hello my friends it's nina and i am so excited to be making this video
also i don't know how long i'm going to be wearing these
i can't wear them like this or else you can't see my eyeballs
i just thought the glasses fit but
they're not really working out
this is also fine too
so today i'm going to be talking about my study tips
and how i survived college
because as a college graduate
i think i am somewhat qualified to give you some study tips
so without further ado let's just get into it
so just some background information
i graduated from uc berkeley just a month ago
i was in college for four years
i was first a community college student
and then i transferred to uc berkeley
i started college right after high school
no break, i just went right in
and then i'm done within 4 years
throughout my college career i got As and Bs
mostly As
in my first two years of community college
i actually got a 4.0
when i got to berkeley
i actually didn't do that bad
i got mostly As and i think like a B per semester
but that's okay, grades don't define you
it just defines whether you get stuff done or not
i was a media studies major at uc berkeley
so my studies were very liberal arts oriented
there was a lot of reading
lots of papers
lots of writing in the exams
but i think that heavily affected the way that i studied
in general my tips should be helpful for someone out there
this also doesn't just apply to college
this can apply to high school
middle school
any level of education you're in
you don't even have to be in school
hopefully there's some kind of tip in here that helps you with your life
but other than that let's just get into the video
so i'm going to jump right in to my very first tip
which is probably the most important tip
that i cannot stress enough
is give yourself lots of time to study
looking back through my college career
i don't think there was ever a time
that i studied less than two days
it was always at least two days for me to study for an exam
the way that i got myself to study earlier
was to just read the study guide as soon as possible
i don't know how it is for every major
but for every single class that i've taken at uc berkeley
we had study guides for pretty much everything
after you read the study guide you decide whether you're going to study right after
or if you're gonna study the next day
but at least you opened the study guide
but that's always how i did it, i just read the study guide as soon as possible
and usually i would just go right into studying
but of course sometimes you put it off and that's ok
not really the best thing to do but that's okay
but as a college graduate
and as a person that's literally experienced every level of education
except for grad school
i'm not doing that
giving myself enough time to study was so important
i would have time to ask questions
i would have time to literally go thru everything that's on the study guide
a lot about productivity and motivation and all that
has to do with how you feel mentally
and physically, but mostly mentally
and so if you're not in a time crunch
you're not anxious, you're not panicking
you're not feeling like you're all over the place
and now that we've discussed time
and now that we've actually started our study session
i'm going to get into the fun part
which is note taking and actually studying
so i think the first biggest tip is obviously handwriting your notes
now personally i actually typed my notes in college
most of the time
unless the class required that you write your notes in a notebook
i preferred just using a laptop
mostly out of efficiency
i love handwriting my notes, i love stationery and all that
but out of efficiency and because lectures can sometimes be super fast
i just opted for a laptop and just typing it out on google docs or something
i usually had a notebook associated to each class that i had
even if i used the laptop
i would just keep a notebook for that class
and i would just keep it at home
but i would rewrite my notes from my laptop to this notebook
and then i would go into annotation
i actually have examples of how i did this
the notebook that i used throughout college
it began with spiral notebooks
but then i moved on to muji notebooks
ever since my friend introduced me to muji
a year or so ago
but basically for this class i typed out all my notes
but i still had a notebook for it
and in this notebook i would write out all my notes in black
then i would highlight anything i needed to highlight
i'm not sure if everyone does this i'd be surprised if people didn't do this
but i like indenting and using bullet point systems
i hope that people do this
it would just help visually to see my notes go like this and this
instead of just having everything go like this
but after i finish writing a page of notes in black
and underlining everything i need to underline
i would actually go and start color coding
i didn't really have a system
it was more just like
one color was the heading and another was terms
and another was like little notes that i wanted to highlight
i just wanna tell you guys that i really went ham with my studying
i'm looking back at the notes from a class that i took
i really tried hard
i got a good grade in that class
so it was worth it
for the annotation i would use a red pen or a blue pen
just anything that wasn't black
then i would annotate my notes
i think we all know what annotating is
but basically what annotating is
is just making more notes about what you're reading
you would annotate a textbook, a novel
i annotated my own notes
and this was effective because basically you were rereading what you rewrote
wow i really did the most
and so you would get results like this
where you just had black and red
i would bubble important things
i would circle important things
i also drew a lot of diagrams
but basically simplified
my note taking system is
writing it all out in black
and underlining what i needed to
remembering to indent and use bullet points
and then i would highlight those black notes
and then finally i would annotate my own notes
until i understood it more
oh that reminds me i should show you what i actually highlighted with
AHH i dropped it nooo
these zebra mildliners and just some highlighters from muji
were my lifesavers
it's just nice to have a variety of colors for your brain
good thing about these mildliners is you have a
chisel point as you can see right here
and then on the other side
a nice fine tip pen
so it helped with underlining and highlighting
and then i just used black blue and red pens
for standard writing
just some quick other points that can help you with your studying
i also use quizlet
i don't think i used quizlet that much
by the end of my college career
i think i used it more for earlier classes when there were a lot of terms and stuff
but if there are a lot of terms
you can use quizlet, you can also make physical flashcards
but out of efficiency as well
i just didn't wanna buy a bunch of index cards
as a college student you just lean towards efficiency
and convenience
but i think writing out my notes in a notebook was efficient enough
i didn't need flashcards because it was all in here
and i could just flip through everything like this
now we're moving on to the next tip which is time management
and part of time management for me
was using a bullet journal
i actually started bullet journaling in high school
but my system was just not efficient at all
i couldn't keep up with it
and so it wasn't really helpful in high school
but in college i was bullet journaling all the time
but having a bullet journal really kept me on schedule
and helped me see what my tasks were
and i was actually consistent with my bullet journal as well
every single sunday i would take the time to open my bullet journal
listen to good music
and take the time to write out my life
write out my thoughts
write out my tasks
make my journal pretty
it was just a nice productive time
you don't have to have the most complicated layout
you can also have a minimal layout
if you want a more complex layout
go for that as well, just
go for whatever makes you happy
personally my two brain cells could only take a minimal layout
so i kept a minimal layout
but it worked for me
and if you're not really an analog person
and you just wanna go digital
there's also google calendar
just use some kind of system that helps you keep yourself on a schedule
you're going to need it
we are just trying to reduce our anxiety and stress
because that is very important for having a successful study session
next tip i have is study music
music was definitely very helpful when i was studying
it helped keep me at peace
it helped me chill out
it helped me be focused
when i study i prefer music that doesn't have lyrics
just because i can get distracted
if the song has lyrics i can sing along to
i actually just made a playlist on youtube
they give you the option to make a video playlist
i just added a bunch of youtube playlists
into that one playlist
and i actually have it public on my channel
and so if you wanna use it
i'll provide a link down below
but i loved lofi hip hop
i loved chill music without lyrics
i listened to a whole lot of bts piano playlists
it's all there for you
but if you wanna keep yourself focused
i definitely recommend listening to some kind of music
the next tip i wanna talk about is something that is very important
and is also going to determine your energy for studying
which is food/snacks/drinks
and speaking of drinks i'm actually going to take a sip of my water
a very important thing that you should always be thinking about
whether you're in college or not
whether you're studying or not
is taking care of your health
i highly recommend keeping snacks around when you're studying
the snacks that i opted for were usually fruits
nuts
or usually a clif bar
a lot of the time tho i did go to cafes
i had a lot of lattes
and americanos, and pastries
it's okay to treat yourself sometimes
but make sure you're eating healthy as well
but most of the time i would bring fruits or nuts in little tupperware containers
just because fruits are frickin expensive
when you buy them outside
like if you go to a cafe at berkeley to buy a cup of fruit
it could be $7 for a cup of fruit
i'm not doing that
and so i just brought my own fruit
i would take the time in the morning to cut them up
i would also bring nuts
my favorite nuts were either almonds or cashews
but i loved berries
because of those antioxidants
i loved grapes
watermelon
just any kind of fruit
also you could carry vegetables
just make sure you're feeding yourself things that will make you
oh my gosh i forgot to take my vitamins
i'll eat my vitamins later
anyway
the food that you eat is really going to affect the way that you study
so make sure you're taking care of yourself
eat your fruit, eat your vegetables
also drink a lot of water
i drank a lot of water
make sure you're also near a bathroom
next tip i have for actually studying
is study with friends if you can
if you don't have friends
that's okay
but if you do have friends
study with them
for me, it really helped having my friends' opinions and thoughts
and their ideas of something
to help my studies
and as i said it's okay to study on your own as well
i know that personally for me
i did study with friends sometimes
but i was mostly productive being on my own anyway
but if questions do arise
just remember to ask a peer
or ask a professor
or ask a teacher's assistant or something
basically talking to someone about the material
is another way to engage with what you're studying
so it does help you in another way
which leads to my other point
which is ask questions
which is why i emphasized in the beginning
to give yourself lots of time to study
because questions will come up
if you can't answer those questions
it's not going to be a fun time studying
worst case scenario, just google it
along with asking questions
i also recommend going to review sessions
sometimes in classes you do get an optional review session
i usually tended to force myself to go to those review sessions
just because i didn't really want to miss out on it
and i might as well go
that's really how my brain worked i never gave myself a break
but i would go to these optional review sessions
and they were pretty helpful
so if you feel like you don't really know enough
to study on your own
and your professor gives you a review session
i definitely recommend going to at least one
it can help a little bit
now the final tip that i'm going to give you
throughout all this studying information
is probably the most important one
which is
to remember to believe in yourself throughout everything
college and high school and basically life in general
it's going to be hard
and you're going to have a lot of dark times
a lot of moments of negativity
anxiety
stress
sometimes it just gets the best of you
and sometimes you just slip into these dark places
no matter if yesterday was a good day
sometimes a bad day will come
it's really important to remember that time will always pass
no matter how intense the situation feels
no matter if you feel like it's never going to end
it will end
it will
everything goes
everything passes
time keeps moving
the last few weeks of college
more like the last few months
but especially the last few weeks of college
were probably the darkest times for me
i never felt so low
and so unconfident about myself
i literally felt like i wouldn't graduate
or i wouldn't pass my classes
because i literally was so scared
because i was in a dark and hard time
i get dms a lot about people saying
i don't know how to keep myself motivated
i don't know how to push myself to get my stuff done
where do i get this motivation
how do i keep going
and it's really about believing in yourself
because society, the world outside of you might keep pushing you down
but someone has to be there to tell yourself that you will get through this
it had to be me
i had to tell myself i'm gonna get through this
also i had my friends and people around me telling me
stop thinking that way, you're gonna graduate
there's no formula for knowing how to always motivate yourself
sometimes it's just not there
sometimes you can literally only cry
then the next day it will be another day
i genuinely loved learning
when i was in college
i loved it
but of course there was busy work
there would always be things that came up
and it would affect my mood
i would just tell myself i was getting an education in the end
i was becoming a more knowledgeable person
somehow some way
even if it wasn't really useful information
or applicable information for real life or anything like that
it was still knowledge
it made me learn something about the world
it made me gain some kind of perspective
years before when i was in high school
i would've wished i was in the place i was in
it's always just remembering why you're doing something
remembering that you've been through so much
and that you are literally capable
you literally have something that made you get to the point where you are now
even if it sounds cheesy
give yourself a pat on the back sometimes
tell yourself you can do this
tell yourself you can get through it
i didn't tell myself "get an A"
i didn't tell myself "you're the smartest person in the world"
i just told myself "you're gonna get through this,
and you're gonna get to another point in the future"
don't give yourself so much pressure
be easy on your mind
be easy on your heart
be easy on yourself
unless you work well under pressure
everyone's different
but in the end just take care of your health
take care of yourself
get lots of sleep
if you can
drink a lot of water
eat foods that make you feel good literally
keep yourself organized
have good people around you
hug your pet
take walks
take breaks, look at a sunset, look at a sunrise
just remember that in anything in life
whether it's studying, whether it's work,
whether it's whatever else is going on in your life
taking care of yourself is the number one priority
because that is literally your life
that is your body
that is your being
there is going to be something that will make you feel less about yourself
that will make you think less of yourself
or that you're learning or doing useless things
but everything's a societal construct
just remember that you deserve to love yourself
and live your best life
just live the live that you want
as long as you're not hurting others
as long as you're not hurting yourself
just take care of yourself
that's the biggest tip i can give throughout this entire study tips video
but remember to have some confidence in yourself
throughout hard times
and if you don't have that confidence
then just know that i believe in you
i do
ok?
i want the best for you
you're gonna get through this
i got through everything
as a college graduate
i'm here navigating through life
figuring everything out
no one ever really figures out their life
ever
even if you're a parent
even if you're a grandparent
there's going to be more things to experience
more things to answer
more things to find out
you'll be okay
you're going to get through this
and you're going to graduate
or if you're not going to college
you're going to move on to another part of your life
life keeps going
anyway that was more existential than it needed to be
but that is all the tips that i can really give you for this video
doing anything in life, remember to
work on yourself
and make sure that you feel good here and here
so that whatever you do
you can go in with a good heart and a good mind
and a good foot forward
i'm gonna just put on my glasses to end it
i hope that this video was helpful in some kind of way
and as always
my tips are not exhaustive
there are plenty of things that you guys can share
leave it in the comments if you have more study tips
make a discussion down there
but that is all i'm going to say for this video
i hope you enjoyed it
and happy studying
and you're going to get through this
you're going to graduate
unless people already graduated now
it's june huh
i don't know where people are at right now
my friends are still in college
anyway i graduated
thank you for watching this video and i will see you in my next one!
bring it in for a hug!! goodbye my friends :)