To the Stars

how do you study in college and get such good grades? tips please!

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:26:00 -0400

Oh dear, I just saw this message O_O. Sorry for the delay! I’ll just share with you what has helped me throughout the years… I do want to preface though (because I have a feeling you’re probably pre-med) my science GPA isn’t as high as it should be…

Find your motivation— know what you’re studying for.
I rarely use “getting an A” as my goal for the semester, to me, it’s the implications of that A that keeps me motivated. So for instance, let’s say I want to be a doctor (this is something I’m still trying to figure out), than I’m going to strive to be the BEST doctor I can be. That means, as of now, that I should strive to understand to the best of my abilities the fundamental concepts behind the field I’m pursuing— namely, in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, etc. For me, it’s the bigger picture that drives me. I prioritize my studies because my studies have an impact on what opportunities I will have which have an impact on how and to what extent I will be able to reach out and achieve my dreams of helping the people around me. Of course, it’s really easy to get burnt out so for me I find that participating in speaker events, forums, and service/mission trips really helps to remind me of what I’m working towards.
Learn for the sake of learning.
A big contributing factor as to why I did well in the classes I did was because I was genuinely interested. I’ve taken some “random” classes throughout my course at Emory… Women’s Studies, Religious and Philosophical Themes in Miyazaki Films, Philosophy of Ethics, American Education, etc… and I can honestly say I took away something from each and every class. I feel like people really limit themselves when they just take classes or professors they think are “easy-A’s” or “med-school” relevant. If you want to grow as a student, than learn for the sake of learning. If I had copped out of taking Women Studies because it’s a supposedly “useless” course than I would have missed out on one of the most enlightening courses of my college career. If I had copped out of taking Weinschenk because his tests are “impossible” than I would have missed out on the opportunity to learn from one of the most passionate professors I have ever met.
Keep going. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” –Michael Jordan
Don’t let one bad grade let you down. My mentality for whenever I do poorly on a quiz or test is to work extra hard for the next assignment. That probably sounds vague, so here are a few of my “practical” tips. For Orgo with Professor Weinschenk this year, this is what helped me the most: 1) I would stay after each class to ask him questions about concepts in the lecture that day that I didn’t really understand. 2) I would re-listen to lectures on weekends because it takes me longer to digest new concepts. 3) I would buy “Orgo for Dummies” or other review books to help me get the larger picture. 4) I would watch YouTube teachers to learn the concepts in a different way. 5) I would attend Orgo Mentors. 6) I would actually read the textbook. 7) I would study with a studious orgo buddy— shout-out to June and Uday J. Stay organized and on top of your mechanisms! I didn’t do this so well second semester… If you’re really struggling in a class, I’d also highly recommend just talking to your professor about it. For instance, first semester this year I took an International Organizations and Society course and I was really intimidated by the fact that I was the only underclassmen in a room full of polisci and international studies majors. I told my professor this in the middle of the semester and she responded in a way that really encouraged me and helped me to stop doubting myself.
Surround yourself with people who are going to inspire and encourage you.
I am so incredibly blessed that I have friends at Emory who push me to do my best—directly and indirectly. For instance, my friend Thu would text me sometimes and in the middle of the text be like “Okay stop texting me and go study!” It seems like a little thing, but it was really encouraging to know that I had friends who had my best interest at heart. In indirect ways too, I think the people you surround yourself with have a profound impact on your mentality towards studies (among other things). For instance, Alice, another one of my future roommates, is always so positive when it comes to studying. Seeing that kind of attitude always makes me reevaluate myself and why I’m studying. I’m really lucky because all of my roommates next year share a similar passion in terms of faith and career goals and in this way can really help sharpen one another.
Know your limits. BALANCE. BALANCE. BALANCE.
And here’s the never-ending challenge… Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you know you need a significant amount of time to master concepts than don’t sign up for every extracurricular or leadership position (freshman lesson). At the same time don’t throw away relationships and the things you’re passionate about just for your studies. Be as intentional about your time as you can be. Perhaps you won’t be able to be everyone’s best friend but that’s okay. Quality over quantity.
Personal.
I study with the mindset that I’ve been given an opportunity that most people don’t get… and given that, I need to take full advantage of it.There’s this quote by Erma Bombeck that really resonates it with me. She said, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’” I would also like that to be the case for me. It is really scary that I don’t have everything figured out right now in terms of my future but I also find it very reassuring that no time in God’s hand is wasted. So whether or not I follow that conventional path after college, I have full confidence that God will lead me to where He wants me to. Like I mentioned, I’m not entirely sure if medicine is the career I’m going to pursue. For a long time, I was ingrained with the notion that being a doctor was the noblest way to help people. But when I think about Jesus and the humble way He came and in the humble way He served, I really do think, “It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.”

spiritualinspiration: www.facebook.com/naeemcallaway

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:53:36 -0400

spiritualinspiration:

www.facebook.com/naeemcallaway

Didn’t even get bitten all week and now that I’m back sick as a dog T__T (don’t get that...

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:18:23 -0400

Didn’t even get bitten all week and now that I’m back sick as a dog T__T (don’t get that phrase)

spiritualinspiration: “Set your minds and keep them set on what...

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:49:21 -0400

spiritualinspiration:

“Set your minds and keep them set on what is above, the higher things, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Faith is simply seeing what God sees. It’s choosing God’s way, even when things look differently in the natural. When you set your thoughts on higher things, you are looking at life through your eyes of faith and seeing what God sees.

For example, you may have a financial need today, but when you look higher, you see God’s promise to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. You may have sickness in your body today, but when you look higher, you see that Jesus paid for your sickness and diseases. You may feel lonely today, but when you look higher, you see that God has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.

As you study the Word of God, you are setting your thoughts on higher things. As you set your thoughts on higher things, your faith will become stronger, and you will begin to see those things become reality in your life. You’ll see God’s hand of blessing, and you will live the abundant life He has prepared for you.

spiritualinspiration: “If I fail, I try again, and again, and...

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:36:12 -0400

spiritualinspiration:

“If I fail, I try again, and again, and again. If YOU fail, are you going to try again? The human spirit can handle much worse than we realize. It matters HOW you are going to FINISH. Are you going to finish strong?” -Nick Vujicic

"God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:15:47 -0400

“God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.”

- Timothy Keller, The Reason for God (via rainydaysandblankets)

"My heart was saying, “Lord, take away this longing, or give me that for which I long.” The Lord was..."

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:10:30 -0400

“My heart was saying, “Lord, take away this longing, or give me that for which I long.” The Lord was answering, “I must teach you to long for something better.”

- Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity

this. a thousand times this.

(via littlelightshining)

Photo

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:23:41 -0400

Honduras timeeeeeeee. Say wahh!

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:00:39 -0400

Honduras timeeeeeeee.
Say wahh!

What the.

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:54:02 -0400

This. Year. Went. By. So. Fast!

Love came down and rescued me

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:14:22 -0400

Sometimes I feel really weighed down by the ugliness of my sins… Like when I feel impatient with my friends and parents or when I’m just plain selfish and inconsiderate.. And then I feel too ashamed or guilty to pray about it… Like, man, God, you really don’t want to hear about this… You’re going to be disappointed. But then I’m reminded that He wants nothin more than for me to run towards Him during those times. And that, that, is just so mind-blowing. Anyways… Tonight was great. It’s so awesome to see brothers and sisters serving. I’ve been really encouraged these last few years by getting the chance to know people who are so passionate about Him.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/199985/how-kkk-ral...

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:05 -0400

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/199985/how-kkk-rally-image-found-new-life-20-years-after-it-was-published/

Video

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:17:15 -0400

thepeoplesrecord: The troubling viral trend of the “hilarious”...

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:27:02 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

The troubling viral trend of the “hilarious” Black poor person
May 7, 2013

Charles Ramsey, the man who helped rescue three Cleveland women presumed dead after going missing a decade ago, has become an instant Internet meme. It’s hardly surprising—the interviews he gave yesterday provide plenty of fodder for a viral video, including memorable soundbites (“I was eatin’ my McDonald’s”) and lots of enthusiastic gestures. But as Miles Klee and Connor Simpson have noted, Ramsey’s heroism is quickly being overshadowed by the public’s desire to laugh at and autotune his story, and that’s a shame. Ramsey has become the latest in a fairly recent trend of “hilarious” black neighbors, unwitting Internet celebrities whose appeal seems rooted in a “colorful” style that is always immediately recognizable as poor or working-class.

Before Ramsey, there was Antoine Dodson, who saved his younger sister from an intruder, only to wind up famous for his flamboyant recounting of the story to a reporter. Since Dodson’s rise to fame, there have been others: Sweet Brown, a woman who barely escaped her apartment complex during a fire last year, and Michelle Clarke, who couldn’t fathom the hailstorm that rained down in her hometown of Houston, and in turn became “the next Sweet Brown.”

Granted, the buzzworthy tactic of reporters interviewing the most loquacious witnesses to a crime or other event is nothing new, and YouTube has countless examples of people of all ethnicities saying ridiculous things. One woman, for instance, saw fit to casually mention her breasts while discussing a local accident, while another man described a car crash with theatrical flair. Earlier this year, a “hatchet-wielding hitchhiker” named Kai matched Dodson’s fame with his astonishing account of rescuing a woman from a racist attacker. But none of those people have been subjected to quite the same level of derisive memeification as Brown, Clark, and now, perhaps, Ramsey—the inescapable echoes of “Hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife!” and “Kabooyaw,” the tens of millions of YouTube hits and cameos in other viral videos, even commercials.

It’s difficult to watch these videos and not sense that their popularity has something to do with a persistent, if unconscious, desire to see black people perform. Even before the genuinely heroic Ramsey came along, some viewers had expressed concern that the laughter directed at people like Sweet Brown plays into the most basic stereotyping of blacks as simple-minded ramblers living in the “ghetto,” socially out of step with the rest of educated America. Black or white, seeing Clark and Dodson merely as funny instances of random poor people talking nonsense is disrespectful at best. And shushing away the question of race seems like wishful thinking.

Ramsey is particularly striking in this regard, since, for a moment at least, he put the issue of race front and center himself. Describing the rescue of Amanda Berry and her fellow captives, he says, “I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway!”

The candid statement seems to catch the reporter off guard; he ends the interview shortly afterward. And it’s notable that among the many memorable things Ramsey said on camera, this one has gotten less meme-attention than most. Those who are simply having fun with the footage of Ramsey might pause for a second to actually listen to the man. He clearly knows a thing or two about the way racism prevents us from seeing each other as people.

Source

Now that you know this is a thing, please stop sharing these memes. Poor Black people speaking candidly about various serious incidents isn’t a hilarious joke.

Meeting with UnitedWay today. Always love watching their teams do work. They’re all so...

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:45:02 -0400

Meeting with UnitedWay today. Always love watching their teams do work. They’re all so passionate. At the end of the day, I really hope that I won’t cop out of what I love to do because of security or expectations.

Photo

Wed, 08 May 2013 10:40:58 -0400

I wish I had gone with my gut and been a international studies or political science major. So...

Tue, 07 May 2013 21:29:10 -0400

I wish I had gone with my gut and been a international studies or political science major. So jealous of the stuff they learn :/!

awkwardsituationist: “world of averages” - composite images...

Tue, 07 May 2013 21:13:38 -0400

awkwardsituationist:

“world of averages” - composite images culled from thousands of individual portraits resulting in symmetrical average faces.

How the Teachings of Emotional Purity and Courtship Damage Healthy Relationships

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:52:20 -0400

How the Teachings of Emotional Purity and Courtship Damage Healthy Relationships:

susielee92:

seungminlm:

Pretty good piece. I’ve never really thought of it that way.

Hm, I never noticed the repercussions of such thought until now…or rather, I saw the symptoms but couldn’t identify the cause.

Photo

Mon, 06 May 2013 20:59:27 -0400