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5 things to do at the end of a semester

Reorganize your desk and your computer

Whether you’re out of school for 3 months or just a couple of days, cleaning out your desk is the first thing you should do. Put the textbooks away and rearrange everything : you won’t think about school as much and it’ll most likely be relaxing. And don’t forget about your computer ! Delete the unnecessary documents and reorganize your files.

Store your notes and your exams

Buy a big binder or a folder and put all of your revision guides/flashcards/notes/etc in it. I don’t recommend ever getting rid of your old notes because you never know if you’ll need them later down the line. Also, if you have some of your exams, put them in there. They might come in handy someday !

Think about what you did

Think about your semester : what you did right and what you did wrong. Could you have studied more ? Should you have started your essay earlier ? Did you like your classes ? Your schedule ? Ask yourself some questions and use the answer to prep for next semester.

Start prepping

Make lists (things you’ll need to buy, things you want to work on), research planners and printables, buy some school supplies, try out some study schedules and new techniques (mind maps, apps, cornell notes). It’s never too early to start preparing for your next semester !

Treat yourself

Give yourself a break. Watch some netflix, eat some cookies, sleep in, stop drinking coffee for a few days, go buy yourself a new dress, do whatever makes you feel better !

How to Handle Having TOO MUCH To Do

So let’s say you’re in the same boat I am (this is a running theme, have you noticed?) and you’ve just got, like, SO MUCH STUFF that HAS to get done YESTERDAY or you will DIE (or fail/get fired/mope). Everything needs to be done yesterday, you’re sick, and for whatever reason you are focusing on the least important stuff first. What to do!

Take a deep breath, because this is a boot camp in prioritization.

Make a 3 by 4 grid. Make it pretty big. The line above your top row goes like this: Due YESTERDAY - due TOMORROW - due LATER. Along the side, write: Takes 5 min - Takes 30 min - Takes hours - Takes DAYS.

Divide ALL your tasks into one of these squares, based on how much work you still have to do. A thank you note for a present you received two weeks ago? That takes 5 minutes and was due YESTERDAY. Put it in that square. A five page paper that’s due tomorrow? That takes an hour/hours, place it appropriately. Tomorrow’s speech you just need to rehearse? Half an hour, due TOMORROW. Do the same for ALL of your tasks

Your priority goes like this:

5 minutes due YESTERDAY

5 minutes due TOMORROW

Half-hour due YESTERDAY

Half-hour due TOMORROW

Hours due YESTERDAY

Hours due TOMORROW

5 minutes due LATER

Half-hour due LATER

Hours due LATER

DAYS due YESTERDAY

DAYS due TOMORROW

DAYS due LATER

At this point you just go down the list in each section. If something feels especially urgent, for whatever reason - a certain professor is hounding you, you’re especially worried about that speech, whatever - you can bump that up to the top of the entire list. However, going through the list like this is what I find most efficient.

Some people do like to save the 5 minute tasks for kind of a break between longer-running tasks. If that’s what you want to try, go for it! You’re the one studying here.

So that’s how to prioritize. Now, how to actually do shit? That’s where the 20/10 method comes in. It’s simple: do stuff like a stuff-doing FIEND for 20 minutes, then take a ten minute break and do whatever you want. Repeat ad infinitum. It’s how I’ve gotten through my to do list, concussed and everything.

You’ve got this. Get a drink and start - we can do our stuff together!

Ten assignments yesterday, eleven today. I can’t wait for the long weekend.

Rainy days...

one of the most important things ive learned from upper level biology education so far is that dna isnt the god-like all-powerful beacon of similarity between all living beings on the face of the earth as high school science textbooks will lead u to believe but actually is, in fact, the molecular equivalent of a smoldering dumpster fire that’s in a constant state of chaos and cellular scandal like some highlights: 

-the parts of dna that just casually detach on a physical level from the main strand, do some sick skateboard tricks in the cytoplasm, and land somewhere else with 43552342 copies

-the parts that would do A Thing if they wern’t physically spooled up so tightly that the Make Thing Happen machinery couldnt get to them

-the dna thats in ur mitochondria bc the mitochondria used to be a bacteria that our bigger, buffer cellular ancestors just vored in the primordial ooze 

-the dna that’s in chloroplasts in plants for the same reason

-rna….bitches be crazy like what is she gonna do next?? o she gonna act like a protein now and do shit?? im on the edge of my seat 

-sometimes u just gotta make more chromosomes man like sometimes u just be hanging out and u gotta make ur genome 64 sizes larger and then change ur mind only 100,000 years later and delete half of it and thats just how it is on this bitch of an earth

-random shit from like 5 BCE is just casually left over everywhere like no susan i told u to leave that gene alone we might need it to fight dinosaurs again u just never know!!!!!

dna is earth’s biggest and brightest train wreck and honestly i wouldnt trust a dna molecule to water my plants let alone run my body but here we fucking are 

02.08.19 || study session in the library 📚📚

“hi, I’m not from the US” ask set

given how Americanized this site is, it’s important to celebrate all our countries and nationalities - with all their quirks and vices and ridiculousness, and all that might seem strange to outsiders.

1. favourite place in your country?

2. do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad?

3. does your country have access to sea?

4. favourite dish specific for your country?

5. favourite song in your native language?

6. most hated song in your native language?

7. three words from your native language that you like the most?

8. do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom?

9. which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best?

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

11. favourite native writer/poet?

12. what do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem?

13. does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?

14. do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV?

15. a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

16. which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?

17. are you interested in your country’s history?

18. do you speak with a dialect of your native language?

19. do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem?

20. which sport is The Sport in your country?

21. if you could send two things from your country into space, what would they be?

22. what makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed?

23. which alcoholic beverage is the favoured one in your country?

24. what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

25. would you like to come from another place, be born in another country?

26. does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?

27. favourite national celebrity?

28. does your country have a lot of lakes, mountains, rivers? do you have favourites?

29. does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country?

30. do you have people of different nationalities in your family?

My cat fell asleep on my desk.

Today I had a little breakdown because I worry so much about the oral exam but I've gotten better and took more notes. I'll just do my best!

*This probably only applies to those of you entering college, as high school lab work seems to be much more chill. Also, this is just my experience and may very well vary from place to place.*

Sleep a decent amount of hours (if you can, have a nap right before) and EAT BEFORE YOU GO THERE - lab work is physically exhausting, you’re usually there for several hours and you can count the times you get to sit down on one hand.

Read whatever information you are given about your lab work beforehand. You don’t want to get there and not know what’s going on.

Be active! There’s nothing worse than a lab partner than needs to be told to do things. If you’ve read whatever info you were given, you’ll have an idea of what to do so take the initiative. Offer to do stuff. Don’t just stand around waiting for orders.

Wear layers. Labs are freezing cold 10% of the time and scorching hot 90% of the time (especially once you put on your lab coat). The heat is specially bad because you may even get dizzy so please wear layers (the lightest one should be a short-sleeve or tank fop).

Don’t forget:

Water bottle - heat = dehydration

Hair tie - tie your hair up. Just do it.

WEAR COMFY SHOES - you may think those boots are soo comfy and chic but I guarantee you’ll change your mind after there hours of standing. Sneakers are the way to go 

Yes you can just have one lab coat. But you still need to wash it. Volatile solvents don’t mask B.O.

Things break. Try your best not to break them but know that it’s not that big of a deal so don’t worry too much if you do.

‘Water’ always means deionized water. Always. Unless stated otherwise. Seriously, it can ruin your whole experiment. Also when you’re washing any equipment, you should always give them one last rinse with deionized water.

If you need to take away from something you’re weighting or a liquid you’re transfering with a pippete, that never goes back into the ‘original tub’. It’s a residue.

Painted nails + organic solvents equal ruined nails. Gloves don’t help. Beware. But, gloves are great and v recommended if you’re dealing with oh idk rat pee.

Once you get home, you’re probably just going to want to pass out. Don’t. Do whatever you have to do (have coffee ready?) to write as much as you remember about what you’ve done. It makes writing the lab write-up. So. Much. Easier.

On the same note, if you know you have something due the day after a lab, get it done beforehand because you probably won’t have the energy to do it afterwards. If you have lab work all week long (like I do), get as much done on the weekend as possible 

Listen, if you know an upper classman who’s taken that class, ask to borrow their write-ups. Beg for them if you must. They will save your life.

Have a lab write-up template. You can look for one online or model It after your professor’s directions or an upper-classman’s write-up. Having something that you can just ‘fill in’ is super convenient.

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