Reference

College Life 101

Alrighty folks, here are some nifty tips on how I survived (and could have better survived) college: 

As soon as you have your schedule, email your professors. Everyone. Especially if you have questions about the course, if you’re going to miss, etc. also make sure you do it from your school email, many professors will not check an email if it isn’t from a school address. 

On move in day, bring a door stop.  moving in is so much easier when you don’t need someone to hold the door for everything. 

Shoe racks and command strips/hooks will be your best friend. Use the racks for misc. things like utensils, seasonings, Keurig mixes, hot chocolate, etc. 

Bring a whiteboard/corkboard. Write down your classes and anything you need to get done for those classes and make sure that you keep it updated. On the cork side post up papers with important numbers, a map of campus, and other things you get. 

SIGN UP FOR ACTIVITIES (ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE ON A SMALL CAMPUS) otherwise you’re not going to have a fun experience. Even if it’s just something you THINK you may have a slight interest in, try it! 

Go to one or two sporting events, just for the hell of it

Put important dates in your phone calendar or even a planner. Somewhere you will be reminded of them. Times and dates are critical. 

Eat. and eat well. 

Use chegg, upper classmen, or other resources for textbooks before you buy them. Campus bookstores are astronomically expensive and it can be a lot cheaper going somewhere else. I use Chegg and they also send you free tide pods, coffee samples, etc. 

Bring medicine that you’ve used in the last two years, even if you haven’t used it in a while just to be safe. 

If you’re gonna do laundry on the weekends Friday and Saturday nights OR Sunday mornings are prime time. Be prepared for staying up late or getting up early to do laundry 

PUT. A TIMER. ON. YOUR. LAUNDRY. Seriously, when you have to share a laundry room there is nothing more annoying than someone who won’t move their laundry out for other people. 

On a related note DO NOT THROW OTHER PEOPLE’S LAUNDRY ON THE FLOOR. Fold it up, leave it on the dryers or w/e with a little note. Don’t be an asshole. 

Keep extra pads and tampons around everywhere you go. Help yourself and/or ya menstruating friends out. 

Bring a phone/laptop charger with you throughout the day. I know I personally have some long breaks between my classes where I do homework and w/e

Use Google docs for your assignments, or other programs that back up your work to the cloud. My laptop broke halfway through the semester and the only thing that saved me was Google Docs because my school uses gmail

Download Groupme. Right now. Do it. It’s a great way to create group chats, keep them in one place, and keep them backed up somewhere, you’re gonna have some for group projects, your dorm, any programs, etc. 

Bring a three hole punch, scissors, glue, tape, notecards, and binders. Also get pocketed folders for any important research papers you may need to turn in. 

ALSO DRY ERASE MARKERS ARE A LIFE SAVER. bring them around for studying in empty classrooms it’s v helpful

COLOR CODE YOUR BINDERS/NOTE BOOKS/STICKY NOTES. Your binder for one class and all its accessories should be one colors. Color organize your notes. (If you’re colorblind, use patterns or something simple for you.) 

Try typing up your notes after classes, save them to your laptop and whatever online thing you use. Sometimes you’ll need your notes and you either won’t have your notebook, laptop, or both and it can be very important to keep your notes accessible. 

Make use of tutoring services or other students/friends that are good in your classes. C’s get degrees and if people can help you understand it better then WOO

Try not to miss too many classes, but if you do make sure you contact your professors about it (or someone in that class.) 

Sleep is v important, but can also be too good so set alarms at least a half hour before your classes to get ready and go. 

Take deep breaths. Make friends. Take no shit, do no harm. 

((These are based off of my personal experiences, feel free to add on if you think of something))

Important ^

The medical community on literally every female specific health issue ever: “very common condition” “no known cause” “no known cure” :))))))

this ↑

Watch: She has seen a lot but this is what hurts her the most.

To help move away from summary and toward ANALYSIS, it’s important to incorporate strong verbs into your writing when discussing the writer’s rhetorical choices. Below is a list of verbs that are considered weak (imply summary) and a list of verbs that are considered strong (imply analysis). Strive to use the stronger verbs in your essays to help push yourself away from summary and toward analysis: ex “The writer flatters…” NOT “The writer says…”

Weak Verbs (Summary):

says 

explains

relates 

states 

goes on to say 

shows 

tells 

this quote shows

Strong Verbs (Analysis):

Argues, admonishes, analyzes, compares, contrasts, defines, demonizes, denigrates, describes, dismisses, enumerate, expounds, emphasizes, establishes, flatters, implies, lionizes, lists, minimizes, narrates, praises, processes, qualifies, questions, ridicules, suggests, supports, trivializes, vilifies, warns       

Powerful and Meaningful Verbs to Use in an Analysis (Alternatives to Show): 

Acknowledge, Address, Analyze, Apply, Argue, Assert, Augment

Broaden

Calculate, Capitalize, Characterize, Claim, Clarify,Compare, Complicate, Confine, Connect, Consider, Construct, Contradict, Correct, Create, Convince, Critique

Declare, Deduce, Defend, Demonstrate, Deny, Describe, Determine, Differentiate, Disagree, Discard, Discover, Discuss, Dismiss, Distinguish, Duplicate

Elaborate, Emphasize, Employ, Enable, Engage, Enhance, Establish, Evaluate, Exacerbate, Examine, Exclude, Exhibit, Expand, Explain, Exploit, Express, Extend

Facilitate, Feature, Forecast, Formulate, Fracture

Generalize, Group, Guide

Hamper, Hypothesize

Identify, Illuminate, Illustrate, Impair, Implement, Implicate, Imply, Improve, Include, Incorporate, Indicate, Induce, Initiate, Inquire, Instigate, Integrate, Interpret, Intervene, Invert, Isolate

Justify

Locate, Loosen

Maintain, Manifest, Manipulate, Measure, Merge, Minimize, Modify, Monitor

Necessitate, Negate, Nullify

Obscure, Observe, Obtain, Offer, Omit, Optimize, Organize, Outline, Overstate

Persist, Point out, Possess, Predict, Present, Probe, Produce, Promote, Propose, Prove, Provide

Qualify, Quantify, Question

Realize, Recommend, Reconstruct, Redefine, Reduce, Refer, Reference, Refine, Reflect, Refute, Regard, Reject, Relate, Rely, Remove, Repair, Report, Represent, Resolve, Retrieve, Reveal, Revise

Separate, Shape, Signify, Simulate, Solve, Specify, Structure, Suggest, Summarize, Support, Suspend, Sustain

Tailor, Terminate, Testify, Theorize, Translate

Undermine, Understand, Unify, Utilize

Validate, Vary, View, Vindicate

Yield  

How to read a scientific paper

Step 1: begin at the beginning

read the title

get excited for cool science

note the authors 

get mad at them for having more papers than you

spend ten minutes wondering if you’d have been better off going to whatever institution they’re at

die a little inside

Step 2: the abstract and introduction

read the abstract

skip right to the introduction because you’re not completely sure what they’re talking about and maybe that will clear it up

alright now we’re talking

understand the entire first paragraph of the introduction

mostly get the second and third paragraphs

skip over the technical bit at the end because boring

Step 3: the results (aka the good stuff)

read the first paragraph

really not get what’s being said

skip right to figure 1

read the figure caption

call it good, you got the jist

repeat for the remaining figures

Step 4: give up

this paper really isn’t answering the question you had in the first place

you’ll just cite it later it’s fine

Step 5: keep doing science!

fail because of some unexpected and puzzling problem

spend 2-6 weeks troubleshooting and getting nowhere

decide to do another literature search to see if anyone else has had this issue

find the same paper you read before cited a bunch

Step 6: reread

actually like read it this time

get to the end 

find the answer to your question

die a little inside

wonder why you didn’t just read it fully to begin with and save yourself weeks of work

Step 7: follow citations to another paper that looks relevant

repeat entire cycle

wonder why science is so hard

I'm pretty sure the "man wearing a kippah is about to enter a temple, but covers his wheelchair wheels with a cover to keep the inside of the temple as clean as possible." Is probably man actually entering a mosque, and it's quite common for men to wear a headcap of some kind for prayer. The architecture also implies it's a mosque (though you may have a synagogue in that style, especially if you are looking in the MENA region), the collective connotation I see is of a Muslim individual.

There is also not to my knowledge a concept you can't specifically bring dirt with you into a synagogue (i.e., walking with shoes/wheeling in a chair), though I suppose you shouldn't come caked in mud. However, you might see this concept of not tracking dirt specifically in a mosque both for practical reasons (carpeting) or generally as a sign of respect.

This is so nice!

I want to wish everyone who has upcoming exams all the best ✨ I know it’s a very stressful time but it’s also the time for us to harvest what we’ve sown. I hope all the effort we’ve made throughout the years will show and that we’re one step closer to our goals 🐝 Remember that I love you and I will be here if you ever want someone to talk to, about the good stuff and the bad! Please take care of yourselves 🌹

a lovely octopus, graceful, and strong.