College Tips

College tips

I’m in college, no surprise there. I’ve had many experiences already in my 2 years of college. Let’s just say, chaos likes to follow me. I’ve passed, failed, been to the hospital, gotten on a first name basis with the dean, almost got backer acted, all that good stuff. So I have quite a few tips between balancing school and two jobs, recovering from failing, how to pass, when to call a class quits, etc. Some of these you may think I’m crazy for and that’s ok. Some like just giving up on a class or two may sounds stupid but believe me, when you work two jobs, are almost hospitalized, have family on the verge of death, one already dead, living an hour from school, and relying on a car that likes to work most of the time, there will be times you need to just quit. These tips may not be for everyone, but I’m sure that at least one of these could help you.

Find a sleeping schedule that works for you. Once you do, fit your classes around it, and work around your school. Trust me, if you put sleep second, you will never sleep enough and you’ll half ass all your classes.

Not only try to avoid 8AM’s, try to avoid classes that end at 9-10PM. I always here people advise against 8am classes, but never heard anyone advise against these. As a female getting out that late and walking to your car or dorm can be very scary especially on a college campus and that’s for good reason. It’s just not safe. Not to mention, you’ll get back to your place of sleeping and not be tired enough to sleep and probably won’t go to bed until around midnight at the earliest. Then cue next morning hatred for signing up for that class. Trust me, these classes are just as bad as 8ams

If the police want to talk to you, be honest and polite. The more polite you are, the gentler they will be and the less likely they are to threaten to arrest you as an accomplice or something. Just be honest and polite, but never compromise your rights. Ask for a lawyer but do so politely if it comes down to it. They hate talking to you just as much as you hate talking to them

Go ahead and hook up, but make sure your roommate(s) are fine with it and make sure to use protection. Don’t rely on plan B

Never let your drink leave your sight. Always keep it in hand and close to the front of your torso. Pass on the food at parties too unless you see it get delivered, opened, and served. People love getting people high and giving them drugs without their knowledge and consent as a prank

If you know you’re going to a place with alcohol, bring at least one friend you can completely trust even if you don’t think you’re going to drink

Don’t let someone talk you up and don’t fuck someone because you feel guilty

Make time to study. Put it in your calendar and don’t make plans for those times. Believe me, you’ll be so happy you did

Take notes in whatever way works for you. Study however and wherever works for you. Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s a correct way to succeed in academia. The only correct way is the way that works for you. Music? No music? Outside? Flashcards? In your bed? Whatever works my dude

Make your bed when you first get up. It will make your room appear more put together and if you do nothing all day besides that, at least you can tell yourself that you did do something worthwhile that day

If you’re sick, go to the clinic. Most campuses have free clinics where you can go and get seen for free or really cheap if you’re a student. Don’t suffer and be miserable

If you’re sad, cry. Be dramatic. Turn on the shower and start showering and then slowly slide down the wall as you breakdown hysterical over that breakup and just let the water gently flow over your skin as your tears blend with the drops spiraling down the drain. Trust me, you’ll come out feeling so much better while also wanting to die. But you’ll have more confidence and an easier time than you would if you tried to play it off like it didn’t bother you

Do stupid, harmless things like confess to your crush or tell that girl you think her hair is gorgeous. Go for a walk in the park and go out to your favorite restaurant alone. Buy the cheapest bottle of wine and drink it while watching a Disney movie. Live. Feel the rain fall and the sunlight wrap you. Feel the wind flow around you and the snow cover you. Feel the shadows cast down from the clouds and the ground beneath your feet. Pick that dandelion and make a wish or two or twenty. You could walk around in nothing but a snuggie and flip flops while drinking a piña colada from a coffee mug that says “fuck you” on it and I can guarantee you at least one person will think you’re a genius

Actually talk to your roommate(s) because you’ll be living with them for a while. Try to be on their good side. And if you really don’t like them, befriend your RA and bitch about him/her to them

Go bake something at 2AM

If you’re drinking and begin to feel buzzed, stop. The alcohol will hit you even more as the night goes on. No one does anything they want to talk about while shit-faced. Every drunk person becomes the person everyone laughs at and talks about for days. Save yourself the embarrassment and stop with a buzz. And besides it’s much better than a hangover

If you’re failing a class and you have no hope in reviving your grade, then don’t be afraid to drop it or just stop trying. In my chem 2 lecture, all three tests I took so far I got below a 65 on. I need a 72 to pass. There’s no way I would pass the class and I can’t drop it so I stopped going and studying and worrying about it. There’s no reason I should sacrifice efforts on a lost cause when I could put that energy to another class and excell in it.

Actually talk with your teachers. They control your grade, might as well get to know them and be on their good side. And trust me, not only will your grades be better, they may come in use later on

Don’t try to fix anyone. People have their problems and their own lives. You won’t fix anyone and you’ll just hurt yourself in the process

Be kind to people. If they piss you off, be even nicer to them. Trust me, it will be great watching them fume but not be able to do anything because you’re so nice and sweet and everyone loves you

Learn to cook real meals like chicken parmesan, shrimp alfredo, good chili, etc. They’re all really pretty simple with a little bit of practice and after a while, you’ll be able to make a delicious meal out of almost anything you find in your cabinets. I learnt how to cook at a young age and now if you just threw a bunch of random ingredients and some spices at me, I could definitely make due. This has come in handy so many times when all I have to eat is some pasta, a loaf of bread, chicken strips, and maybe a vegetable at the bottom of the fridge. I can work with that and not hate what I eat

Get off your parent’s taxes and get your own insurance

Go to the gym at least once. Even if it’s just to look

Try out some new hobbies like kayaking, painting, hiking, baking, witchcraft, writing, photography, cooking, sewing, etc. Many of these things will be useful

Learn at least one survival skill. Sewing, making bread from acorns, fishing, building a flotation device, whatever. It’ll make you look cool and like you have this whole life thing figured out

Keep your gas receipts and all receipts really

Spend cash

Learn about yourself

Record lectures when you can’t focus or don’t want to take notes

Avoid the tattoo parlor between the hours of 8pm and 10am to avoid a future regret

Talk to the people who no one else does. Befriend the outcasts. But if they do things you’re uncomfortable with, you can just as easily walk away

Don’t hang out with the person who gets drunk every weekend and smokes weed to get high and acts like college is a party every day. They usually get caught at least once or do something stupid that brings you down

Go to the beach at night when no one is around and the stars are out. Be safe though

If you don’t want to do something, don’t. You owe no one an explanation. They should respect your no and if they don’t, you don’t need them around

Don’t let someone get handsy with you just because they’re drunk. Tell them no if it makes you uncomfortable. Walk away

You are in school, your grades are important, but they’re not the end all be all

Start learning how to rely on yourself and yourself only

Avoid fights. They’re not cool and can land you in jail

People almost always have a motive

Spend time with your family and friends. The older you get, the older they get and the more likely they are to die. You never want to hate yourself for not spending time with someone

You are not to blame for someone else’s actions

You are responsible only for yourself and your actions. But don’t let that be an excuse to let someone else do something stupid

Take at least one afternoon every week to just have fun and pretend work and school doesn’t exist and you live in a perfect world

No one is perfect. Everyone fucks up. A lot. But it’s ok to cut people out of your life who fuck up. Never feel guilty for it

It’s ok to be picky

Don’t trust what people tell you. Fact check. Everything

Wash a dish after you use it and put stuff away when you’re done with it. Taking an extra 5 seconds will save you hours of stress and hate later

Turn your phone on do not disturb or on silent when studying for something important that you need to focus on

Take thousands of pictures of everything

Try to laugh every day

Do your homework even if you know the teacher won’t collect it

Constantly review past sections if you know the final will be cumulative

Keep your silibus for each class

Learn people’s stories. Not just the exciting ones. Learn about how their mother would wake them in the mornings as a kid. Learn about the silly stories they have. Learn about their scars, both happy and sad

Take care of your skin, teeth, hair, and brain

Change diets for a day

Find something that really excites you in every class you take

For everything you hate about yourself, find at least something you somewhat like about yourself

Happiness is just as much a mental thing as sadness. Find things that make you happy. Like the color orange or rain drops on leaves

Wear what ever the fuck you want. No one will care

Go to your classes even if attendance is not mandatory unless you could teach that lesson to everyone else in the class with 98% accuracy

Do things that make you happy and healthy

Make friends with people in your classes

You don’t need to be involved in 5 different clubs

You’ll only have a couple good friends and maybe one real friend if you’re lucky

Get to know someone who has a pet

Learn to respect yourself and your wants

You aren’t your parents or anyone else and you won’t have the life anyone else has

It’s ok to need a break sometimes. Just don’t give up

You are loved despite what that annoying brain of yours says. You are wanted and your friends care about you. And I do too

You matter just as much as anyone else does and if you’re struggling at all, you deserve help just as much as anyone else

You have a voice and a say. Use them wisely

UPDATE: EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH WORSE

https://www.paypal.me/alexg05

https://www.gofundme.com/losing-the-house-the-children-the-animals

Art Commission Info

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONATE IF YOU CAN, AND PLEASE REBLOG TO SPREAD THE WORD.

I hardly even have the energy to write this but here we go– I will restate some things again now that I have more information, and I’ll try to explain this as calmly as I can rather than how I did the very first time I found out this was happening.

THEY GAVE US LESS THAN A MONTH TO PAY $20,000.

We missed our mortgage payment in February. The mortgage is $3,200 each month, because they gave it to us for an insanely high rate. We’ve been able to keep up with it up until now but suddenly there’s been much less work and so we missed the February one.

This is the letter telling us to pay for February, plus $2,600 in “legal fees” that they added, totaling $6,000.

The payments are meant to be automatic. In March, when we did have the money, they did not take it even though they were supposed to. My dad had even messaged them telling them to take it and they would not. They did this purposefully so that they could now have “two” months of “missed” payments over us. They need three months in order to be able to evict us.

There’s $6,400 in mortgage alone, not including the February “legal fees” or any that they probably also added for March. Originally, they had first demanded that we pay these overdue payments.

THEN, they decided to add April into it. Mortgage x 3 = $9,600. Within a span of few days, they keep changing their own story. They just keep adding to it!!! You can see that the very first letter was received on April 4. The most recent letter that I will show in a moment, is from April 18. In just these few days, they added so many more payments into it??? And now, since they keep changing their story, they have these three months on us!!!

Thanks to loans from friends, kind donations, and work of course, we were able to collect $6,000 and quickly rushed to the bank to create a bank draft (a very official cheque) for $6,000 and we quickly mailed it off to them. We wanted to pay them the $6,000 we had ASAP so that we could have paid something and they couldn’t evict us, right?

We fell into a short moment of calm where we thought we were safe from being evicted now. We paid $6,000 and they couldn’t evict us and we’d pay the rest as soon as we had it. Of course you know this didn’t last. THEY MAILED THE CHEQUE BACK. SAYING THAT THEY WOULDN’T ACCEPT IT UNLESS IT CONTAINED THE FEBRUARY, MARCH, AND APRIL PAYMENTS. If they want the money so badly shouldn’t they just accept the $6,000 and take the rest later? No, because then they KNOW they can’t evict us, and that’s EXACTLY what they are trying to do. THEY WANT THIS TO BE AS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO PAY AS POSSIBLE. They could have taken the $6,000 but then they are unable to evict us, and they want to evict us.

THEN, THEY ADD MAY.

Our mortgage payments are “officially” meant to be paid on the 2nd of each month, but my dad had agreed with them to pay on the 25th of each month. That is how it has been the entire time we have lived here and they know this. But suddenly, they decided that we need to pay for May as well, because if we were to pay on May 25th, that falls after their May 20th deadline. So they suddenly said the 2nd again because that’s how it is in the papers, even though they have agreed previously that the 25th was okay, and BAM THERE IS A 4TH MONTH ON US??? They are literally looking for every way they can to fuck us over.

This is the most recent letter, telling us to pay $20,000!!!!! How could they just go and suddenly change it to THIS??? Mortgage x 4 is $12,800, the rest is literally “LEGAL FEES” AND INTEREST THAT THEY KEEP STACKING ON US OUT OF NOWHERE. $5,400 is just for their lawyer who only sent us one letter and then proceeded to ignore and avoid us when we wanted to question him further!!

It is literally fucking evil how they are trying their hardest to make this unpayable for us. I don’t even think it’s about getting this money, or else they would have taken the $6,000 when we sent it to them. It is about making this unpayable for any person, so that they can take the whole house from us. They could have easily taken this $6,000 from us and taken the rest later, but they wouldn’t even accept it until it was the full $20,000 that they suddenly decided that they want. So many of that are just fees that they made up!!!!

This isn’t even counting other bills that we have to pay such as electricity and food.

It is so. Fucking. Wrong.

And my family is SO TERRIFIED.

Worst case scenario ? We will get evicted. We will be HOMELESS. IF, we have any money, we might be able to rent an apartment. Apartments are expensive and require 2 month’s rent upfront. We wouldn’t have enough bedrooms for all our family members. We wouldn’t have enough space to take most of our belongings. We wouldn’t be able to take ANY of our animals (2 dogs and 6 rescue cats) as no apartments near us allow animals (we checked) and even the shelters in the area are utterly horrible and careless (in addition to charging you per animal..) Most of our animals are unadoptable as well. And this is all IF we can even afford an apartment, IF we are left truly homeless, we’d still lose everything, on top of having nowhere to go to and social services possibly even taking my 10 and 6 year old siblings away.

THE ONLY REALISTIC OPTION FOR US is somehow paying this off, because we need to stay here long enough to sell this house. My house has been on the market for 3 weeks now and only one person has come to even view it so far, and wasn’t interested in buying it. If we can sell this house, which we definitely should be able to…with a little more time… Then we can pay off the full mortgage and move elsewhere, where we won’t have this problem again.

No, sueing is not a realistic option. How can we go against this entire corporation and their lawyers? Our own lawyers would cost thousands that we don’t have, court would take ages, and they would still evict us in the meantime. They know this. They know we are powerless against them.

My dad is working as hard as he can but his job is being very slow at the moment. He installs floors and normally at this time of year, he should be buried in work but for some reason he isn’t getting any. On top of that, his boss from the main store he works at hates him and purposefully does not give him work. The other 3 stores he is hired at simply are not giving him much to do.

I am applying to all the jobs I can but none are contacting me back. I am so frustrated. One job in particular nearby my house would have been the most perfect option for me and they hired someone else instead. I am still trying to search for a job but we also live in a kind of middle of nowhere area and I have limited transportation. I am trying my absolute best. I’m also doing art commissions - PLEASE consider getting one if you can!!!

My mom doesn’t speak a word of English, cooks and cleans constantly, and takes care of my young siblings every day, and yet is still searching for a job for herself… I have no idea how she will get one without being able to speak English or having any experience.

My parents don’t really have any friends/family in Canada. I have a very small family and they are all in Poland and very poor. We’re usually the ones sending them money every month. We’re even considering asking my grandma in Poland to take out a loan from the bank for us, but my mom is so embarrassed to ask her for fear of terrifying her too much (she hasn’t told her any of this so as to not stress her out…) and they are unlikely to even give my grandma a loan since she is poor and very old. We can’t really ask her for much help but we might just have to. Even if she is able to get a loan for us, we will still be far from our goal… But my mom thinks there’s no way the bank will give my grandma a loan.

We are literally doing everything we can and they are just trying their hardest to take this house from us… It’s sick. It’s horrifying. I never knew that people could be this completely evil. To think that within a span of just a few days they would change their own story like 3 times just to make this harder and harder for us…

PLEASE help us if you can!!! If each follower could donate even a dollar, that would help immensely. Please reblog to spread the word too! Please look at my commissions…! This looks like a very hopeless situation but hope is really all I can have anymore. All I can do is hope for a miracle.. I’m trying my best to apply for more jobs and hopefully get hired somewhere. My dad should have some work for the next week. Maybe we can do this– we have to do this… The outcome if we can’t is more horrible than I can even imagine…

Please donate if you can, I greatly appreciate all the help we can get.

I’m so sorry for being annoying posting this… I know it’s not nice to see this post but this is my biggest outlet to hopefully get a bit of help.

I will keep you updated as I learn more and thank you so much to anyone who may be able to help or who has helped so far.

https://www.paypal.me/alexg05

https://www.gofundme.com/losing-the-house-the-children-the-animals

Art Commission Info - at this point I will attempt to draw pretty much ANYTHING, ask me about it and I will see if I can do it.

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lily-sam

4 years ago

this is how i spent all of autumn break. in my dads mock-studio which is just a bright room in our summer house (honestly the light in there is magical). studying economics until my eyes bled.

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lily-sam

5 years ago

Namjoon’s Answer To A Question About What He Felt And Learned While Making The Album And Looking Back

namjoon’s answer to a question about what he felt and learned while making the album and looking back at their 7 years as BTS and looking forward to their next 7 years. (trans.credit)

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lily-sam

4 years ago

22.08.20// I wish I mastered nice aesthetically pleasing writing but unfortunately my writing looks like that of an elementary school child! It’s always been speed over legibility in my life hahaha.

IG: flatneedledistillery

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lily-sam

6 years ago

frankly? ban all plastics. require all public buildings to be solar powered. public community gardens in every neighborhood. ban all pesticides. ban fossil fuels. put wind turbines on every sky scraper. gardens on every rooftop. tax cars and fund public transportation. build bike lanes across every city. train/railroad infrastructure across the country (tear down highways). every state mandated to have a certain percentage of land be a wildlife preserve. local/organic farms get huge tax breaks. raise the minimum wage. aquaponics farms in every city. every family has chickens in their backyard. community composting. jeff bezos’s body for fertilizer. i have a clear idea of what i want the world to look like and i want it now. hire me

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lily-sam

5 years ago

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the vastness of things I want to be, do and achieve.

I want to be the girl reading Anna Karenina in a dimly lit cafe and losing herself in poetry and philosophy every night. Yet, I also want to be sharp and analytical and save lives with a scalpel in my hand. I want to travel the world and surprise people with how many languages I can speak - drink wine and watch ballet in France, explore abandoned castles in Scotland, feel the centuries of history in Italy and Greece, learn to surf in Hawaii or Australia. I want to have an attic studio where I can make art and laugh with my lover about the funny-looking portrait as I can never get the face proportions quite right. I want a house away from the city and a horse so that I can roam the fields. But I also want to live right in the middle of the city and admire the skyline and the skyscrapers every night. And the list goes on and on…

They say follow your passion but which one do I follow if there are only 24 hours in a day? I know I won’t be able to do all of the things I dream of but I personally object to having to limit myself.

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lily-sam

5 years ago

Regarding the Amazon Rainforest

I barely have followers here, but here we go:

The Amazon Rainforest has been burning for the last 16 days straight. The Brazilian government says the wildfire is caused by the winter itself, since it doesn't rain a lot there... in a rainforest. It is actually, partially true. Winter is indeed a dry season and wildfires may happen, specially close to the Cerrado (a brazilian biome similar to the african Savanna), but what they're not telling us is that:

The deforestation has increased 80% since last year

The native peoples and animals are being slaughtered for their lands (legally protected green areas)

The government is hiding and lying about scientific data, saying that environmentalists and NGOs are communists trying to destroy the nation. They are brainwashing people to think that sustainability is terrible for the economy

Our Minister of Environment is couldn't care less about the environment and is only there to support the livestock producers and give them what they want. The President and his Minister won't put a single dollar on environmental safety

The wildfires are just so huge that its black smoke and ashes reached the skies of São Paulo, a state over 2.000 kilometers away from the Amazon.

We are hostages or our own government

I could just keep going all night about how our environment is being threatened by this new government. We need every single help we can possibly can.

Please don't let this go unseen. Search for yourself, talk to people about it, make noise, be angry and be scared. Let the world know about it and demand action. This is not about Brazil, is about the planet. The Amazon Rainforest is one of the most important biomes in the world, being responsible for the climate, rains, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and life itself.

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lily-sam

4 years ago

100 Days of Productivity | 2020

Day 3 of 100

10-12th Feb 2020

Finishing some interesting pre-readings, going on even more interesting class field trips (and completing some successful dorm meal prep) has made for a great few days!

Currently reading: Circe by Madeline Miller (and am loving it!)

Insta @ isthisnametakenyet

Goodreads @ isthisnametakenyet

YouTube @ isthisnametakenyet

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