How To Study Math

How to study Math

It’s gonna be similar to my Learning to like Physics post, and I really hope this helps anyone who needs it. I’m not gonna ramble about my tragic backstory with math, just that I had a really bad math teacher in high school which made me completely lose interest in math/physics. Having to study it on my own however, I realized I actually liked it, and I am currently pursuing a Math degree.

This turned out longer than I thought so I added a cut.

I think these tips can apply to anyone who is studying math, be it high school/college students or anyone self studying. Alright, here goes:

It’s so much easier to understand something if you can visualize it. I can guarantee most math topics (except higher level/multidimensional math) have a visual representation or a diagram you can refer to. Wikipedia is good for pictures, but Khan Academy and 3blue1brown on youtube are even better because they explain the concepts with beautiful graphics, and they honestly saved my life.

Related to the previous point, you really should know how to graph the most common functions, because it comes in handy with pretty much anything tbh. You can even solve equations just by drawing out the two sides! Or at the very least it tells you how many solutions the equation has. If the functions are complicated by all means use a graphing calculator! My favorite online one is desmos.

Break it down. I get really discouraged when I see long sums and formulas because I already know I won’t be able to remember them. So I usually try to split them into parts and see where each comes from, or I try to figure out how someone would come up with this in the first place. Your profs might also have explanations or mnemonic devices to help you remember it. 

Seeking out applications in physics, or anywhere really is also very helpful. For example, I didn’t understand divergence and curl at all until I saw them in electromagnetic fields, and what they mean in terms of how the charge/particles flow.

Note taking: I learned the hard way that what your prof says but doesn’t write, is way more important than what they write on the board. Mostly because what they write down (theorem, proofs, calculations) can also be found in the textbook. On the other hand, more high level explanations (as in informal and more accessible) often aren’t. WRITE THOSE DOWN. It’ll be useless to have written down the theorem word by word, if you don’t take note of what it means an how to use it. In exams as well, they are mostly gonna test your understanding of it. Also, write down why you’re doing a certain passage, or why you’re allowed to do it. 

If you know your prof goes too fast and you can’t keep up, record your lectures. Not everyone might need this. Even though it is very time consuming to go through it again, you can always skip to the parts you need or listen on 1.5x. Better to spend time on listening to the lesson again, than to stare at your notes without understanding what you wrote and why. For me, something that I didn’t get at all in class might be very easy to understand if I hear it again while I don’t have to focus on writing it down.

Messy notes are okay, and encouraged. Prioritize understanding your notes rather than their neatness. I write faster in cursive, so now that’s all I use even though my notes look awful. But at least I get more stuff down. Moreover, my need for pretty and neat notes was just a symptom of my obsession with perfection, which I’m trying to let go of because it just adds extra stress.

Flash cards are the best. Super useful to memorize theorems and proofs. What I usually do is write the name of the theorem on one side and the statement on the other. You can also separate hypotheses and statement. I’ll mark the theorems for which I need to learn the proof, then go through them one by one and try to prove them. They also help to keep a list of all the theorems you need to know for a certain course all in one place.

Get a study buddy/study group. I’m pretty unsociable so I know it’s hard, but if even I could find a person to revise with before exams, then you can to. Don’t worry about being judged because you’re all there to learn and you all want the same thing. Talking about something out loud helps you understand it and memorize it better, and at least a fellow student can ask you questions about it as well. Unfortunately your wall can’t do that.

Office hours. One on one time with your prof is the best, trust me. Asking questions in front of 100 people is intimidating, and it often feels like your profs are rushing through lectures and don’t have time to properly answer you. During office hours, you can ask about anything and they can even show you how to work something out step by step. Bring a friend if you’re anxious about it (but you shouldn’t be! most of them are friendly, and going there shows you’re putting in effort for their class).

Try to do your calculations in your head, or with pen and paper. I know calculators are way faster, but it’s good exercise. If it’s too hard to get an exact answer, try ballparking it and then check to see if you were close enough. Ballparking comes in handy and it sharpens your intuition.

Practice tests and solved problems are the best, bonus if the solution explains what is happening and it’s not just calculations. You can try to do them then check the answers, then try again and see if you can get it on your own.

Theory and practice are two different things. Even knowing all the theorems and proofs you sometimes won’t be able to work out a problem that uses them. They’re both equally important so make sure you include both when preparing a test.

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Take pictures with your gifts, and make sure any caption (should you choose to post) implies or outright states they are gifts. Send texts saying “Thank you for my gifts! I loved _______” and do not delete them. Men do a lot of dumb things when they are broken up with. If one decides to have the audacity to ask/demand their gifts be returned, take them to court. You will have plenty of evidence that they were gifts, and thereby cannot be returned to him.

Heyy!

I'm using corona as a bit if an excuse for me to be lazy (I'm 16 and trying to physically and mentally level up), would you please give me some tough love? You are one of my favorite accounts, thanks for helping us out✌💖

Hi babe! So as far as “tough love” your best bet is typically with @2pretty - she has the best posts in that area. I’ll still give it a shot though....

You’re 16. You are right on the cusp of young adult hood. Your brain is untapped potential. Your body is ready for challenges with little to no natural age-based hindrances. You are at the doorway to a powerful life. 

and what are you doing? Nothing!!!

That’s so wasteful! How can you complain that you're too lazy to do anything? You’ve never DONE anything yet! You have no excuse to be lazy!!!

I’m not saying you need to conquer the world, but dang!!!! Everything in your life will only get more difficult from here!!! You’re “too tired” now to physically or mentally try? You’re going to be an absolute waste of potential.

Sure, you hear stories of people getting in shape for the first time in their life at 40, but they all REGRET NOT DOING IT EARLIER!!!! You’re 16! Beginning a workout routine and healthy diet is BOTH the easiest it will ever be AND the most effective it will ever be!!!! You are a few ran miles and salad lunches away from abs!! Even by the time you’re 20, the same progress you could make in a week now will take you at least a month - and it only gets SLOWER REWARDING as you get older!!! You need to do more!!!!

Your brain is at a key growth and development stage!!!! Yes, you’re not as easily learnable of languages as you were when you were 5, BUT you still have all those new brain synopsis developing and just BEGGING to be used! What happens if you don’t engage them now? 

“Between 12 and 25, the brain changes its structure in a few important ways. Like an overeager forest, neurons in the early adolescent brain become bushier, growing more and more overlapping branches whose twigs reach toward one another, nearly touching except for tiny gaps known as synapses. When an electrical impulse—or action potential—reaches a twig, the neuron flings spurts of chemical messages across the synapse. Over time, depending on how teens busy their minds, twigs around the least used synapses wither, while twigs flanking the most trafficked synapses grow thicker, strengthening those connections.” - source

You really want to just chill out and never push yourself to learn anything? Welp. You’re just hurting yourself FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. I’m sure there’s cutesy little stories about someone doing something genius later in life... but biology doesn’t life. You’re not going to be brilliant in your 30s, 40s, 50+ if you’re not cultivating your brain now. End of story. 

You don’t need to be running marathons or studying astrophysics at a PhD level... but you need to be at least doing something!!!

So stop being lazy and DO something!!!

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝑺𝒐𝒇𝒕 (𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕-𝒆𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆) 𝑭𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌

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How I take care of my skin 🐝

Part 1 💗

Your skin is one of your best investments, it'll be with you for life so you better take care of it !

Keep in mind with all of this I am a woman of colour with fairly resilient skin 😂

How I got rid of my keratosis pilaris

Like most women of colour, I used to struggle with keratosis pilaris or what others call strawberry legs

I never really liked having the small dots on my body, so as soon as I could I found remedies and formed a routine to combat it

Acids

Acids are my best friend and have helped me the most in my journey.

I'm picky with the acids I use on my face because it's more sensetive, I only use

Lactic acid

Mandelic acid

Azelaic acid

But please do your own research on that is best for your skin type.

On my body, specifically my legs, I use glycolic or salicylic acid toners to deeply exfoliate my skin and this is a big part if your goal is to get it of KP.

Exfoliation Exfoliation Exfoliation

For physical exfoliants a good salt and sugar scrub always does the job as well as regular use of exfoliating gloves.

Before going into acids you really need to do your research on what acids can't mix together or can't be layered and how the acid actually works.

In my research I found out that women of colour who struggle with hyperpigmentation like myself should stay away from the regular use of harsh chemical and physical exfoliants cause our skin is sensetive and the reaction that causes hyperpigmentation and excessive melanin production in a certain area is sort of a defense mechanism and if you keep pushing at it with harsh products it will obviously react defensively. As for women who are not of colour you can get away with harsher products but you need to keep up with SPF😉.

Sunscreen and Sunglasses

This part is as important as the acids and scrubs.

And is my favourite topic 😂

After all the exfoliation one of the worst things you can do is walk out in the sun without sunscreen or protection from the sun.

No matter if you are white, black, purple, red, blue or green, YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR SKIN FROM THE SUN!

Decide on which sunscreen you want to use,

Physical/Mineral or Chemical

The ones which are ashy and blue-ish are normally physical/mineral (I prefer these)

Chemical are clear or white and are greasy most times and make my skin feel very hot, like the heat is absorbed by the sunscreen and there's just hot oil sitting on my face and depending on certain factors can cause chemical reactions to happen while it's on the skin, which is not what I want but it all depends on you and your needs, some people don't react to chemical sunscreens but I do sometimes.

Finding a good sunscreen that works for you is a priority

And if you use sunscreen I recommend double cleaning as well

Don't get acids if you don't have a good sunscreen !

For those who use acids on the face and for people who care about their facial skin in general😂, a pair of good UV protection sunglasses is a must to further protect your skin, thank you @ratchetprime for reminding me 💙

When I didn't have protection glasses I used to get freckles around my eyes or close to my eye area and the area was always sensitive and I didn't know why :/ but later after getting them and continuing my routine for a week or two they began to disappear :)

Together with acid, exfoliation and sun protection I managed to get rid of my hyperpigmentation and KP

I'm still learning but this has what has helped me so far !

Please do your own research and be gentle and patient with your skin💚

Tell me if you guys want a part 2 about my personal routine of moisturising, making your skin glow and fragrance 💗✨

Investing In Your Appearance

Like many things, there is a lot of rhetoric around appearance and beauty that is centered around “quick fixes” and “easy solutions.” Well…

“If it was easy, everyone would do it”… so clearly there is a lie miscommunication about beauty solutions

Instead of always seeking easy fixes and a lazy approach to your appearance, I would like to offer a mentality and perspective regarding upgrading your physical beauty. I normally resent any comparison of women to inanimate objects, but I find this particular metaphor clever so you’ll have to just bear with me 😘

Think of your appearance as your home. The structural components of the house are your bone structure, the raw materials of the house are your skin and other natural beauty, the furniture are the more “fluid” aspects of your appearance (eyebrows, etc.), and the extra and more temporary decorations are the equivalent of makeup. 

Too much modern beauty advice is from that surface level of makeup. Companies are trying to sell you the key to beauty and appearance as make-up. Like excess house decor, it’s a cheap sell. Sure, it modifies the room from a surface level, but doesn’t really ADD or INVEST in beauty. It’s a cheap fix for a real problem. For some critical thinking: why do companies want girls to believe the secret to beauty is in makeup? Because it’s the quickest and most visible fix! You don’t need to apply a new lipstick more than once to immediately see results. Companies know they have to market short term fixes bc most girls are too impatient… the average person isn’t willing to invest time and effort into long-term results. Companies know this, which is why they want people to believe the overall key to beauty is purely makeup. They are wrong. While makeup, is important component, it’s not a true investment in yourself. Remember this throughout any level-up or investment in your appearance.

 The basic structural components.

Let’s get right to the heart of beauty then, shall we? The basic structural components. My main opinion of it all, is you are born with a face meant for you - your home. You may not like the structural components of your house, but it has the capacity for beauty, even if its not the type of beauty you wish it was, or as “trendy” of a house as you want. Ultimately, your plan needs to be formulated around your basic house structure. Don’t force a modern sleek NYC loft look on a country cottage house… don’t push a “insta baddie look” on a classic Greecian beauty structure. Accept your face and work WITH your features.

If you do choose to modify your basic structural components…. do so mindfully of the entire house. If you change one side of the room entirely, it runs the risk of looking out of place, if not stupid in the context of the rest of the room. Similarly, slapping a thin nose on an otherwise bold-featured face is going to look out of place and bizarre. Just be mindful, while you can do deep structural remolding… don’t go overboard and keep any modifications with the rest of the house in mind. Oh… and if you really see a solution as to modify the entire house? Just know it has the real possibility to still look make-shift and disorganized. I always recommend sincerely trying to work with what you have. 

Raw Materials

After the basic structure, you then look at the more raw materials aspect of your house. The walls, flooring, and other more difficult things to modify. A house is only well kept if you actively maintain these features. You must apply fresh paint, a regular cleaning routine, and maintenance as needed. Unfortunately, a lot of the work towards maintaining raw components is costly and can temporarily detract from your appearance. A sanding down and refinishing of the walls makes your house ugly and in-construction for a week or so… similarly, a derma-planning facial hurts and makes you look red/puffy for a week… but at the end of it all? The results are glowing and long term improvement. 

Make sure you are doing that deep-level investment into your face. It will be more costly, and it will not provide immediate results. Overall, it’s imperative for the long term upkeep and investment into your beauty. Get regular facials, electrolysis on your body hair, and other investments that will give you a better foundation of beauty. Like I said… a cheap rug doesn’t cover up a grungy floor, similar to how foundation cannot hide dry and poorly taken care of skin. 

Furniture and More Fluid Aspects

So it’s kind of difficult to differentiate within appearance as well as a home, the difference between more solid aspects (walls and flooring) vs more fluid components of a home (furniture). Overall, its more a matter of what can be changed faster. In terms of appearance, I see it as eyebrows, lashes, and more easy surface level things that AREN’T makeup. 

Keeping yourself well groomed is important. Beyond deep facials and other more intense procedures and upkeep, you need to have a daily routine that maintains your features otherwise. Fluff up the pillow on the coach - similar to how you brush out your eyebrows. You may not deep clean your apartment floors everyday, but you should sweep them off daily - you may not deep clean your pores and skin, but you can keep them relatively clean and healthy. Everyday does not always require specialized decorations (makeup) but general presentability is still important (cleanliness and basic hygiene). 

Ways to invest in the more fluid aspects of your beauty can include lip fillers, eyelash extensions, hair treatments, etc. They will create that more surface level of beauty, without being fully qualified as “makeup.”

Extra and More Temporary Decorations

Finally, makeup! Ok, so this post may overall seem like I’m against makeup, which COULD NOT BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!! I’m really more about not being RELIANT on makeup to be beautiful, in truth, it can and SHOULD enhance your beauty!

Imagine you’re throwing a party at your house - you would want all your structural components, raw materials, and basic furniture to be all nice and presentable! It would be embarrassing to not have a well prepped location! But from there, you would still want to grab a few extra decorations to fully maximize the appearance! Maybe a vase of flowers, some streamers, a cute centerpiece - all of these are important to overall appearance! However, if you were only doing the decorations without any work towards ACTUALLY having a nice home, it would be obvious and apparent, if not detracting from the beauty of your house. Same thing with makeup - you need a good foundation (and no, not the makeup foundation, the real appearance-based foundation 😂)

Like home decorations, make up should be applied sparingly and in a way designed to specifically work with your features. Again, you wouldn’t decorate your home as if it were a apartment if it’s really a castle - don’t try to transform your face with makeup into something it’s not. Highlight your favorite parts, and find a style that works best for you AND makes you happy to look at. Have fun with makeup! It’s the exciting part and most fluid aspect of appearance, but don’t have it be the ONLY way you’re investing in your appearance!