I can't believe that November is over already! It went by soo quickly. Now that December is rolling in, that means that it's time for the holidays! I celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas with both my family and my boyfriend's. However, this also means that it's time for my finals to finish up my semester... YUCK! Like always, here are my monthly goals!

November Goals

Unplug for 2 hours a day I can successfully say I've done this one!!

Continue to take more scenic pictures Now that I have my new iPhone 6 I take more pictures!

Make a dish for Thanksgiving Made an amazing squash casserole that I'll be posting the recipe soon!

Finish the Ellen Degeneres book along with another book

Remember to make my bed every morning Didn't exactly do it every day... oops!

Get back on my blogging schedule Minus the break for Thanksgiving

Cross something off my 25 before 25 list

December Goals

Take a cute holiday pic with Ky

Figure out what to get Ky for the holidays

Finish the Ellen Degeneres book (I'm almost done!)

Get 20 more followers on bloglovin'

Don't procrastinate for my finals

Have someone guest post on my blog

Excited it being the beginning of December and for the holidays!

xo

Olivia

Helpful Study Tips

Finals are coming up and you know what that means... time to study. There are a lot of people who don't actually know how to study. Some people got by at other schools doing the bare minimum. However, that doesn't actually help them in the long run. Doing these helpful tips to study will for sure make a difference in your grade at the end of the semester!

Study Location

Picking a study location is soo important. A lot of people, like myself, get distracted easily. Studying at a place where a lot of people will be walking around and talking (like Starbucks) won't help you stay concentrated on the task that you need to be doing. I prefer going to the library. Find a floor that you feel comfortable in! I like to study in the stacks which is a floor with a ton of books that is completely silent. It's a great place to focus!

Music

A lot of people like to listen to music when studying. For some, it helps block out the noises around them but for some, it can make it staying focused worse. The reason for this is the type of music that you listen to. Listening to music with a lot of words are not what you should be listening to. This is because you end up paying attention to the lyrics unknowingly. The best music to listen to is classical music. I know, why would you want to listen to music with no words from people who lived a hundred years ago. The reason for this is that music helps stimulate your brain. When listening to classical music, it calms your mind down and helps you focus on what you're doing rather than the words you're listening to.

Draw Pictures

I know this one seems a little elementary. However, when you make pictures, graphs, or charts it helps you remember what you're studying. This is especially helpful for those who learn by seeing. For sciencey classes, drawing things out a bunch of times helps you visualize the material when you get to the exam. For me, I recently took an anatomy test. I drew out how the blood flows through your heart and body soo many times. When I got to the test, I was able to see the picture in my mind. You can also redraw it out on the exam to help remember!

Flash Cards

Flash cards are soo important! I know they seem like they're a pain to make but they seriously help. It's great creating piles of the ones you get wrong and right to be able to see which you got wrong. After making the piles after going through it once, pick up the pile of those that you got wrong and focus more on those (obviously reviewing the ones you got right as well). There is a great website that I like to use called quizlet that helps you make flash cards on the computer. The only problem with this is making sure you don't end up on Facebook or other social medias when you're studying.

Highlighters

After making a study guide like in my previous post, highlighters come in handy! Highlighting the main topics, vocabulary words, and other important facts helps you find the words easier. Having everything pop out in color makes studying easier. The important thing to remember is not to highlight everything. Only highlight the important information that you find necessary and then list the other facts underneath.

Don't Procrastinate

There are a lot of people that have a problem with procrastination. I actually believe that everyone does at some point in their lives. It is soo important not to fall into the habit of procrastinating before finals. I know a 2 hour binge on watching your favorite TV show on netflix seems more appealing than studying for your final exam but you'll thank yourself later when you get to finals week. Not stressing before finals are a key factor to getting better grades on your exams!

Good luck studying for finals everyone!!

xo
Olivia

How To Create A Great Study Guide

Finals are coming up within the next month and I know a lot of you are stressing (including me). Something that I like to do around this time is to start making a study guide. I like to make my study guides this early because I won't have to stress when it comes to studying for finals. Here are some tips that I find helpful when making a study guide!

Outline

Creating an outline is essential to making a study guide. It helps you be able to visualize what you need to know for the exam quickly without having to look things up right away. It also helps you be able to organize the material in a way that you find helpful. I like to bold the key concepts and then list the terms under each concept without defining them right away. Defining them goes with the "real" study guide. This is just an overview of what needs to be learned and memorized.

Color Coding

This is soo important for when it comes to the actual study guide. For me, I like to take the key concepts and list the terms underneath it. However, this is where I actually write down the definitions and the extra material that will be needed for the test. Color coding is my favorite study tool. I use colored pens for everything. Key concepts are in one color and the key terms are in another. Sometimes under each concept I make each term a different color to help differentiate between all of them.


Leave Room For Other Notes

There are a lot of times where we either forget to write something down or learn something later on after making the study guide that we want to add in. Leaving extra room is very important for this. It makes it a lot easier to keep all of your notes in order without having to look around for a term when you need it.

Examples

Writing down examples when you're able to is a great study tool. Whether it's an example that helps you learn what you need to learn or whether it is an example that might be a question on your exam. Examples are great ways to learn your class's material. Having multiple examples increases your chances on getting a better grade on the exam!

Practice Questions

Practice questions are great to add at the end of the study guide to take you to the next level in studying. There are soo many ways a professor can ask a question on an exam. Having practice questions that will stimulate your brain are great ways to learn.

Memorize, Memorize, Memorize

Now that you're study guide is made... it's time to start learning the material. Going over your study guide once before the final isn't going to make the grade. Going over the material is going to be super important when studying. This is why I think it's best to make your final study guide a few weeks in advance. I know some of the material hasn't been covered yet but that's why we give extra space... to add more information in! Typing the study guide helps too! Studying what you've already learned now probably will bring you a step ahead of the other students. And who wouldn't want a better grade?! I know I do!

I hope this helps everyone! Good luck getting ready for finals in a month!

xo
Olivia