He Is So Smart

Wise words from @appsademia on twitter

back to school

i know, i know, i’m a little bit early. it’s all good, i have anxiety, i plan ahead constantly. i figured i’d share some of my plans to prepare myself for heading back to school.

1. fix your sleep schedule

for school i wake up at 6:30, in the summer i wake up at 12. and recently i decided to fuck that up even more by pulling an all-nighter and just, in general, screwing up my sleep schedule. i’ll need about a month to fix all this damage, but in general, you should start reacquainting yourself with your school schedule about two weeks before you have to head back.

2. figure out your note keeping system

i’m switching things up this year, and i won’t be using the binder system i’ve had all throughout high school. it’s simply to heavy for my walk to and from school. instead, i’ll be using a filing folder, and keeping loose leaf paper, as well as the week’s lessons in there, and once the week is over, i’ll transfer my notes to the binder system at home, which should limit the weight i carry. also, this’ll force me to have better organization, and hopefully make weekly review easier. just as a rule of thumb, refreshing your note keeping system is something you should do annually, at the start of a new year or even before a new semester; you know what’s been working and what hasn’t been.

3. gather breakfast ideas

i have about ten minutes scheduled in my morning routine during the school year for breakfast. and about five of those minutes are spent figuring out what to eat. i want to gather simple breakfast ideas that i can test out now, so i don’t waste time deciding what to eat. this just, in general, makes mornings less of a hassle and can help make sure you’re getting a good start to the day.

4. take stock of your supplies

i need a lunchbag and highlighters, my previous ones are no longer able to function, so i need to replace them. i don’t, however, need new pencils, i have plenty. doing an inventory check can really help prevent buying duplicates of something you thought you didn’t have.

5. create achievable goals

this year is my final year of high school, and then i’m off to university, most of my goals centre around applications and just graduating. but there are other things i know i need to do. embracing study habits for one. i’m hoping to do so by staying in the library after school instead of walking home right away because i know i can’t get work done as effectively at home. i’ll also be doing a review for exams all throughout the year, instead of the day before, by creating flashcards and mindmaps for each days lesson. set a general goal, then add the steps you’ll need to take to achieve it.

6. check your courses

i’m dropping out of physics because i don’t need to be taking it and it will give me a spare instead of a full course load. i need to talk to my guidance counsellor before school starts because of it. as well, i like to make sure i’m in the correct classes and that my schedule is as balanced as possible. some schools may not allow this for regular students, mine does. make sure you’re taking what you need to take and what will allow you to succeed.

7. put dates in your planner

my school offers a tentative list of events going on through the year, with set exam and break times. i like to keep track of these, and setting them in my planner makes it easier to see how my year will play out. if your school doesn’t offer this, check out past years scheduling so that you have a general feel for how your year will go.

these are just some of the things i’m doing to ensure this year goes smoothly for me. let me know what y’all are doing too!

𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞… 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢. (っ◔◡◔)っ 

[𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢]

The best thing, Is that even now, when I’ve lost my home, and a few friends, my sense of direction, and my savings. I can still see the joy in life. I can still see the joy in finding an apartment with a small window so my dog can look outside and see when I get come, and the joy in helping my mother arrange empty bottles on her shelf for decorative purposes.  I can see the joy in studying to go back to school, or continuing to go to work. The best thing, is that even though times are tough, I can still see joy in everyday.

Excerpt from a Book I’ll Never Write, Perhaps the Best Thing (via sunflowerletters)

Reblog if you're gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, transgender or a supporter.

This should be reblogged by everyone. Even if you’re straight, you should be a supporter.

U kno what???? Honestly?? All jokes side about the Duolingo owl, Duolingo is one of the only language education services I know of that doesn’t charge for the full course and I really think we don’t appreciate that enough in a world where knowledge is severely (and increasing) restricted based on income. I just went through the app store and downloaded every language app I can find, and the only two that didn’t charge hefty subscription fees to access all the lessons were duolingo and memrise. Support free education.

Tips: How to Overcome Presentation Anxiety

Requested by an anon, how to get over the fear and anxiety of public speaking/presenting. I struggled with this throughout middle school but kicked it to the curb in high school. Here’s how.

1. Know your topic like the back of your hand. A lot of presentation anxiety stems from getting up there and suddenly forgetting everything you practiced. If you know your stuff, you’re not going to have to worry about this.

2. Practice, practice, practice. If you have younger siblings or someone in your family who is willing to sit and listen why you rehearse, even better. They may be able to identify holes in your presentation such as clarification or comprehension issues. You want your audience to know your topic

3. Be organized. If your teacher allows, have flashcards or an outline of what you want to talk about. Now this shouldn’t be your whole presentation word for word in front of you because then you’ll never make eye contact with your audience and your teacher will count off. Trust me. The notecards/outline should be just key points you can glance at to jog your memory on what you want to talk about. So if I’m giving a presentation on Aphrodite my outline would look like this.

Aphrodite

Goddess of love, beauty, and sex

Born of white foam of sea

Venus in Roman culture

Daughter of Zeus

Married Hephaestus

Sexual relations with Ares

Had x number of children

You get my point. Short sentences to jog my memory and I would fill in the details in the presentation

4. Before you present, chew some gum. If your mind thinks you’re eating, it assumes you have no reason to fear danger (anxiety) so it helps you to calm down.

5. Take a big, deep breath before you go up. Seems cliche but it always helps me.

6. Focus on your content, not your audience. I promise most of them aren’t paying attention to you either. Be confident in yourself and in your material.

Staying Sane During Exams

Speaking as someone with both depression and anxiety, I know it can be easy to forget you have a life during exam week. SO, I have some tips on staying sane.

Don’t sacrifice your health. That means:

Drink plenty of water

Shower

Make sure you eat meals and snacks

Go outside, even for just a minute

Get some exercise

BREATHE

It’ll be ok. You can do this. 

a list of simple yet beautiful things to live for:

the feeling of sunlight on your skin

the smell of pastries as you pass by a bakery

being wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate in your hands on a cold night

holding hands with the person you can’t imagine living without

discovering a new favorite song and listening to it on repeat

having a relaxing bath after a long exhausting day

secretly admiring a beautiful stranger you saw on the train