Happy Halloween!

Achievements of 2021 (both academic and non-academic)

I'm still very much on break (basically just eating, sleeping, reading and swimming, it's delightful), but I want to sum up this year. It's been a fucking rollercoaster of a year and I still can't believe like half of the things that happened, both good and bad. Nevertheless, I want to focus on the positive ones to kickstart the new year in the most uplifting manner I'm able to pull off. Which is not very optimistic nor uplifting, but I can be at least not full of doom, haha.

I want to do this chronologically, just because I tend to forget the good stuff that happened more than two months ago.

Let's wrap this up!

Academic Achievements of 2021

presented at my first international conference (February)

prepped two PhD dissertation projects (April) and successfully defended them during the PhD programs interview (June)

wrote my diploma thesis while cooperating with the best mentor ever (January till June)

got accepted to two PhD programs and currently doing both of them! (June)

co-written three papers over the summer - two already published, one under a promising peer review (June-September)

defended my thesis and passed my state exams with straight As, meaning I got my master's degree! (September)

wrote a book chapter that got accepted (November)

Non-Academic Achievements of 2021

quit the job I hated (January)

got rid off so much stuff I didn't need (mostly July, August)

read 130 books, yaaay

stopped saying yes to meetings with acquaintances just because I felt like I should see them (big one!)

found a functioning skincare routine (September)

started swimming again (and loving it) (September)

A lot of this year has been mostly about surviving, to be honest. I was battling a lot of anxiety and depression, I was extremely stressed at times and couldn't sleep. Swimming and taking proper days off helps, close friends help. I'm gonna do a post with some goals for 2022, so I won't spoil here that, haha.

It was a good year after all.

Take care!

M.

hi!!

does anyone have any useful literature review printables or literature review guideslines/resources they can link me to??? i'm struggling here big time.

 Preparing for your exams

Check whether you have anything you haven’t studied. If you do, list them out in a paper/document. Put them into three categories: 

1. Things you are not familiar with at all (that you probably haven’t paid attention during class, and haven’t read through them)

2. Things you have already gone through once and have a rough idea what it is about, but not clear with the details

3. Things you are quite familiar with, that you just want to go through them once again to memorise them

It is very important that you have every content of your exam syllabus on the second level around 2-7 days before your exams (depends on the amount of materials that is going to be on the papers)

So you should make a timetable to go through everything if you still have a few days/weeks

Don’t try to spend so much time actually memorising them for now. The key right now is to understand everything, so that they can be in your long-term memory. 

You can leave other small details and examples (that probably requires your short-term memory) till the last week/last three days before exams.

If you have the feeling that you MUST remember things word by word / very clearly, mark them with a red pen or something to make sure they stand out so you can quickly memorise them during the final review.

You can also make index cards during this stage

Which may help you to organise the information and help you to stay focus (without wasting you so much time in making full and comprehensive notes)

And to quiz yourself during your final review

Final Review - 2-3 days before your exams

Scientific research shows that we are all very good at recognising things, but that does not mean that we are good at recalling them (which is exactly what requires during exams)

So, instead of just reading your notes, definitely quiz yourself using flashcards, or just look at the heading of the notes and recall as much information as possible

“no I have to memorise everything first before quizzing myself”??

No, not really. It is known that even pre-quiz can help you to remember the information better! Quickly quizzing yourself once to understand which areas you are least familiar with so you can focus more on those chapters in your final review

It actually does activate your mind too since you will be curious about the information (after knowing you cannot recall them during the quiz) - that can help you to remember better

Memorise in the right way!

Auditory learner: read the information out loud / try to teach others

Visual learner: recall the information by writing them all out in a piece of blank paper (feynman technique)

You can recall the information better when you are in the same kind of environment (scientifically proven)

That is, if you exam hall is silent, it’s better for you to remember things in silence

Even works for your condition too.

If you take energy boosting drink while your are studying, you can probably recall the information better if you drink them before exams (same as NOT drinking energy boosting drink too)

Write a list of very important keywords / information / equations as a final summary

The morning before your exams

Try not to go through anything new, you probably can’t remember/understand them anyway

The best thing to do is probably simply to go through the summary sheet you made before exams. It will help you to recall all the information you have memorised + you won’t panic since it’s everything that you have already studied

Breakfast, remember. You don’t want to be starving during exams.

#10 || Link to my study tips series - I post once a week here!  (strive-for-da-best) 

this is the funniest shit i’ve ever seen

May study challenge day 23!

What type of learner are you (visual, kinetic, etc.)? How does this translate to your study methods?

I’ve never really had one particular learning type that works for me more than others - I try to study in different ways, but I guess my study style fits with a visual learning method more than others?

Today - a photo from a chemistry experiment, reviewing English, chemistry homework, violin practice, piano practice, making chemistry notes, music homework, Latin lit revision, and my cute little productivity tracker with a flower for each day 🌷🌟

Day 13/100 of productivity · 1/30/21

Some late night notes for today! My boyfriend fell asleep really early and I had nothing better to do, so I decided it was time to study a little bit more. I feel like my motivation has been really high again lately & I am thankful for that, it would be really difficult to be this busy if I wasn't motivated.

very specific types of physicists

emeritus: a well-meaning retired professor who still frequents the department. occasionally seen jogging up and down the halls of the lab. it’s how he gets his daily exercise. his field of research is obsolete and he spends most of his days making art based on physics equations. asks all of the female undergrads if they plan to teach high school physics.

star child: no one will measure up to this alumnus. they started research in high school, graduated from undergrad a year early with a few papers already under their belt, and finished their phd (at a very prestigious university) in two years. they visit occasionally to present their research and talk to the undergrad physics students. very down to earth and kind. undergrads, grad students, and professors alike are in awe.

father figure: this prof’s lectures are full of dad jokes, metaphors comparing the behaviors of particles with sugared-up three-year-olds, and digressions about something that’s more fun to talk about than the subject matter. says “i’m not angry, just disappointed” when the class does poorly on an exam. when you go to his office hours there is almost always a child or two underneath his desk or drawing on his whiteboard (the bottom third of which is always covered in stick figures and scribbles). intensely watched the construction from his office window as a new laboratory was being built.

academic rival: you were friends over the summer when you were both doing research but they became distant. small talk always turns into bickering about the importance of your respective research when you run into each other getting coffee in the common room. begrudgingly you admit to yourself, they’re really good at what they do. thank god you don’t belong to the same research group.

harsh but kind: brilliant researcher with high expectations of their students. will offer and make you tea as they grade your problem sets (with commentary) in front of you. after your semester in their class, you buy a bag of loose-leaf jasmine green tea because they got you hooked on it.

the politician: buddies with some higher-ups in university admin and the heads of other colleges. your peers derail class by bringing up current events. has a fixation on swords and genealogy. a bit of an anglophile. you took apart a transistor radio with them once. will make formal complaints to the math department on your behalf.

melancholy teaching professor: very cynical from a career in academia but here to have fun. one of the friendliest faces in the department. organizes the students and faculty to do outreach and lugs physics demos all around the tri-county area. talks to the undergrads like they are people. always kind of sad, it makes you wish you could fix all of the ills of academia for them.

my morning coffee / jupiter

September 1, 2020 - physics studies.

It's September already! August was a tough month for me and I'm so excited to welcome the better days ahead <33 ☁️ September, please be nice 💫

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ Keep on working hard and take care of yourself friends ♡

🎶 Dynamite - BTS