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26 Reminders for Going to School Like a Badass

1. Your attitude dictates your experience, so start finding things to get psyched about.

2. Stock up on healthy snacks in your house!!! You’ll be glad you did when the study-munchies roll around (and they always do).

3. Invest in a good planner. Especially if you take part in multiple extra-curriculars, I can’t stress how helpful it is having a place to check back on deadlines and big events.

4. Write down all your teachers’ names and emails as soon as you get them, so you’re not searching for them when you’re absent.

5. No one is having as much fun as their snapchat story makes it seem.

6. Don’t believe what your peers tell you about tests they take before you, study how much YOU need to.

7. Be nice to your math teacher. Partial credit on math problems might save your grade.

8. Don’t throw out syllabuses/first day handouts!!!! Theres a good chance they have information on the late policy and a gazillion other helpful things.

9. In fact, try to hold on to as many papers as you can for when finals inevitably attack.

10. No one knows you wore those jeans yesterday.

11. Be conscious of how you smell. Don’t be B.O. kid, but also try not to suffocate your lab partner with the scent of artificial fruit/flowers.

12. That cookie in the cafeteria is probably not worth 95 cents. Pack snacks from home to resist overpriced school treats.

13. If you’re carrying around a travel mug of coffee, people will usually leave you alone. 

14. Don’t spend more time planning your study schedule than actually studying. Just get your books out and do it.

15. Never underestimate the amount of motivation you can get from watching Legally Blonde (movie or musical). 

16. Try to attend at least one school sporting event per season, even if thats not really your scene. Some teachers even offer extra credit for going to big games!

17. Don’t be that kid that asks the teacher when you’re getting your tests back. They have like a gazillion to grade. You’ll get them when they’re done.

18. Have a pump-up playlist for the ride to school and the walk to your first class. Nothing feels more badass than walking through crowded hallways while listening to Halsey’s “New Americana”.

19. Set up a back-up study zone for when you need a change of pace.

20. Don’t put off creative projects because you think they’ll be less time consuming. There’s nothing worse than glitter gluing a scale model of the U.S. Senate at 3 AM because you thought it would be quick and easy.

21. That extra 10 minutes of sleep is not worth the risk of oversleeping completely. Get up, splash your face with some cold water, and get this show on the road.

22. Find a school inspiration, whether it be a really hardworking friend or a studyblr you follow. Check their progress whenever you need motivation.

23. If someone only ever talks to you when they need to copy the homework, they’re using. Don’t indulge them.

24. Doing your own work is so SO important. Plagiarism can destroy careers.

25. Creative outlets can be so refreshing, like a diary, a private tumblr, a sketchbook, whatever floats your boat.

26. When all else fails, remember how lucky you are to be getting an education. School isn’t a punishment, its an opportunity for you to create a kick-ass foundation for the rest of your life. 

Turns and Steps, Explained (1/2)

Okay party people, after jumps and spins, are you guys ready to take your figure skating watcher know-how to its next level with turns and steps?

To avoid indigestion and to keep the post within not completely outrageous length I’m going to divide and conquer ‘em this time. This first post will cover the turns. A second post will follow to cover the steps and some additional interesting tidbits.

Before we get down to business, there’s one topic we must go over as a primer. I’ve actively tried to avoid mentioning it in the previous tech posts because according to my experience, bringing it up is a surefire way to turn off any spark of interest new fans / casual viewers might have in a skating discussion. However with turns and steps we cannot, repeat, cannot, circumvent this topic. So, let us talk about edges.

Now there are only 3 possible states a skater’s skating blade can be in at any given time on the ice: inside edge, outside edge, or flat edge. In order to tell them apart you just need to answer this question: is the blade leaning toward or away from the center of the skater’s body? If it’s toward, they’re on an inside edge, if it’s away, it’s an outside edge, and if it’s neutral, it’s a flat edge. Once we’ve established that, the next step is to check out the direction of the skate, is it backward or forward? Combining these two answers, you’ll get to whether it’s a forward inside edge, a back inside edge, a forward outside edge, or a back outside edge.

(In case you’re still wondering why you need to know all this stuff, well that’s because a turn is, by definition, a move in which the skater changes edges or changes directions or both, on one foot. A step is basically the same thing, but with a change of foot as well.)

Here’s an example on how to “read” edges: Yuzuru’s triple Axel at Skate Canada 2015. He entered the jump on an outside edge (note that since it’s a spread eagle, his left foot was on a forward edge and his right foot on a back edge). He moved to a forward outside edge on his left foot to take off for the Axel, finished 3.5 rotations in the air and landed on a back outside edge on his right foot. He transitioned out of the jump into another outside spread eagle and then changed edge midway to turn it into an inside spread eagle - pay attention to that subtle shift in center of gravity at the edge change. (And that, kids, is how you get a perfect score for your triple Axel.)  

Here’s the jump and transition in all of its real time glory to get your eyes some practice: 

With that done, we can move on to examine the 6 types of turns in figure skating. They are: twizzle, bracket, loop, counter, rocker, and three-turn. 

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Hi, I’ve been getting messages about how to get motivated/sustain motivation in school. However, I was not sure about how to answer them because I’m a certified Lazy Ass™ whose motto in school is “SLEEP WHEN YOU CAN”. I  tried my best to come up with a decent answer, though, and I hope this post will help someone ^_^ Soooo, here it goes:

1. Understand the concept of motivation.

Motivation is the drive to do something. It is important, because it helps a person (re-)focus their goals. Through (re-)examining the forces that drives a person to achieve, one can uncover one’s reasons for achieving something.

There are two kinds of motivation: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from outside forces, as in, one is motivated to get high grades to make their parents proud. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from within, as in, one is motivated to answer math problems because one feels satisfaction in solving those problems. Different instances necessitate different kinds of motivation, and one person’s motivation may not really be effective for another.

“Motivation” is so much more complex than that, though, so here are some readings on the topic: x x x x x

Personally, I believe that motivation can only take a person so far, because what happens when you literally have no drive to do anything? My banner says “discipline outlives motivation”, because I’ve learned that there’s something better than to wait for peak motivation to hit, which is to:

2. Develop good study habits.

Turn studying into a behavior. The goal is to make studying a natural part of one’s routine, as natural as, say, opening Tumblr or Instagram. (Because you don’t need much (or any) motivation to check social media).

Here’s a long answered ask on how to make a study plan in three easy steps and another answered ask on how to balance tasks.

3. Discover how you best study.

Every person learns differently. For example, I’m a visual learner, and I learn best by seeing and arranging information on a page. I rewrite notes to make them pretty, and I doodle all the time. Audiobooks and lecture recordings don’t really work for me (but they can work for you). Discovering how one studies would tremendously help anyone, since it can be frustrating to study without retaining information. Conversely, it is motivating when one understands what one is studying.

Learn what kind of learner you have by taking this quiz or answering these questions, then take a look at these posts to see some studying tips based on how you learn:

Learning styles

Types of learners

Four types of learners

Study methods and what suits you better

4. Surround yourself with people who support what you’re doing.

Studying is difficult enough as it is, and you don’t really need to make it more difficult by having people around you telling you that you don’t really need to study for that test. I was really lazy in college, and I would rather sleep than study, but I was able to get good grades, because I lived with people who persevered in their studies. Because they were studying late into the night, I also got into that habit (albeit grudgingly at first). We all inspired each other, made cups of coffees for each other, and even took naps together. Having supportive people around will make you realize that you are not alone in this struggle to study, and that you’re all going to make it out alive.

5.  Do things apart from studying.

You’re a person, not a studying machine. Studying is only a part of life, not your whole life itself. Find a hobby, stay true to your art, volunteer at a dog shelter—it’s your call. Just keep being passionate about something else other than studying. This “something else” can help you release stress as well as motivate you. You must also understand that millennials, more than any other generation, mix work and play, sometimes to the point where the two are indistinguishable. Playing is not a crime, millennials. It’s only natural. (Remember it’s okay to take a break. Alexander Hamilton was asked to take a break, he refused to, and you all know what happened to him >_>)

Whew, that was a mouthful uwu I really hoped I made sense. Feel free to add to this post! :)

专心 (zhuan1 xin1) - to be attentive; focused

Eg. I have to be 专心 during my studies. Good luck back to school everyone! To be honest I’m actually pretty excited for the new semester.

生活是一场漫长的旅行，不要浪费时间，去等待那些不愿与你携手同行的人。

Life is a long journey. Don’t waste your time waiting for people who are not willing to walk with you.

Adjectives

顽固 (wángù)-stubborn

用功 (yònggōng)-diligent;studious

胖 (pàng)-fat

漂亮 (piàoliang)-pretty

聪明 (cōngming)-smart

笨 (bèn)-stupid

帅 (shuài)-handsome

矮 (ǎi)-short

高 (gāo)-tall

懒 (lǎn)-lazy

丑 (chǒu)-ugly

开通 (kāitong)-open minded; liberal

大 (dà)-big

小 (xiǎo)-small; young

老 (lǎo)-old(used w/ people)

新 (xīn)-new

旧 (jiù)-old(used w/ objects)

Turns and Steps, Explained (2/2)

Hey guys *cheerful wave* Wimbledon is over so my tennis obligation is done with and now I’ll resume my full-time figure skating follower status. I’ll kick things off with the second part of this turns and steps explanation. This post will touch on a couple of concepts we’ve discussed in the first part so you might want to check that one out before diving in: here it is.

The ISU technical handbook defines 6 types of steps: toe step, chassé, mohawk, choctaw, change of edge, and cross roll. Out of these 6, the only step that is considered difficult is the choctaw. Now if you recall from the previous post, the ISU also defines 6 types of turns (twizzle, bracket, loop, counter, rocker, three-turn). Among these 6, only the three-turn is considered basic, the other 5 are all counted as difficult. At this point I guess you’re naturally wondering why there is such an imbalance between turns and steps. Well, that is because a turn, by definition, must be done on one foot, while a step would normally involve two-footed skating, and that is something we don’t want to see too much of. In fact, the ratio of one-footed to two-footed movements is one of the most reliable indicators of a skater’s skating skills.

That said, let us check out what each of the 6 types of steps looks like. This time, to switch things up a bit, I’m going to use Seimei as illustration.

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