Latest Posts by dyngenights - Page 5

constantly attacked with 3am thoughts

brat defines who i actually am for i have hurt who i dearly love for i have disowned myself for i have disappointed them in the good names of my family for i have always be an ungrateful child i am a brat i do not deserve to be loved

The Ashdrew fandom.

Is stalking still illegal?! Violet BTS. #andley #ashdrew

Harry wants everyone to know that the drunk gingerbread man is Niall

10 Steps to Reaching your Full Academic Potential

Always get feedback, whether that be on essays, exams, homework or your general performance. In all cases, especially those where you can’t obtain formal feedback {i.e. from receiving a graded essay or test back}, arrange to meet with your tutor to discuss your progress.

Study efficiently. Pay attention to when you study best {morning or night?} and where you study best. Work on a schedule that falls around that. When you study, give it 100% and don’t give in to menial tasks {such as checking social media} that will break your concentration. Do this on a planned break.

Form good habits. Get roughly the same amount of sleep each night from the same hour at night to the same hour in the morning, if you can. Drink plenty of water. Like I said, take breaks. Study daily, even for a short amount of time if that is all you have.

Set yourself deadlines and stick to them. If you can, start your homework/assignments as soon as you get them, and if they’re longer ones, set goals along the way. 

Fail to plan, plan to fail. A teacher once told me that, and it resonates in my mind even ten years on. It is not wise to write an essay or assignment in your head as you go along. Give yourself a structure and brainstorm ideas, no matter how brief or comprehensive this is.

Study actively. Don’t write and rewrite notes over and over. Get the information in to your long term memory through active recall {testing yourself}, making visual aids {mind maps/diagrams} and teaching others.

Anticipate a certain degree of disappointment somewhere along the way. Even the brightest minds will falter, and understandably, this might knock your confidence or your motivation. Allow yourself to build on those errors in time for your next assessment - let that motivate you. Making mistakes is inevitable, but not making the same mistake twice is key.

Enjoy what you do. Take classes that interest you, and aim to develop a knowledge of that subject which is well-rounded and comprehensive. Taking the extra steps to immersing yourself in your studies will not only make the process easier, but you’ll gain motivation through your inquisitiveness and desire to learn.

Treat your studies like a full time job - that is what they equate to in most cases. Take breaks and know your limits, but remember that if your input is minimal then your output will be too. Resist that urge we all know too well, and don’t shy away from your education.

Don’t succumb to the pressures of studying in the same ways as other people. We are all individuals, and what works for one is not forced to work for another. Experiment with different aspects of your learning experience to find what works for you. If you’re not a morning person, that’s okay. If colour coding feels pointless to you, that’s okay too. As long as you are making progress and you are reflecting on your studies then you’re doing just fine.

towards a gentle academic

be up front and honest about the things you do not know

acknowledge the intrinsic value of others’ knowledge bases, even if they do not seem important to you from your institutional context

do not feign mastery where you have none

respect the gaps in others’ knowledge bases

be generous, not only with others

but also with yourself

you overwork yourself at the risk of legitimizing a culture of overwork 

privilege voices and perspectives that have historically been left out of the academy

nothing is ever neutral or apolitical

support the progress of other scholars

collaboration over competition

In 2001, my parents bet me that if I did not drink, smoke, or do drugs by 21, they would give me $1500. Here I am on my 21st birthday holding the contract I signed when I was 8.

SHONDA RHIMES ‘A screenwriter’s advice’

i used to be a really smart kid who was “going places” but now i just cry a lot and eat all the food in the fridge

SoHo Bookstore Wedding live band and bookstore wedding Source: http://www.weddingchicks.com/2013/05/21/bookstore-wedding/

a modern day hero

OH MY GOD I FIND THIS SO FUNNY HAHAHA POOR GIRL WAS JUST SAYING THE TRUTH LMAO

who else is ready for the most brutal slaughter in cinema history?

ART PRINTS BY HENN KIM

Everybody Hurts 

Big girs don’t cry 

Don’t come any closer 

want to know you 

Good Night 

Come into My World 

Love you so much 

Lock with you 

Rest inside you 

Also available as canvas prints, T-shirts, tapestries, stationery cards, laptop skins, wall clocks, mugs, rugs, duvet covers, All over print shirts, Phone cases, Throw pillows, tote bags and More!

How to do the thing? Big Test Edition

Pretty much everyone has been in the position of realizing exactly how fucked they are for an exam that’s only a few days (or hours (or minutes)) away, so in honor of Finals Week I figured I’d make a post about how I deal with being in said position. DISCLAIMER: This is what works for me. I’m not guaranteeing that it’ll work for everyone. DISCLAIMER NO. 2: This is mostly relevant to concept-based exams, but a lot of it still holds for other types.

Generally we tend to realize this with at least a day or so left before the exam, and while it’s tempting to try to cram as much studying as possible into that time it’s often extremely counterproductive. I personally cannot absorb information when I feel panicked. I think that’s a fairly universal experience. However, “accepting your fate,” so to speak, isn’t a great idea either. You’re probably capable of learning something in the time between this realization and your exam, so in order to strike a balance:

Take a deep breath, get a glass of water, and shake out your hands and feet. Stretch. 

Go to your books (or other relevant materials idk) and calmly skim through, making a mental note of the areas or topics that need more work than others. Calmly.

If your teachers or professors have made practice exams available to you, get one out. Now, your intention shouldn’t be to get as good a “grade” on it as possible; this “exam” is simply a study tool. It may be slightly nerve-wracking to see problems or questions that you know you don’t understand/can’t answer, but remember that this actually works in your favor. You’re trying to figure out what to study, remember?

Once you’ve figured out your biggest weaknesses, rank them in order of importance. For math and sciences, focus on areas that form bases for other concepts before focusing on specifics.

Work through your list from most to least important using whatever materials are available to you, but don’t stress about going into detail. Don’t. Don’t do it.

Take a breather. You’ve done a lot of work and studying right up until the test won’t do you any good. Get a glass of water and a snack. Stretch. Pet a dog.

Go back and review what you learned. Don’t look at the materials; look at the topics and talk to yourself about them, like you’re giving a lecture. Writing this down can also help.

Take another breather. You’ve learned a lot and you’ll be okay.

Go kick butt

“Yeah but what about when I don’t have time to do any of this shit?” you may be saying right now. That happens a lot. Or, like, it happens to me a lot. Maybe not to you. I don’t know. Either way, you’ve got to do shit differently, and a lot of it has to do with recalibrating how you think about the situation.  The cold hard truth is this: if you don’t have time to do all the stuff up there^^^^ you won’t know everything on the exam. That’s okay. Make peace with it. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try, but don’t stress over not being able to learn literally everything in whatever time you have left. Drink enough water, eat something healthy, and remind yourself that you are absolutely not alone. Also see below:

General tips for exam bullshit:

Don’t joke about failing. Don’t joke about how fucked you are. Even if it’s 100% in jest, it’s not difficult for the sentiment to lodge itself in your brain. You know the phrase “fake it til you make it”? Yeah, that’s real. It works both ways. Don’t do this.

Replace “I don’t know anything” with “I don’t know everything (but that’s okay)”

Replace “I should have studied more” with “I’ll study more next time”

If someone’s talking about how fucked they are, call them out in a funny way. Your friend is saying they’re going to get fucked sideways in the butt by this test? Tell them that they’re fucking brilliant and that they should make sure to bring some lube for when they inevitably fuck the test right back (and for the grader who’ll be mindfucked by how AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT they are). People will laugh, but the message will stick, even if only a little.

DO NOT study right up until the test. DON’T DO IT. DON’T. 

Eat well and drink a lot of water WELL BEFORE the test (so that you’re hydrated but you have time to pee before taking it)

If you’re trying to pull an all-nighter to study, don’t do it the day before. Ideally you shouldn’t be doing it at all, but if you’re going to be stubborn about it just make sure not to do it the night before the test. Also there’s this thing called the point of diminishing returns. Observe it. Obey it.

Group studying is cool, but always do at least some practice problems alone if this test is in a STEM subject. You won’t have your friends’ input on exam day.

Poop beforehand. Seriously, just do it.

Adopt a power pose in the testing room. It has to be subtle, obviously, but it’ll help a lot.

If you find yourself staring at the words on the page and not comprehending anything, make a small mark on the page and turn to a different question. For some reason this helps people get over the initial mental block.

Remember that this test is not everything. Sure, it’s important, but it doesn’t say anything about your worth as a person. It may not even say anything about your academic abilities. Doing poorly on a test doesn’t mean you’re stupid. It means you did poorly on a test. That’s. All.

Alright I’m going to go teach myself the material from the entire second half of the quarter now so I’ll end this here, but feel free to send me any questions or comments you have and I’ll do my best to get back to them asap. Y’all rock. You’ve got this.

To anyone with big exams and huge educational events coming up-

YOU WILL DO WONDERFUL. YOU ARE SMART, YOU ARE SMART, YOU ARE SMART AND YOU CAN DO THIS MY FRIEND! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

so you’re telling me niall had a thing with demi lovato who dated joe jonas who sent liam a present but joe also dated gigi who is friends with taylor swift who dated harry but gigi is also dating zayn who selena said she wouldve dated but wait demi and selena aren’t friends anymore but selena dated justin bieber who is friends with niall who is kissing selena now

I’ll be honest: I really just picked this book because the cover is amazing.  Although this beautiful, intricately stamped copy of The Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs was published in 1870, it looks almost new!

reblog if ur mom is smart and beautiful

“Who does the most shopping at airports?” x

why wont harry styles bump into me on the street and ask for my number and take me out for coffee and fall in love with me what am i doing wrong?

Amazing image of Pluto

(Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)

…I’ve been going thru this guy’s twitter for the last hour