Rainy Days...

Lowkey freaking out because my master’s programme starts in 2 days… So I’m planning away my anxiety! 

14.08.2019

My room has become a tiny jungle and I love it so much :-)

Hi!! Do you have any advice for a physics student in her first year?

i’m also a first year physics student and only started just over four weeks ago so i’m kinda limited in advice but i hope some of this stuff helps!

at the moment the best advice i can think of is to stay on top of your work by:

not doing your assignments last minute

showing up for lectures when you can instead of watching them online

going over your notes and tutorial questions daily and really trying to understand the content/methods

asking for help, even if it seems like a dumb question it’s better than getting stuck and falling behind. plus professors are normally always happy to help no matter what

buy a good graphing calculator, your phone isn’t gonna cut it for most of the material

seeing the university psychologist if you’re feeling stressed/down. physics is one of those topics where everything is really full on and everyone around you seems like a genuis which can really impact your mental health after a while

going through tons of example questions for practice then finding what you struggle with the most so you can specifically work/get extra help in that area

buying and reading some good physics/math books and textbooks. i found that reading certain books have helped me understand the content in class better (shoot me a message if u want recommendations but otherwise you can just google/goodreads some popular ones)

lastly, this seems like a no brainer but go to bed at a reasonable hour and get enough sleep on the nights before you have class. speaking from experience, math is really hard to do and take in when you’re running on three hours of sleep

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before University

You are going to feel like dropping out. I would say to stick it out for the first year and sit for finals. If you get a good grade for your finals, that could really give your confidence a boost and motivate you to keep going. And then, if you still feel like dropping out or changing majors, you should do as much research as possible.

Feeling pressured to do more things. During my first year, I said yes to everything–even things that I didn’t feel like doing. I felt like if I didn’t, I’d be missing out on something really important or fun. FOMO, basically. However, more often than not, I wasn’t missing much and these opportunities will arise again very soon.

Buying too many unnecessary things. I bought so many stationery and notebooks before I started uni in hopes that they would motivate me to study. I ended up not using even half of them my first year. At least, I’d be set for supplies until I graduate.

Revising in uni is not the same as revising in high school. I used to think I could study last minute for a test, like I did in high school. I learned the hard way that that wasn’t the case at all. Now, I review the topics after every lecture. The key is to keep up because all those lectures are going to pile up really fast.

Past papers are your new best friend. I find that professors have their favourite questions that they like to give out. During finals, they might even use the same exact questions as they did in tests!

Failing/Getting a low grade in a test isn’t going to ruin your life. I once got so caught up on that one test. But luckily during finals, I snapped out of it and just tried my best. My final grade wasn’t too bad. You live and you learn.

Wear whatever you want (as long as it doesn’t get you in trouble). When I wear a hoodie and sweatpants, I get comments that I look like I just rolled out of bed (which I did, duh). And when I have really nice makeup on and do my hair, I’m trying to impress someone. I think people just like to run their mouth and it’s nothing personal, so you shouldn’t care what they say anyway. 

Keep in touch with friends outside your university. It can really come in handy during times when you really have to vent about someone in your classes. They can also help you keep grounded and have a different perspective.

You don’t have to love the library. I’m the kind of girl who studies lying on her stomach on the bed with papers and books surrounding me and my cat stepping on them occasionally. I think the library is too quiet and public for me. And if you’re the same way and prefer the cafe or elsewhere, then that’s okay too. The goal here is that you get your studying done.

Stay healthy. Whenever it’s near finals, I would abandon every other responsibility except studying. I would stop eating healthy and quit exercising, all in the name of making time to study. But they should go hand-in-hand with studying and not one or the other. I find that the better I take care of myself, the better my grades are. You should also get enough sleep–this, I never fail to do.

soon: comfy sweaters, hot beverages in cups, leaves crunching under your feet, drops of rain against the window, reading your book in bed

27.08.2019 | enjoying the last august days ☼

08.07.18

my classes are back and i already want them to be over oof but i still have 4 months to go so i’d better start doing something productive am i right

some messy history notes i made this weekend even tho i wasn’t feeling like it

Just one week until my courses begin, though I already had some precourses for my maths and physics lectures.

8.7.19

morning planning plain and simple 🌿

Astrophysics

“After substitutions, expansions, and sacrifices to the right gods…” -Astrophysics professor describing how to get the vis visa equation