Studyblr Culture: How The Internet Changes Students’ Perception On Studying

25/9/19 Good morning

Induction day 2 :)

I love quiet mornings that just go your way. I also love staying dry... yesterday I got soaked to the extent of having actual puddles in my still-sodden boots and I sat through three hours of talks wet through and cold haha

03/10/18 - 21/100 days of productivity

Ok, I’m knackered now. I love chemistry but graphs are so awful to draw by hand because it’s so easy to mess up 😂

That curve of best fit though (looks a bit funny at this angle but it’s a perfect curve irl)👌🏻

Upgrades, people, upgrades!

Happy 2021! (It’s finally snowing where I live - yay!)

I managed to condense 11 weeks of phys chem into 2 sides of A4 (plus a separate list of equations) in preparation for open book exams.

I’m not sure I like open-book exams. On the one hand, it takes a lot of memorisation pressure off; on the other hand, I have a tendency to over-rely on notes and almost cheat myself out of actually internalising the material. What do you think?

I have learnt from my mistakes in the past and decided to make prompt sheets from memory based on past papers. I then combed over my notes and filled in the gaps, writing down anything important that I couldn’t recall.

I used to think scientists were mortal gods; that I should never be clever enough to be one of them. Even now I am astounded every day by the minds that solved some of nature’s most incredible problems. Maybe that’s why I took no interest in science until I was 14.

Or maybe it was because of all I have been told over the years. I was told I was hopeless with maths - my secondary school maths teacher admitted that I was only in the top set because my confidence was already on the floor and would not allow them to move me down.

I was told that if I needed to be medicated for depression and anxiety, I would have no hope in the “real world”.

I was told that given my socioeconomic status (my single-parent family is among the poorest 10% in the U.K. based on income) and postcode, all the predictions pointed to my failing school. I don’t suppose the truancy due to constant bullying helped my case. If I didn’t even have a desk to work at, how could I ever expect pass any of my exams? (Look carefully at the picture and you’ll see carpet. It’s 23:56 on a Sunday and I am reunited with the only study space I have in my family home - the top of the stairs!)

And yet here I am, despite all the odds. I did not fail in school: I was top in my year, twice. I am striving for a first in my chemistry degree at a Russell Group university. I taught myself an A level in maths and got a top grade. I am now so totally in love with my degree and with learning that it hurts.

I did all that from the top of the stairs.

[Sorry for the rambles, and I hope that the wall of text doesn’t look like bragging. It’s just that lately, I’ve been so overwhelmed with how far I have yet to go, and I’ve only just realised how far I’ve come.]

This is an incredible book. Thoroughly recommend!

“She was brave and strong and broken all at once.”

— Anna Funder, Stasiland (via books-n-quotes)

Not long until A Levels are behind me...

which is a good thing because I - funnily enough - hate La Haine

11/4/19

Mindmaps make everything look so much more manageable

Today has been really productive. I went to school for two hours for some biology revision and then went to meet a friend for lunch. It was such a lovely day that I chose to walk the hour back home rather than catch a bus so I could listen to the audiobook version of Nineteen Eighty Four. However, as punishment for being healthy, I now have blisters on the soles of both feet :(

9/1/18 - 3/100 days of productivity

Today has been awesome. I had chemistry first thing, and then double German (my favourite class!), then I had some Galette des Rois in French and ended the day with Biology. No frees today but a really positive time all round :)

I’m sat doing homework now and I’ve promised myself I can watch a new TV programme that’s on later if I get it done haha

4/10/19 Waiting for lectures

Today has been a fairly lecture heavy day but this is my last one! I’ve had this lecturer once already today and I’m loving this part of the course.

Tonight, I’ll do some reading on MO theory. I really want to understand the maths more deeply... it’s so interesting and probably not as scary as it looks!

27/3/19

Coordinate geometry with circles!

I love overcomplicating things, apparently! Anyhow, I got the right answer so I’m good.

Happy Wednesday :)