Your Time Is Limited, So Don’t Waste It Living Someone Else’s Life. Don’t Be Trapped By Dogma –

9th May, 2016 Almost gave up on matrices, but today’s lecture on determinants really gave me hope again ☺️💪🏻👓 Had the most unproductive weekend since the start of semester, but today has been really productive, so maybe I just needed a reboot 😅👍🏻📖✍🏻 Hope your Monday has been a great start to the week as well~

here’s 23 uni specific rules to help u out 4 future: 

rule n1: no zero days - never have a day where you do no uni work even if u just do 5 minutes no zero days no excuses 

rule n2: never miss tuts or lectures unless u r dying uni culture is great but u gotta get the d(egree) or its 4 nuthin alotta lectures are recorded so even if u can’t physically be there schedule a time to listen and treat it like a proper lecture

rule n3: spend 15-20 minutes doing work for each of your classes everyday (I do this in the morn when I get up) 

rule n4: replace your phone with ur readings take your readings with you on public transport and when u go to the toilet (srsly its weird but I do most of my readings there because I have nothing else to do) 

rule n5: be 2 days ahead, pretend everything is 2 days before it actually is so you’re prepared 

rule n6: go to bed before midnight for uni days always

rule n7: start all assignments 2 weeks before they’re due 

rule n8: never start anything after 9pm its better to wake up early when ur brain is rested

 rule n9: your brain associates places with actions so don’t study anywhere like your bed, have set spaces or go the quiet section of the library

rule n10: to do lists are your best pals write and review at the start and end of each day, make lil rewards 4 yourself when u complete them 

rule n11: help out other peeps with assignments, uni isn’t like school ur not competeing for ranks so everyone can help each other. it helps you focus, sometimes means you don’t have 2 buy text books and you know you know something if you can teach it to others 

rule n12: limit social media times i know its hard but u gotta 

n13: reward yo self and always look forward to things (this will keep you sane) but dont reward yurself fo nuthin 

n14: TURN OFF YOUR PHONE WHEN U R STUDYING OR PUT IT OUT OF REACH GODAMN U CAN TWEET LATER

rule n15: get your sleep (so your brain can sort shit) but don’t nap all day (your brain will get lazy af), eat at least one vegetable and 2 proper meals, never skip breakfast and take a multi vitamin there are cheap ones

rule n16: schedule the use of your freetime between and outside classes (see rules 7 and 5)

rule n17: project guternberg has heaps of books for free if your doing lit courses so check there before you buy things

rule n18: be strict on yourself, but not hard, you might be your own worst enemy somedays but you’re also you’re the only person who won’t give up on you

rule n19: plan your essays/assignments according to the marking rubric NOT the assignment question

rule n20: read your course outline and know who your professors/tutors are if u need help they are your bros

rule n21: ALWAYS ASK IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND bruh you are literally in class cos you want to be there and learn stuff its not school where u gotta be there and u dont wanna ask questions so you’ll look cool like you are there to learn so do it and dgaf what anyone thinks of u but also don’t be a dick and try 

rule n22: try and say one thing during class discussions and never leave a class without 3 dotpoints written down

rule n23: learn to say no bruh i get it you wanna go to that party cos if you dont ur mate will be pissed but guess what pal u have an assignment u gotta finish due tomorrow and lets face it thats gotta happen so say no because there will always be parties but you wont always get marks you lost back

10 Things I wish I knew before starting college

1) Have a game plan before each semester starts. Make sure that you don’t overload yourself with too many units or extracurricular activities. Do enough while still staying sane

2) Take some fun classes that had nothing to do with your major. Branching out and trying new things is always good

3) Join clubs that interest you. See what is out there

4) Go to Professor’s and TA’s office hours and come up with questions you want answered. Going to office hours will allow you to stand out from the hundreds of students they see on a daily basis

5) Let go of toxic people. If they don’t care about you now, they never will

6) Make sure to use some of your free time for yourself, whether it is by exploring the city or watching a movie on a Friday night. Always studying and isolating yourself is not healthy. Small breaks are always needed

7) Take care of yourself. Make sure to stay hydrated and eat your meals. Sometimes we forget when we are stuck in the library all day

8) If you don’t have time to hang out with friends, ask them if they wanna join you to study, even if it may be in silence. Sometimes having company while you study will motivate you more

9) Friends will always come and go. But never let go of the ones that are there for you at your worst. Some of the friendships you make in college will last a lifetime

10) Reach out to close friends or to a therapist/psychologist on campus if you are going through anything rough. A helping hand will go a long way when needed

Topics from A-level that are used lots in a Maths degree:

Note: This is just based on my experience of degree and A-level Maths and Further Maths. At degree I studied mostly applied mathematics and statistics/probability so this is based on that.

Differential Equations

These are particularly important in applied mathematics. I don’t think I’ve taken an applied module without them. If you haven’t done them in A-level, they are covered extensively in first year. 

Differentiation/Integration

Also key to applied mathematics, but also in probability and statistics. Methods are covered in first year too. Oh and in analysis too, but that tends to look at calculus in a new light. 

Matrices

These are everywhere. Particularly multiplying them, taking the inverse, eigenvalues and eigenvectors (these are in everything - even statistics), Diagonalisation comes up a bit too (probability, statistics). 

Vectors

Mostly the scalar product and vector product (these are everywhere). Not so much the geometry. Kinda like M2 where you have 3D motion, finding x, v and a etc. Most things become multi-dimensional as the degree progresses so just kinda know what a vector means.

Polar Co-ordinates

Loads of them in applied maths, but converting between Cartesians and Polars is probably the main thing from A-level Further Maths. I can’t really remember what is covered in FP2 but yeah. Most of the stuff at degree is new. 

Exponentials/Logarithms

How could I forget these??? I’d advise being really fluent with them because you’re kind of expected to know the log rules and converting between exponentials and logarithms. You were on my course anyway. Also the graphs of them are pretty important. 

Hypothesis Tests

If you’ve done S2 then lots of Statistics at degree is based around hypothesis testing. It’ll all be taught from scratch in first year but yeah. And it’s probably less confusing when you do it at degree. 

Complex Numbers

Just knowing how to manipulate really. They come up every now and again. Not to the extent that they do in FP2. 

Curve Sketching

Lecturers love putting this in exams because they know we hate it. I can’t remember doing a lot of it in A-level though, but yeah practise drawing trig functions and logs/exponentials and quadratics/cubics. 

Trig

Mostly just being fluent with trig identities because it’s another thing you’re just expected to be able to use when needed. Cos2x is a particularly good one to know. Hyperbolic trig also comes up. But really just knowing the exponential form because lecturers seem to love putting it in questions. 

Obviously it depends on what modules you take. At Notts you can take optimisation, game theory and graph theory in third year which follows on from Decision. Pure Maths is pretty much all new (I think OCR MEI FP3 has some group theory though). 

The main thing is to pay attention to first year because most of it is methods and skills that will be needed in second year. I mean, some of first year you’ll never touch again in your final years but yeah, most of it is useful. 

Also don’t worry if you haven’t done Further Maths. From my experience the content from Further Maths was covered at a relatively slow pace and at first you may have to work harder than people who did do FM, but you’ll catch up really quickly. 

Teacher inspires nervous young test-takers with messages on all of their desks

Chandni Langford teaches fifth grade in the Woodbury City public school system in New Jersey. When she heard that her students were nervous about an upcoming test, she devised a clever and heartfelt way to encourage them. 

The pictures have since gone viral with over 18,000 shares, and hundreds of people have chimed in with messages of support. But it’s the students’ response that will leave you in tears. 

Study Tips

- Eat before you study.

- Have a small healthy snack with you whilst studying (just in case hunger strikes).

- Prepare a large, clean workplace.

- Prepare everything you will need before sitting down to study (pencils, computer, notes, etc.)

- Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

- Put some music on quietly.

- Take breaks. I usually do it in durations of 25 minutes studying, then a 5 minute break and then I repeat that as many times as needed.

- Always write down definitions of important words!

- If you don’t understand something underline it in red and ask the teacher next time you see them.

- Always stay updated with the news.

- Research, research, research.

- Read over your notes.

- Don’t overcomplicate your note taking or it will end up confusing you.

- Keep it simple.

help for help

Things I learned during my first year of medical school

I cannot believe I’ve finished my first year of medical school already! Wow! 

Warning: long Parks and Rec gif-filled post ahead (90% of these are cheesy but I am pizza levels of cheesy when I’m reflecting):

1. Do your thing

The first semester of med school was a weird time of looking and seeing what other people were doing to study and wondering if I needed to do that too. 

I wondered, should I get a bunch of colored highlighters? Make a million flashcards? Am I behind because I haven’t studied that lecture yet? Should I stream instead of go to class because that’s what other people are doing?

My advice? Try new things out but once you figure out what works for you, don’t be afraid to stick to it. Some people found out that they study best in groups. I found out I study best by myself. I don’t like highlighting but I do like writing down things I need to know in a spiral so I can review/remember them better. I also like doing as many practice questions as I can get my hands on. I like going to class and taking notes on my computer. 

I didn’t know any of that until I got here. And that’s okay. But don’t stress about what other people are doing - you’ll find what works for you. 

2. Don’t try to study 24/7 

Seriously. Don’t. It’s not worth it. You’ll burn out and realize you could have been more relaxed and focused if you took a break. I try to take a couple minutes of break every hour and a bigger break every few hours whenever I’m studying. I also try to take at least one day off per weekend and do something fun (even if it’s small). I also know I study best during the day so I usually take the evenings off as well unless it’s like crunch time. 

3. Investing in dress clothes is a good idea

Inevitably, you’ll forget that you have yet another clinical skills class that requires white coat attire (aka business casual) and only remember last minute, without time to do laundry. It’s way less stressful if you have a few possible outfits. Even easier? If you wear dresses, get some nice professional dresses. Nothing better than only picking a single thing out of your closet to wear! Also, along with that, make sure you have dress shoes that fit and are comfortable. I learned that I need to break in new flats sometimes before I wear them or I will get really bad blisters. 

4. Laughter is the best medicine

As cliche as it sounds, I could not have gotten through this year without laughing. Laughing with new friends, laughing at ridiculous situations, laughing at silly gifs posted in our med school’s FB group specifically created for that purpose (it’s the best, highly recommend. Our class has 3 facebook groups - one for class announcements/club things, one for study materials, and one for laughing. The silly one was started by an MS2 (now MS3 I suppose!)). Laughing is seriously therapeutic for stress. Also some of my classmates just happen to be hysterically funny. Also A+ to tumblr for keeping me giggling. Also, Broad City (put it on your list of shows to watch!) 

5. The days are long but the weeks/months are short

I still cannot believe it is May and I’m already done. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to reflect on my experiences on my tumblr so I can remember them (because sometimes it feels like my memories are getting squeezed out to make room for new knowledge). Journaling here allowed me to process this year in a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I would highly recommend it to anyone about to start school (of any kind!). 

6. Make new friends but keep the old

Yes, I am quoting a Girl Scouts song. Because it’s true. I am so very thankful for the technology that has allowed me to (try to) keep up with my college friends. Life is busy for all of us but it’s always nice to chat with old friends (and hang out, location permitting!) Also my med school class is filled with the most amazing people and it’s been so fun getting to know them :) I love my girls so much, they truly are my ride or dies. Med school is quite a bonding experience.

7. You’ll do things you never imagined you could

For me, that was anatomy and clinical skills. I was a bit nervous about dissecting and the whole experience but I was pleasantly surprised. It was not as weird as I thought it would be. In clinical skills, I was terrifyingly nervous about standardized patients and being filmed and getting feedback and learning how to do all the exams. We all got through it and now I feel much more comfortable. There are still hard days (like a couple of weeks ago) but I am not as nervous. I also learned how to do the male GU exam and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

 I also can’t believe that I went from knowing nothing to taking a history and doing a physical on a real patient all by myself AND presenting them to my preceptor. I still have a ton to learn and say stupid stuff sometimes but it feels like I’m on the right track. 

8. While sometimes first year feels like this:

You’ll have moments where you feel like

And one last bonus lesson:

Can that be the medblr motto? Also shoutout to medblr for being such an amazing and supportive community. Could not have gotten through this year without y’all!!!! 

Congratulations to all the other first years who are finishing up school or already done :) And welcome medblr class of 2020!!! So excited for y’all. 

GOOD NEWS FOR #PublicSchools IN WISCONSIN - http://goo.gl/VqdsFt

The authors of the report contacted superintendents throughout #Wisconsin, to determine how the new flexibility provided by #GovScottWalker’s 2011 legislation has allowed them to alter their #Education programs for the BENEFIT OF STUDENTS, without the self-interested intrusion of organized labor #UNIONS.

“Superintendents of public schools no longer have to seek approval from public unions in order to make changes to the administration of their schools,” the report said. “They are free to adopt the best practices of teacher pay and classroom management.

“They can hire and fire teachers according to criteria other than the rigid policies from a union (#CollectiveBargaining agreement). The words ‘#Seniority’ and ‘teacher #Tenure’ can be terms of the past for many districts.”

There is now merit pay for teachers, in various forms across the state. In the old days of collective bargaining, teachers were stuck on rigid pay scales based strictly on the number of years they taught and the number of graduate credit hours they earned.