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for future reference

Extended Essay Tips! (from an IB student with senioritis)

I finished my EE last week. Here are some tips that I wish I would’ve had while I was writing mine!

1. Pick a topic you’re genuinely interested in!!!

This is IMPORTANT because you’ll be doing a lot of research and writing about this topic. If you hate what you’re writing about, it will be that much harder to motivate yourself to actually get stuff done.

2. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR SOURCES

It might be annoying in the short term, but it will be so helpful in the long term when you don’t have to sort through 30 different journals and books to find one specific fact to cite.

3. Make a quality outline!

Outlining should really be the hardest part if you’re doing it right. It is so much easier to move things around and work on structure with an outline than a completed paper. Also, a thorough outline will make compiling the rest of the paper so much easier.

4. Try to start earlier rather than later

This is an obvious one, but really. Senioritis is real. SO REAL. By march of senior year you pretty much know where you’re going next (at least in the states) and doing high school stuff is really difficult motivation-wise. Start your EE early so you can have it done by the time all of your motivation to succeed leaves you.

5. 4,000 words is way less than you think it is

It sounds like a lot, but it really only leaves space for either deep explanation of one VERY specific topic, or a surface-scratch explanation of a huge topic. This is IB, so they want deep. Pick a specific topic.

6. Online libraries and databases are your friend

Google scholar?? GOOD SHIT FOR THIS PAPER. I have no idea how anybody wrote the extended essay before the internet.

7. Chunk it.

Don’t try to write this paper all at once. Break it up into small tasks and work through it that way. Not only will it make the whole process seem more manageable, but your writing will sound less frantic and your ideas will be more coherent.

8. Enjoy it!!!

We have such a cool opportunity to explore a topic that interests us and write about it! Take advantage of this! Enjoy learning about a topic that’s is fascinating for you! Take pride in your writing! Acknowledge this opportunity that so few high schoolers get to have and appreciate it. The EE can be overwhelming and stressful and scary, but at the end of the day it’s so cool and has been a super positive experience for me :)

I seriously need to up my productivity game, things are not going to go well if I don’t :-/

sometimes self care is turning off your wifi and throwing your phone away

i promise you this: whoever you're becoming, however much effort you're putting in everyday, whatever it is you're working towards outweighs the person you've been and the mistakes you've made. who you are today matters. you are not ruined.

I wish everyone would wake up and realize that your idealized self is simply your current self but with drive. The person you want to be is you if you put in the work! Like, life is ultimately up to us and we can change ourselves whenever we want! Make plans to do better for yourself, speak it into fruition, and work for it.

I’m looking forward to the day where I can be that cliche girl that studies and gets shit done in a coffee shop or library, with my head always in a book and daydreams filling my head. Just imagine. A cup of coffee to the left, books stacked high beside you, knowing you’ve accomplished so many things, and that feeling that you’re finally getting somewhere. And you’re okay for once in your life. You’re okay.

• march 26 2019 •

ooo more ap physics notes. ap calc review has started… it hasn’t been bad I’m just worried once I’m on my own I won’t be able to do it. also I’ve started to do these in rainbow order (the yellow didn’t show up so I went to green)

‘eat the frog' method

Hi all, it’s werelivingarts. I just stumbled across this method called ‘eat the frog’, which means you get the most difficult or important task out of your way first. I actually have been using this method for a long time, hope this post gives you a new way of managing your time and productivity! 😜

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” – Mark Twain 

i love flora

essays for days (i love this app 🌲)

okay, so here in california precautionary measures against COVID-19 have become increasingly intense. most schools have closed and are preparing to make the transition to “distance learning” aka online classes. this is a big change for many of us – but don’t panic!

welcome to surviving online classes 101!

–

✐ self discipline

this is more of a warning than a tip. working from home means you will have to exercise a lot more self discipline. it can be a little bit boring or lonely at times. you cannot count on motivation from others (professors, classmates, friends, etc.), so you will have to learn some self discipline. 

✐ create your own classroom

a good way to make the transition is to try and mimic the classroom setting as closely as possible. something that might be helpful is to set up a space designated for work. try to avoid the temptation to work in your bed or on the couch. that trains your brain to be alert in those places and makes it harder to relax/fall asleep. at least during online lectures, try and eliminate distractions that wouldn’t be present in a regular classroom (like tv or netflix playing in the background, or having your phone out)

✐ dress for success!

dress in the way that makes you feel most productive. if you’re one of those people who usually rolls into class wearing sweats and still kills it, good for you! if you’re one of those people who needs to put on a full face of makeup to feel alive and ready for the day, do that! even at home!! i personally never wear makeup but if i try to be productive in pjs… disaster. i’ve also found that cute workout gear makes me feel badass while still being comfy.

✐ create a schedule

now more than ever you need to figure out how to manage your time. you can use a planner, bujo, google calendar, the forest app, whatever. just make sure you keep track of things like

due dates and TIMES

exam dates

lecture times

hours spent studying

meals (pls eat 3 if possible)

water intake

sleep schedule

✐ pack your bag like you usually would

i know this probably sounds so dumb, but when you’re done working clean up after yourself. pack everything up like you would at school, to sort of signal to your brain that academic time is over for now. and then unpack and set up when you’re ready to get to work again. this is just another way to trick your brain into that school mindset while you’re stuck at home.

✐ don’t overwork yourself

break up your studying into chunks. being cooped up all day can make us feel like we’re wasting time, but be sure to schedule breaks and reward yourself after a solid study session. i’m a big fan of the pomodoro method, and it can be customized really easily to allow for more or less study/rest time. 

✐ maintain a healthy sleep schedule

now is the time to develop that healthy sleep schedule we all dream about. staring at a computer all day is exhausting and hard on the eyes and brain, so make sure to give them enough rest and time to recover each night. also, consider investing in glasses that block blue light, even if you don’t usually use glasses. this will keep our eyes young lol. 

✐ communicate with your teachers and classmates

most of us are making this transition to online learning together. any time you have questions, email your professor. reach out to your classmates at the beginning and exchange emails/phone numbers/social media so you can build a support system. if something goes wrong, screenshot it immediately and reach out to your professor. technology isn’t perfect, and mistakes can happen, just communicate them.

✐ turn things in early

this is my biggest tip. when you are relying on online submissions for assignments and digital lectures, you always want to allow extra time to fix any errors you might encounter. your professor will also be much more willing to help you fix a problem two days before a deadline rather than two minutes before a deadline. eliminate that uncertainty by playing it safe with online submissions. 

–

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!! YOU GOT THIS!! WE GOT THIS!!

a list of my favorite study tips (and when to use them)

summer:

invest in a book of short stories for each language you’re studying, and keep the book(s) on your bedside table. take advantage of the free time while out of school to get in the habit of reading through the short stories whenever you can. just a few minutes of reading the short stories every day will immensely improve your foreign language skills and keep you from forgetting the vocab & grammar over summer break

acquire a list of the books you’ll be reading for school in the fall and start reading them. to get the list of books, try asking someone who’s already taken the class, your future teachers, or a school counselor. reading the books ahead of time will not only put you ahead of the rest of your class by giving you time to work through the material in advance; it will also significantly lessen your workload during the school year.

this applies to the school year as well, but especially when you’re reading books in advance, keep a journal and pen at hand every time you read. write down the major plot points of the section you’re reading, what you like/agree with, what you dislike/disagree with, and one or two quotes that summarize the main themes of the section (make sure you include page numbers!!!!). when school starts & you’re assigned an essay on that book, you’ll already have the main points of the book laid out, and lots of great quotes—with page references!—to use in your essay.

two weeks before school starts:

take a look at your syllabus and get started on your first assignments. if you start now, you can stay at least one week ahead on all of your assignments throughout the year. this is a HUGE lifesaver when something comes up unexpectedly during the school year—like getting sick or having to go out of town for a few days at the last minute—and you don’t have time to get homework done, because if you’ve done it in advance then you won’t have to worry about falling behind.

get a planner app for your phone. i like egenda, but you can use any app where you input homework assignments in advance and it alerts you at various intervals of time before they’re due. it’s impossible to get a good grade on an assignment if you forget to turn it in on time, so just alleviate that issue altogether.

throughout the school year:

take notes. have a notebook open in every class, and write down all important names, dates, quotes, formulas, and theorems. write the current date at the top of each page, and have a separate notebook for each subject. if a teacher repeats something more than once in a class, underline it, because those are the things that appear on midterms and finals.

help yourself memorize things by writing essays about them. even if you’re not assigned an essay about a topic, try to write/type two or three paragraphs every week to summarize what you’re learning in a class. writing things in your own words is one of the best ways to remember them, and it will also help you to improve your writing skills. additionally, this should be applied to all subjects, not just literature or history (because even if you’re studying a STEM field and writing isn’t a huge part of the curriculum, you should still have the ability to write about STEM concepts in a way that is understandable and engaging).

befriend the smartest person in the class. figure out who always has the right answers and make yourself their ally. be a good friend to them, and then when you’re struggling with a concept, they will either explain it to you or—if they don’t know what the explanation is yet—they’ll help you search for it.

take advantage of indexes. almost all books have one, and they can be lifesavers if you don’t know the answer to a question. especially in history class, when there are a bunch of names that are super difficult to memorize. i know this is a pretty basic tip (if you can even call it a tip), but i’ve had a lot of friends completely forget about indexes, so this is just a brief reminder. :)

participate in class. this might sound super obvious, but you cannot retain information without discussing it! if you’re like me and participating in class sucks because of social anxiety, try to force yourself out of your comfort zone & remember that you are your own worst critic, but it’s also okay just to discuss things with a close friend or family member instead. the important thing is that you’re repeating what you’ve learned out loud and practicing explaining it to someone else, which will really help you to grasp the concepts.

three weeks before midterms/finals:

now is when all of your notes come in handy. go back through the notes for each class and study them, particularly the parts you’ve underlined. you shouldn’t try to memorize the pages, but you should study them enough that—by finals week—you could summarize the contents if someone asked you pointed questions about them. this is also when it becomes extra helpful to be friends with the smartest person in the class, because they will be an excellent study buddy. just make sure that you reciprocate if you ask them to help you study.

fill in any gaps in your notes by talking to your teachers and attending all of the office hours that you can. many teachers will give you a study guide if you ask for one, and you can literally go through and fill it in with info from your notes. remember, most of your teachers really do want you to do well, and they’ll try their best to help you achieve the best scores possible.

if any of your quizzes are open book, ask your teacher if you can put completely blank sticky notes on pages. bookmark the pages that have important events, quotes, facts, etc., and then if you forget something on a test you can refer to the book & it will be much easier to find the information. personally, the only open book finals i’ve had are the kind where you just write three 1000 word essays in 3 hours, but we are required to have at least 5 quotes in each essay, so if that’s the case for any of you guys then this tip is super helpful for bookmarking those quotes as well.

while taking a final/midterm:

read through the whole test first. figure out how long it is, how much time you have, and how many points each question is worth. if you’re worried about running out of time, start by doing the problems that are worth more points, and then out of whatever’s left do the ones that look easiest first. this will guarantee that you make the best use of your time & get the highest grade possible

and that’s all i can think of right now! hope this can help at least a few people :)