Best Thing Tumblr Ever Did For Me Is The Term "rotating It In My Mind". It's Really True That Sometimes

it strikes me as somewhat uncomfortable that so many people focus on asian stories only after the events of the past couple of days. people dm me for the first time in months and asian creators get spotlighted (which is lovely), and yet it feels so performative. why? because so many of these ppl dming me and whatnot have never been interested in interacting diverse content or speaking out about the stories of poc—it’s like they’re doing this to solely gain brownie points. in a few months’ time, they won’t be doing all this anymore. they’ll go back to their silence, to not caring about asian creators. that’s what makes it performative. the stories of asian people shouldn’t be heard and spread only when they’ve been murdered and/or when their pain finally makes it onto news headlines.

Tkhorm, a huge black beast and my old good friend, walks in the sunset field ~

Made in Blender.

(This is my original character of my personal story; he is not supposed to represent anything or anyone else)

Cities and Sketches on Instagram

hey guys! for those of you who may not know me, I am Alexi (@alexistudies) and the long awaited masterpost is FINALLY here on how I study for Organic Chemistry (which i might have to retake lmaooo but that’s a story for a different time). Now, I don’t get the best grades, as my professor’s exams are ridiculously hard, but I have learned the material enough to teach others. If you’re struggling with how to navigate this mind-boggling course that’s pretty much like learning a new language, this post is for YOU! lets gettin it crackin’

Always start by reading the material BUT don’t go in with a cold read (aka just reading the chapter from start to finish) break it into 2 steps: SQ3R and then fully read.

SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review

disclaimer: personally i do this method by chapter section so I am not overwhelmed with material!

survey: skim the material. read the titles of the sections and subsections, and glance over the actual material within the chapter. take mental note of weird acronyms you may see or vocabulary that stands out. this will prime your brain for all the information you’re going to get when you go the 3R’s.

question: get some sticky notes and write down questions for each section in the textbook. for example, if you just skimmed the section on “Sn1 Reactions”, write a question down on the sticky note like “what does Sn1 mean? what does its mechanism look like?” and stick it in the corresponding place. even if the section seems direct and you don’t have any questions, create one regardless. This will help the information stick! Don’t worry about answering them just yet.

read: pretty self explanatory but read a section of the textbook. read it twice if things still seem fuzzy after the first read, and this time, go slower. now, there should be a sticky note where you wrote a question during the second part of this process. write the answer in to the question based on your knowledge from your reading. also, feel free to take note of any other things that seem to stand out on this sticky note. again, i do this section by section in my textbook so i don’t get burned out or overwhelmed.

recite: once you’ve done the first three steps for the whole chapter, its time to collect all the sticky notes!!! set them down on a flat surface in their chronological order and get prepared with your notebook/tablet and stylus/etc. now you’ll compile all your sticky notes into reading notes! during this stage, read your sticky notes out loud and supplement your reading notes by copying & annotating examples from the textbook.

At this point, you should have already read and done most of the first step. Now, its time to go back through and really engage with the material. As you skim each section, you’ll answer the questions you wrote on the sticky notes! This is pretty self explanatory, I hope. This will make sure that you engage with the material and not just blankly read it. I’m a person who gets bored with textbook reading fairly quickly, this really helps me. Its okay if you don’t fully understand the concepts during this step because you’re just putting your feet in the water.

Still confused on the material? Have some small concepts you just can’t seem to get yet? Its okay! Now, you’ll get auditory/visual exposure which will probably help. I watch The Organic Chemistry Tutor’s videos whenever I feel stuck and I take notes as I watch the video to ensure I’m really paying attention.

This step is to really see how much you know. Start with examples from the book, as the solutions are usually right there and they will walk you through. Then, move on to practice problems. In my textbook, they have exercises that follow right after most examples to practice that same concept. Once you’ve gone through as many of these as you deem fit, you should do the end of chapter problems! These problems tend to be a little more comprehensive and build on things from previous chapters, while also being more conceptual.

pls do your homework. it will reinforce everything. i’ve realized that the homework is not necessarily what will be covered on the exam, but it’s like … drills to see if you know the basics. but, this really depends on the professor and what they assign as homework! for me, the homework doesn’t even begin to compare to the complexity of the exams. highlight anything you get stuck on and once you’re done, go back and redo those problems + review that section in your notes and textbook!

Review sheets are a life saver because once exams come around, you have one piece of paper you can study from and you don’t have to carry around all your notes! for ochem specifically, i recommend making a reaction sheet that’s a flow-chart (i.e., if i have these reagents, its going to be a hydroboration reaction). this was something i was hoping to do before my final, but i just burned out and never got to it :(( so i need to practice what i preach either when i retake ochem1 or when i move on to ochem2.

bonus tip!

Ask yourself the following questions when you study.

can you name things? (types of reactions, molecules using IUPAC nomenclature, etc)

can you identify things? (stereochemical relationships between molecules, concepts used in a reaction like markovnikov addition, etc)

can you develop things? (desired products for a reaction, etc)

can you interconvert between things? (from wedge dash > newman projection, chair conformation > newman projection, skeletal structure > fischer projection, reaction > energy coordinate diagram)

Hopefully this helps! I enjoyed making this post because I do enjoy organic chemistry, I just really need to do better in the class next semester and better implement these study techniques (and maybe find new ones that work better)!!

Hi, I was wondering if you have any tips for being self taught (You're like, extremely brilliant, by the way)

hi, thank you so much, that’s so sweet!!<3 here you are:

a guide to be self-taught for all the knowledge lovers out there

1. Listen to yourself. Don’t judge your thoughts and their form. Most people are MUCH more intelligent and creative than they think they are. They just don’t notice it as they don’t pay attention to their thoughts, don’t value them the way they should.

Buy a notebook. Note every thought that has any meaning, however weird, bad or unsignificant it may seem. Don’t make it a diary, a diary is filtered. It gives you an objective, makes you try to shape your ideas a certain way. Screw the dates, calligraphy, aesthetic, screw making any sense. The whole point is to contain an unchanged stream of consciousness, to keep it unedited, so you wouldn’t lose anything. I call it A documentation of existence - you neither have to agree with what you write, nor believe it’s yours, simply acknowledge it exists.

You have no idea how many times I made a stupid note at 4am that everyone else would ignore but that later on got transformed into a whole project.

2. Sleep well and USE THAT TIME. I’m surprised how few people understand and appreciate the power of sleep. Come on, it’s literally the door to your unconsciousness, the amount of opportunities it gives is astonishing!

I used to not get it. When I was a kid I hated sleep so much, I would refuse to go to bed sometimes as I thought of it as a waste of time. In primary school I wanted to reduce my sleep time so much, I started to highly experiment on it and even followed the Uberman Schedule for some time. Now I know sleep is actually a powerful instrument that can help you increase your potential.

Learn about it, research LD, OOBE (be careful with it though) and most importantly sleep programming. They can all be extremely beneficial! Statistically we’re asleep for 1/3 of our lives so don’t waste that time.

3. Mnemotechnics. Find out what way of remembering information works best for your brain and use it. I especially recommend The Mind Palace Technique. You may’ve seen it on Sherlock and thought it’s pure fiction but I assure you it’s very much real and it’s the most effective mnemotechnic I’ve ever used. Seriously, I’m surprised how much I remember thanks to it.

If you use it right, it’s actually so efficient you may remember those things for years, if not forever - so don’t put useless and stupid stuff there. I once did it and I regret it SO much, it’s been years and this idiotic picture has just engraved in my brain... anyway, MNEMOTECHNICS!

4. Read. Read things you don’t agree with. Read things you hate. Read everything that makes you feel something. Same way with movies, plays, music, etc. Consume as much culture as you can, surround yourself with it. Let your knowledge grow, your viewpoint change, allow yourself to be influenced by the world.

5. Use drugs wisely. And yes, caffeine, theine, nicotine and alcohol do count. They have a massive influence on your brain, please don’t let them destroy it. Be especially careful with cannabis, it lowers your IQ significantly, even used only a handful of times.

6. Acknowledge that you will lose motivation and know what to do about it. It’s perfectly normal! Please never beat yourself up for it, it will only make everything worse. It’s important that you find your own way to deal with it, but if you want to know mine: I just romanticize the hell out of everything. Learning is so much easier and more enjoyable when you do it on your own terms and do it with passion.

Working on a maths assignment an hour before the deadline, irritated you have to do so, trembling in fear that you won’t make it on time? terrible, horrendous, worst experience ever.

BUT

Sitting under a tree, birds singing in the background, while you’re doing mathematical equations, thus using a beautiful way of allowing yourself to explore the universe you’re so fascinated by? - marvelous, astonishing, groundbreaking.

Seriously, just love what you do. Love everything.

7. Learn what you WANT to learn about, not only what you have to. Look for the quirks.

Usually the reason why people hate a subject is that the only way they look at it is through the eyes of the education system. Come on, ancient history is boring? Sappho had a fake husband whose name was literally Dick Allcock from Men Island. Most schools teach to stay inside the box and consume only what is useful or necessary, stripping you off any passion. Screw them. Useless facts are amazing.

8. Sudoku and chess. They increase your IQ, improve memory, creativity, problem-solving, reading skills, concentration... even fuel dendrite growth! Great excercises for planning and foreseeing. Also, they’re kinda cool, 10/10.

9. A HEALTHY DIET, REPEAT IT AFTER ME.

10. Never be scared of making mistakes or sounding stupid. Ask for help. It’s crucial, especially when you’re learning a new language. You’ll never speak it if you’re scared of twisting pronunciation or making a grammatical error. Something done not perfectly is still so much better than not done at all.

bonus: Don’t trust Duolingo. I just had to say it.

That’s it, hope this helps! If anyone has any more questions, feel free to ask.

I never used to understand what “making connections” looked like but it turns out it’s standing at a party and saying “I’ve been thinking about getting into the film industry” and someone saying “Oh, Sarah works in the film industry” and Sarah yelling from accross the room “Did someone say my name?!?!?!”

Ace of Pentacles

There are times that my husband asks me questions, just to hear my thoughts. Like, he’ll read an article and send it to me just so we can talk about it. And I remember the first time he did it when we dated. I realized he actually respected what I thought and my opinion and he wasn’t just asking to be a devils advocate. Sometimes he would just let me talk and talk and just say “I hadn’t thought about it that way. That’s a good point” and that’s it. Not to fight me or ask my opinion so he can say his

And it dawned on me how many men are assholes and like to hear themselves talk and that for the 24 years of my life prior to being with him, not a single man had just ever asked me what i thought, just to hear my thoughts.