Studyblrs Get Real - Blog Posts

It was a rainy day... I love days like this. I only had a 50 minute class but I stayed a little longer finishing my pending tasks... I returned home and now I'm moving forward, I hope to finish everything on time.

I have a little math test tomorrow, it will only be two questions.

I have to finish my lab reports.

I started university a few weeks ago, it was a great experience. I am adapting to this change. Next week the practical exams for all the courses begin. I feel terrified and at the same time I have a strange feeling.

07/02/2020

Organic chemistry is addictive torture

28/01/2020

Yikes 😬

3-8/12/18 - 84-89/100 days of productivity

Omg life is so hectic right now - sorry for no posts for ages! So I have had my Cambridge interviews (I think they went... ok?) and am now revising for mocks beginning on Monday morning with German!

I’m at my friend’s house doing some Quizlets of new vocab :)

2/12/18 - 83/100 days of productivity

Whiteboard time! I’m just preparing for my Cambridge interview by reviewing a mechanism I namedropped in my personal statement in the first pic, and then later on I was bored so I decided to see how long it would take me to learn and remember the Krebs Cycle. (Not as long as it looks like it should take!)

I totally should be revising things I need to regurgitate for mocks next week, but that’s boring. You know what’s not boring? Learning how a process that’s fundamental to life works!

27/11/18 - 1/12/18 - 78-82 days of productivity

Hi all! So November just decided to defy the laws of time by not existing haha

Time to get festive!

But first I have my Cambridge interviews on Tuesday 4/12/18 and then the week after I have mocks. So lots of revision up ahead, on which I have already made a start over this week as you can see.

Sorry for my absence this week - been busy having a breakdown over how incompetent my school is at organising things. However, I’m okay now!

Absolutely! I don’t have a MacBook - I have a seven-year-old, slow and slightly broken HP laptop that has served loyally as a faithful study companion. I have mildliners, yes - but not because everyone else has them. I have them because I actually like them!

I take the time to write up my notes neatly because they go into a folder that is inspected by my teachers - we get told off if we put scruffy work in. But I make them more aesthetic as a way of assimilating information and having a productive way to chill out.

The whole point of having a studyblr for me was to keep on track for my personal targets. If those targets were straight Cs instead of straight A*s it wouldn’t be any less valid.

I don’t have muji pens or the finest notebooks - I save up and buy some of my favourite Pentel Energel pens whenever I can because they are actually fairly expensive as pens go and I sure as hell wouldn’t buy them at all just because everyone else is raving about them. Otherwise, it’s a cheap notebook for me all the way - because guess what? The paper you use doesn’t impact the quality of your notes.

You do what’s right for you, studyblrs of the world.

Your aesthetic does not invalidate the quality of your account.

call for change: studyblrs

I have had this blog for about a year now, and I’ve come to realise the unattainable perfection of studyblrs. I created this account to motivate and educate myself and I feel as though these ‘perfect study notes’ hold unrealistic expectations. This is why I have decided to post things that are more realistic, educational and have a positive impact on the community. Please reblog this to spread the message: You do not need perfect notes, every stationary item, a macbook, top grades or an aesthetic study space to be a studyblr. All you need to do is do the best you can.

25/11/18 - 77 days of productivity

This is why I love chemistry. It’s messy yet highly predictable, and all molecules are intrinsically related to one another - even if it’s hard to get from one to the other in a single step.

I mentioned nucleophilic acyl substitution on my personal statement, and I’m just reminding myself of it - just in case Cambridge decide to grill me on it. In fact, as much as I HATE my personal statement, I’m going through it all. But my grey mildliner is healing my heart :)

21-24/11/2018 - 73-76 days of productivity

Hi guys! So today I was at the library all morning having a biology brain dump/crisis because we have literally just been told we have mocks in a couple of weeks. My Cambridge interview is the week before.

So yeah, I’m a little stressed right now. Which is why I am writing a formal petition to put the mocks back - none of our teachers knew about them and we are all basically screwed. I’m going to see how many signatures I can get and do this democratically.

However, I do have an incentive to work hard:

I have an unconditional offer from my favourite uni (behind Cambridge)!

If I don’t get into Cambridge, I’ll definitely be accepting the offer from the University of Birmingham to read Chemistry with German. Of course, if it becomes my insurance choice, it will become conditional - but it’s okay, because the only way it’ll be second best is to Cambridge.

My acceptance letter came with a handwritten note from the admissions tutor congratulating me on my knowledge of everything that came up at interview, which instantly made me smile.

So I’m stressed, but I got this!

We all forget things.

So today I was meant to give a presentation in front of my chemistry class, but I completely forgot and didn’t prepare anything. I was mortified when my name was called and I told her, “But I can’t - I’ve literally not prepared for this at all!” The room went silent and I felt so awful in that moment.

My chemistry teacher said, “I will see you outside.” And I thought I would get a bollocking. As soon as I got outside, I broke down crying, annoyed at myself because I never do things like that. I wanted to show her how on it I am and how well I can rise to challenges like public speaking, but instead I failed to follow a simple instruction and humiliated myself in front of the class.

So I went outside, ready to go on the defensive about why I should not be made to present. My teacher gave me the biggest hug and told me that I am only human - which is why she would let me do my presentation next week and just in front of her. She reminded me not to be so cruel and hard on myself, because I do that. I beat myself up over little things.

She told me that I have so much on my plate right now with university stuff as well as upcoming mocks that I should allow myself to be forgetful once in a while.

She told me that she is usually the most organised person ever but she forgets to bring stuff to the right lessons all the time.

She told me she doesn’t hate me, isn’t disappointed in me and all she wants is for me to stop stressing. And then she told me to go to the toilets and wash my face while she told the rest of the class not to talk about it.

My point is, it’s okay to skip a beat and forget something. It’s okay to admit you are only human.

And I am blessed to have a teacher who genuinely cares. How many people can say the same nowadays?

20/11/18 - 72 days of productivity

I got an interview from Cambridge!

Oh my goodness I’m so excited that I get a second chance to show them I’m up for this. I was whinging this morning that I just wanted to find out and then opened my inbox to find the email I’ve been waiting for :)

So what you see above is the product of a newfound energy and zest for life. I’m writing up some biology notes in advance and also got to play with some logarithmic graph paper (OMG that stuff is so cool!) and did some (heavily tippexed) maths. They were just the examples haha I suck at copying things down

Happy Tuesday folks, I hope today has treated you as well as it has treated me!

18-19/11/2018 - 70-71 days of productivity

I’m having an awful mental health day. I don’t know if I’m worried about something or not... that is the beauty of depression. It’s been at bay for a while but I’m afraid it’s going to come back and I hate feeling like this :(

I just want a hug.

And to hear back from Cambridge. Anything. I don’t care if I get rejected, I just want to know.

Other than that, this morning was ok, and I got a fair amount done. It was my Maths morning today so I did a bunch of integration. Fun times!

28/10 - 3/11/18: 47-54/100 days of productivity

Thank you all for your patience and >700 followers! I’ve been taking it easy for the rest of this week and making time for hobbies because I know my reaction to potentially screwing up my Cambridge test was very unhealthy. I am now “over” it in the sense that if I get an interview, that’s great, but if I don’t, then my life’s worth isn’t defined by not getting in. I had a moment, but now I am back to my old self and thinking positively about the future :)

I still have offers from both York and Nottingham, which are both fantastic universities - I have a lot to be grateful for.

Pictured above: moments! I really dislike mechanics, but not as much as I hate stats. Earlier on I was doing some chain, product and quotient rule questions - I can’t believe I am literally 3/4 of the way through pure maths already! I’m well ahead of the main lessons so I can afford to take it easy if I want to, which is nice.

Next steps: research for my German IRP, preparation for a presentation I have to do for Chemistry in a couple of weeks, and some filing 😩

27/09/18 - 16/100 days of productivity

Well, today was... interesting. I got to school at 8am, went to form, had a cup of tea and did a maths challenge in said form... and spilt my water all over my bag. My important stuff was fine, but my phone and everything up front got soaked. Oops!

I had to lay all my stuff out on the desk and wait for my mother to bring a spare backpack. Of course, stupid me forgot to take my key out that bag so I was locked out for an hour when I got home :(

Other than that, I had 4 free periods and 1 lesson today. I made biology notes on gene regulation and the lac operon from 08:55 to 10:55 and did a mixed exercise on geometric sequences from 11:20 until 12:20.

Then came Chemistry, where we did worksheets on orders of reaction because my teacher had a massive migraine.

Lesson 5 was my designated time to see my tutor, who is a retired maths teacher and is helping me along. We spent 45 minutes talking about the binomial expansion and then radians, which was great fun. That was such a nice way to end the day.

When I got home (which was almost an hour later than usual since I was locked out!) I kind of flopped on my bed and completely forgot that I had to do homework due in tomorrow.

So at 17:00, I sprang into life again and finished German (pictured) and then Chemistry. That took until 21:00, when I forced myself to stop.

Girl’s gotta look after herself, you know?

23/09/18 - 12/100 days of productivity

« Aujourd’hui Lauren est morte. Ou c’était peut-être hier, je ne sais pas »

- Camus, L’étranger... also how I feel right now. Dead.

I have contracted the illness that was making the rounds at school... symptoms started today (or perhaps it was yesterday 😉). I’m one of the last people to get it. I fought so hard 😭

So yeah, studying with a raging cold. Possible? Doesn’t feel like it. Nevertheless, I’m reading my the latest French book my lovely teacher brought back from France for me and I’m going to do some maths on my whiteboard and then revise my AS French notes for speaking practice tomorrow. And I might do some German quizlets too.

Time to make my three millionth cup of tea and plug my nose with a mountain of tissues folks. And hope that I don’t sneeze so hard I bite my tongue off :)

06/09/2018 When you want to be productive but your 5-year-old laptop decides to take half an hour to respond and you’re stuck working on a coffee table.😑

Sorry, I’m moaning. I did get to finish the first chapter of A2 maths so I’m on par with the rest of my year ready for the 10th!

Notes aren’t the prettiest but they’re functional and ok to look at. Also thanks for the love my little account has been getting as of late!