Hey guys! I just finished my second year of high school (Looking at the equivalent of high school, I'm doing my O-Levels). There have been a load of problems that I have faced, I've made many screw-ups and there are a whole bunch of things I wish I knew before I started. So today, I'm going to be sharing a bunch of tips and pieces of advice for all of you guys currently in high school, or about to start high-school, and they will be ranging in all sorts of topics, from studies to socializing! I really hope they help you guys out! I will be making this into a series of different blog posts, called "Farrah's High School 'Wisdom'," so make sure to check out the rest. This blog post will be about none other than the importance of taking notes!
Taking notes
A.) Okay guys, so the first mess-up that I made was always try to make my notes pretty. It's not wrong to want to make pretty notes- but prioritize getting your content down first! I made the mistake of falling into the trap of pretty notes, and ended up not being able to keep up with note taking and being unable to focus on understanding what I was actually noting down. What I used to do was either take an unimportant or rough notebook and write my notes in them, or just write in my official school journal in pencil. Then, at home I'd rewrite them and make them pretty so I'd be motivated to study from them later, plus, rewriting helps in retaining information!
B.) Over the course of high school, I've learned that in fact based subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology, it's good to always write down exactly what the teacher is saying. However, in the more analysis/essay type subjects like sociology or literature, I've realized it's best to take notes in your own words, so that it's easier to understand them when you look back at them later.
C.) Keep post-its! They can be annoying sometimes, but they're really great for taking notes- you can stuff them into textbooks instead of using big heavy journals. Also, if there's ever something you don't understand, you can just quickly scribble it on a post it and stick it in your book, so you can ask your teacher at the end of the class.
So that's it for Part 1! The next part is going to be about how to keep stuff for emergencies :)
Hope you guys find this useful! Lots of love <33
Take care buddies,
Farrah