ceceggstudies

[ceceggstudies]

[ceceggstudies]

Finding someone who thinks you’re interesting enough to talk to you every day, whether they’re a friend or a lover, is one of the best feelings ever.

[ceceggstudies]

[ceceggstudies]

[ceceggstudies]

friday, 27/04/18 — 22:34 (07/26)

spent the afternoon in costa with my mum; she read and i studied some more psychology ☕️ everything was so peaceful & calming, definitely one of my new favourite things to do!

[ceceggstudies]

[ceceggstudies]

Hi guys! Sorry I’ve been a little less active as of late. I have five final papers and four final exams coming up in the next three-ish weeks, and the stress has been getting to me. I am trying to get out of the funk I’ve been in as of late by kicking myself out of bed early this morning and heading to a cute coffee shop to work of some of those aforementioned papers. I hope the end of term/finals season is treating y’all better than it’s treating me, lol. 

[ceceggstudies]

to-do list: november

control your environment. surround yourself with the kindest people, with the calmest music, with the softest clothes. make yourself comfortable. the world will not always do it for you.

be as independent as you possibly can, but do not fear reaching for help. you are constantly growing and improving, don’t let your obsession with autonomy hinder you from becoming a better version of yourself.

set your priorities straight. there are things you want to do, and there are things you need to do, and there are things you need to do in order to do the things you want to do. do them first.

believe in your abilities. believe in your aspirations, your reasons, and your hopes. hold on to your motivation as much as possible. everyone needs time, but many forget that they need their own strength as well.

be overwhelmed. make mistakes. be thoroughly done with everything. notice how you change during your low points in life. notice how you plant a seed in your mind, something that will bloom. take care of it. you will grow and flourish soon enough.

[ceceggstudies]

How to do well in a class taught by a crappy teacher

We’ve all been there at some point, and it especially sucks if you’re interested in the subject. Sorry this is long but I really hope it helps!

These are some things that bad teachers have in common, in my experience.

Qualities of a crappy teacher

relies entirely on videos to teach lessons

rarely, if ever, gives notes

doesn’t give reviews for tests either or any clues as to what is actually on the test

if they do give notes, they are disorganized, scrappy, and ultimately meaningless

doesn’t give straight answers when asked questions / answers questions with questions that don’t even make sense

loses your homework/essays all the time

they are genuinely surprised when their students actually do well

tells students not to study a certain thing because it won’t be on the test. Then it’s on the test and you’re screwed.

when showing how to do a problem, they only do the easiest examples ever. Honestly. You would be blessed to get a problem that easy on the actual assignment, where there are now super complicated problems that you have no idea how to do!

the homework assignments they give don’t help you understand the lesson better, it’s just a bunch of busy work.

they hand out a sheet, no explanation whatsoever, and say “alright. go do this” what? Go do what? Rip out my hair? I don’t even know what stoichiometry is and now I have 55 minutes to do it. Fabulous.

if someone does something wrong, the teacher just makes them do it over again and again, without helping the student understand or explaining anything

they hand back your tests five decades after you actually took it. What was the test even on? Same deal with homework and worksheets

They often have a condescending behavior towards students and make students feel stupid when they get something wrong or ask questions

Now that you’ve verified that you indeed have a crappy teacher, here are some tips to actually do well in their class. Impossible? Nope. But it will take more effort to get a good grade in this class and understand the material because you are now both the teacher and the student. (Sorry I talk about Khan Academy a lot, but at the same time, not that sorry because it’s a life saver).

Teach yourself lesson by lesson. If they won’t, you will. Make sure that you are learning the right material, so that you can ace your quizzes/ tests. Yes, it takes time, but it will be worth it once you can finally understand the class, I promise. You can teach yourself by relying on other sources to learn the material, such as the textbook you already have for the class, Khan Academy, and other online resources and study aids.

Don’t rely only on their notes, study materials, or worksheets to study off of or understand the material. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them, you should definitely pay attention to them, as it might give you a clue as to what is on the test. However, you should probably invest some time into making your own notes and study materials outside of class, whether the material is from your class textbook or online resources. 

Khan Academy!!! (It’s completely free and amazing) I honestly can not stress how many times Khan Academy has saved my life and my grades, especially in math and science subjects. If there’s a lesson (or, let’s be honest, an entire class) that you’re having difficulty understanding, just go to KA and find the lesson and they will have videos that take you through it step-by-step. Also, you can pause and rewind the videos if you need to understand something better (unlike crappy teachers) and they do plenty of examples (unlike crappy teachers). I swear I’m not sponsored by them or anything, it’s just a life saver! You can take classes on there in your free time too. For example, I couldn’t fit a personal finance class into my school schedule, so I’m taking it on KA.

Use online sites and resources to help you understand the material. Quizlet is an app for creating sets of flashcards. In my opinion, they are way more helpful than notecards, because they have games using the terms you put in and different methods of studying the material (by spelling, term, definition, etc). Duolingo is great for learning languages and maintaining your vocabulary in a language you are taking in school. You can use SparkNotes to better understand literature and poetry (they also have great studying/ test prep materials). Shmoop is another great resource for poetry. Khan Academy has lessons on math, science, art, music, history, and economics. The Purdue OWL is a life saver when it comes to writing essays; it has everything you need to know about grammar, writing techniques, format (especially MLA format), and mechanics. Basically, it has all the info your crappy teacher failed to give you. 

STUDY. Good teachers go over the material enough to ensure that their students understand the material and they make sure the students are familiar with it. They will also usually go over the same materials in different ways, so that students with different learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) can benefit. Crappy teachers? Not so much. Therefore, the material is not ingrained in your mind, so you need to work harder than in other classes to familiarize yourself with the material and make sure you understand it enough to recall the information and be tested on it.

Practice what you’ve learned. Try to find practice quizzes and tests online on the subject and material you are learning. Sometimes there will be mini quizzes at the end of chapters in class textbook. Also, some of the online resources above have quizzes on the specific material.

Talk/ study with other people who are taking the same course or people you know who have taken the class in the past. If your friend is taking the same class as you but they have a different teacher, study with them and ask them for help and notes. If you know someone who has taken the class a previous semester or year, as them for help with the material and advice on tests and passing the class with a decent grade. You can also study with other people in your class, because it is likely that they are in the same position as you and you can all help each other out.

Good luck in your class and thanks for reading, I hope this helps somehow!

[ceceggstudies]

Best advice I’ve received so far

the time you take being jealous of other people’s success is the time you could be using to build your own

you’re never going to “feel like it”

doing and practicing now is better than waiting for the perfect moment

eliminate people with toxic habits from your life

you are in control. Everything you’ve done up to this moment led you here. Therefore, your future is determined by what you do now.

everything is as it should be and only later in life you can connect the dots.

self discipline will give you freedom. consistency will give you results

everything is temporary. You should find freedom in this concept

the rich stay rich acting poor and the poor stay poor acting rich

being healthy means finding a balance between the good and the bad

the people that outranked you have outworked you.

you can’t be grateful and negative at the same time.

Meditate on these statements. They are so very powerful! Xxx

[ceceggstudies]

Friday, 23 March 2018.

[ceceggstudies]

Hey! I really like your blog. Your dog is soooo beautiful. I'm sorry if what I'm about to say sounds weird, but you're so young and you're already doing your phd. I'm 28 and I haven't even finished my bachelor's degree and I feel like such a loser. Like, I should have accomplished so much by now, and I just... haven't. I really admire you for your academic record.

hi sorry i have been sitting on this for a minute but i needed to get some paper

i get asks like this fairly frequently and i will always be happy to answer them, even though they make me sad. there is no place you “should” be at in your life at any given time. we all have different timelines and trajectories. they are not linear!!!! they are certainly not standardized. as long as you’re doing or pursuing something that can make you happy, you’re doing good, imo. just because someone is at different place in their academic study, or their personal life, it doesn’t mean they’re doing anything better, or more, than anyone else. just different.

i feel super behind when i think about my friends who are getting married and have careers right now. my best friend bought a house last year! sometimes i feel weird about that. then i remember that she is happy and i am also happy and like…. what else am i really supposed to care about?? i don’t have the spare emotional energy to get fussed about adhering to an arbitrary life itinerary. and i don’t want to tell you what to do, but I’m gonna make one suggestion: you shouldn’t waste yours either.

[ceceggstudies]

6/11-2018

I’m having a hard time believing I’ve already gotten through half of this semester?!

Spent some time before class this morning reading one of the articles for a seminar on research methods I have later this week. It’s a stressful week, but if others can do it, so can I. How are you guys holding up?

[ceceggstudies]

Friday 23/11 10:15

Studying in my fave spot at the city library this morning, trying to understand the concepts of statistical methods… I’ve realised I’m not the best of friends with t-tests and ANOVA but hey, that’s okay! We all have our weaknesses and the best way to deal with them is by embracing them and work through it.

[ceceggstudies]

22.11.2018: 14 / 100 days of productivity

enjoying this lovely café (and their delicious chai latte) while rewriting my notes for company law. days like this, ahh.

[ceceggstudies]

10.30.18

Working on an essay in my favourite coffee shop, class was cancelled for me today so I have a lot of time! I’m excited for halloween tomorrow but really don’t want to write this essay 

[ceceggstudies]

Took this a while back… ☕️🌥

Love studying in cute coffee shops like this one. How are your Thanksgivings going?