaand cried. the message is just so sweet and i really connected with it