Finished Today's Classes(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

end sem szn is nearing and i need to start preparing so:

psych:

bio bases

test-yourself-flashcards for neurotransmitters & their functions and parts of the brain & the functions

start going through ppts, start with the topic you feel the most lost in (or figure some other strategy for this, if needed)

simultaneously go through the QB questions for the topics you do

and ofc, past-year papers

stats

start making compulsory cheat sheet

(timed) practice exercises

past-year papers

personality psych

go through ppts (of both profs, if needed)

go through given textbook(s) for more clarity

past-year papers

social psych

start making mind-maps of theories/topics to understand the topics, use given textbook(s) for this

start with the topics that weren't tested in the quiz

teach it to yourself through storytelling, don't rote memorise

past-year papers

design:

make final presentation

finish up prototype, add aesthetic details, sticky notes and other labels

prepare points you wish to emphasize on during jury

had a mini heart attack when i realised my first graphic design assignment was due at 11:59 a.m. and not 11:59 p.m.

thankfully i was almost done with the assignment beforehand and only had to add few finishing touches (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

rant coming up because why not

so i feel like im sucking at the whole "college experience" thing

i haven't hit rock bottom in terms of my academics but im so SO scared that i might. istg college level assignments are no joke and I FEEL LIKE IM ALWAYS LACKING UGH

i haven't participated in any clubs or committees or any student activities. either because whenever there's smtg, im tired or because im undermining/second guessing my skills.

LMAO recently ive also been thinking that im just plain talentless like everyone has their 'thing'. what's my thing? nothing. there's nothing that i can confidently say is my thing.

yeah my self esteem has taken a hit after coming here.

i keep comparing myself to one of my friends and honestly im envious of how she's actually experiencing college and how involved in the clubs/activities she is. and she's so funny, bubbly and smart and everyone likes her.

okay that's it for the rant, ill be fine eventually (atleast that's how i pacify myself). maybe others also feel the way i do, maybe my friend feels this way too and i just don't know it🤷

college decision season has been making me so nervous 😬 i just hate the anticipation and waiting :“( my fellow seniors, how are you all coping? i’m just trying to throw all my energy into track. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ posted on Instagram - https://ift.tt/3b6R5FZ

I will succeed. Not immediately. But definitely.

Music makes anything easier, even writing pieces in a different language

i have a social psych final in a day and im done revising one module....out of 12 modules.....

wish me luck y'all 😭

will prolly have few breakdowns in the morning

till then, good night y'all <3

UPDATE: the final went pretty okayyyy and i was able to revise all modules hehe

STUDY TIPS (note to self):

Sometimes, messy notes work better. Spending years on studyblr and studytwt cemented the idea in my mind that my notes have to be picture-worthy with perfect handwriting and an aesthetically-pleasing color-coding system ALL THE TIME. And while I acknowledge that this works well for others, it simply doesn't for me.

My brain works really quickly when it's trying to understand a topic. So quickly that I often have multiple ideas at a time, and with the addition of my professor's inputs or my classmates' inputs, I really needed to speed up in taking down notes. This meant that my handwriting gets REALLY messy, to the point that only I can decipher it. But the extra time that my messy handwriting buys me (compared to the painstakingly slow neat handwriting) allows me to process the info, jot down the essential points, MAKE IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE IDEAS, doodle maps and symbols, and so on.

But what really helped my note taking process is having my own set of notes from the readings in advance (yes I know this isn't groundbreaking at all but for me IT IS). The night before, I wrote down notes + questions and clarifications that I wanted to address during the class. Then, during the class itself, I added my professor's inputs/classmates' inputs in the remaining spaces of my notes near each topic. This left me with pages that are filled with information both from the readings and the class discussion.

Jotting down notes from the discussion also helped greatly with retention. Since the information from the readings are still fresh in my mind, I was able to easily link the related ideas with the inputs from class. As a result, I remembered and understood stuff better.

Again, not groundbreaking stuff. But see, I've been on studyblr since junior high school (I am now a 4th year college student so that's like, a decade ago). I've been on studytwt since my 2nd year in college. Everywhere I look, I see photos of neat handwriting, color-coded notes, and overall aesthetically-pleasing study set-ups. For years, I tried so hard to do all these but I could never maintain them. I got so caught up with making things pretty that I barely remembered anything at all.

My brain is inherently messy. I always worked better on a chaotic desk, with multiple notebooks open for my notes and doodling/free space for writing down. My handwriting is messy when I write quick. My brain operated by firing multiple connected ideas at once. Neat and tidy don't work when I'm still trying to process or iron out my thoughts. Neat and tidy only works later during exam season, when I'm revising my notes so I can see shit better.

Anyway, this is just what works for me.

tl;dr: write notes in advance based on the class readings but leave space for more jotting down so that you can squeeze in info from the class discussion. Messy handwriting sometimes works better when you're still processing stuf. There's plenty of time to make them pretty later on during revision. Also, neat and pretty doesn't work for everyone (don't let studyblr and studytwt fool you).

I JUST GOT THIS MAIL

slayed a little too hard🤭

not letting this get to my head tho, because there's still a long long way to go ofcourse

but the fact that i was amongst the top 10% in a batch of 750 students is so academically validating😭

quick study tip: brain dumping, colour coding, flashcarding

After you’ve studied your material for an exam, brain dump everything you can remember from what you studied. Write it all out on a sheet (or more) of paper. Then, go back over the notes/study materials you made before and add the info you missed into your brain dump sheets in red pen. Then, after you’re done, flashcard all the info in red. Go through those flashcards every day. This is the way to prevent overstudying things you already know and understudying the things you don’t fully know/understand.