academics // beauty // clothes // anxiety/mindset // procrastination // basically everything
this is strict parent inclusive btw ik this is aops im not gonna hop on and be like "drench yourself in makeup"

so two months ago i was not in the best of places
i was a heavy procrastinator, struggled with maintaining good grades and managing all my aps, was under a lot of anxiety, and (arguably most importantly) was chopped af
in AP lang we learned of the importance of asserting your credentials without sounding egotistical
so how can i help you? well i'll say that i have a ton of aps and i'm happy. speaks for itself

all the guys can skip the makeup section and scroll all the way down to clothes/academics unless youre gay

beauty tips : makeup
i know a ton of people who asked me about this, and i'll give you some tips
i've always been lucky to have parents who are supportive with my makeup demandings, but i know this is often not the case for a lot of people

• working little by little is really important -- if your parents are hesitant about allowing makeup, try appealing to them through little actions. asking for compensation via good grades, earning your own money by doing chores to buy them.
  most of parents who are like this will probably not be willing to send you off on a shopping spree, so here are some good products to start off with:
  - benetint (works as a blush and a tint)
  - skyhigh mascara
  - shiseido eyelash curler (works really well for stubborn asian lashes)
  - rarebeauty bronzer (if you're insecure about a round face/flat nose)
• a tip that always works for me is if your mom or dad has any siblings .. appealing to your aunts, uncles, or grandparents is a great way to have them deal with your strict parents lol. my mom's younger sister is super into beauty so she always supplies me with the products my mom refuses to buy me, plus she's the one who convinced my mom to let me get more piercings! if your parents are stubborn, their siblings or their parents can win them over a lot
• even without makeup, it's possible to glowup!
  - skincare : cleanse, use sunscreen, moisturizer, lip scrub
  - massages can help with facial tension
  - hair: hair oil, natural lightening methods, experimenting with new hairstyles or haircuts
  - lash serum (or if your parents don't let you, aloe vera) and curling your eyelashes makes a big difference

beauty tips : outfits
this was honestly a big one for a lot of my friends (including me) as outfits can be a game changer. again my aunt is the goat in letting my parents allow me to wear crop tops and the other clothes i wear, but i promise you as someone who's allowed to but rarely does (esp in cold months) you can honestly look just as cute without having to.

staples to have:
- jeans in different colors (blue, dark blue, washed blue, black, white, cream, grey)
- different style jeans (flare, baggy, low-rise (my personal favourite))
- off-the-shoulder sweaters
- hoodies
- track pants
- cargo pants
- crewnecks
- base clothes: white tops, black tops, grey tops, things that will never go out of trend
- cardigans/zip-up hoodies
- sweatpants (personal favorite is brandy's)
- tank tops
- uggs shoes (if you can afford them) if not other boots look similar and are just as cute
- tennis shoes from nike / adidas / under armour / etc

things to avoid:
- hoodies with like ugly designs on them or mix a bunch of weird colors ex neon blue and grey / bad quality. go for more simple, some i recommend are abercrombie's, hollister's, or even off amazon.
- sweatpants with cuffs on the bottom. i know this is controversial but honestly it's not it.. go for open-bottomed ones to look more sophisticated
- t-shirts with cringe stuff on it
- those skinny striped adidas pants
- skinny jeans
- ill-fitting clothes : too long, too baggy, too tight -- lowk this is the time of our lives when we have the best body, so keep that in mind if you're feeling insecure
- bikinis/swimsuits that stand out too much, kinda draws away from your tan and face and makes you look bad from a long distance
- contrasting colours / colours that don't look good on you
- baggy pants + big shoes ex i wouldn't wear big boots with sweatpants, probably would go for sneakers with sweatpants
- tight clothes + tiny shoes -- shoes should stand out for better outfit, birkenstocks with a summer outfit is probably my biggest ick ngl

academics : procrastination, workload
honestly i don't have much to say about this. i'm not the smartest, mathiest person in the group, especially in aops, but i have been known to have considerably less studying time with a better outcome. yk the people who piss you off who seem to goof off all the time then get perfect scores on their tests?

i learned to become one of them and here's the trick: while you do your work, you have to enjoy it

right? but it's actually a life changer--if you enjoy what you're doing, you're going to do it better

it's certainly really difficult, but that enjoyment doesn't have to necessarily come from the subject itself. it can come from using cute stationary to motivate yourself, having a good snack next to you, or talking with your parents or even teachers to help yourself like the subject more. if you hate history, try researching some details that are hooking. for example, taking notes for history is tedious, but i found myself interested in bloody mary's story, which made me want to research her more. after knowing that background information, it was more fun to study AP world and make connections.

connecting what you learn in a certain class with other classes or real life situations is really important. in physics, to help me learn the concept of inertia, i was spinning pencils, playing around with toy cars, etc. i already had background information of britain's colonization of india in the past, so when i learned the connecting reasons on why, it completed my puzzle, making it more interesting for me! spitting out facts randomly can help your memory -- like right now, when i'm going to tell you that britain took over india after the sepoy revolution, a revolution started because of a rumor that the new military cartridges were greased with animal fat--which was sacred to hindus!

also a fun thing to do--something i learned from my ap world teacher--is to essentially "realify" your learning
make things funny, unreal, make connections

i've noticed that every time my ap world teaches, she really narrates it like a story, which is super entertaining. like for example when she was talking about britain's failed macartney embassy because china thought britain was bowing down to them, she didn't just say boringly "the british's mission failed due to china's belief of their contribution to the tribute system", she said "the chinese were like "oh my gosh that's soooo sweet of you guys" and didn't think anything of it." ykwim?

mindset
i honestly had probably the worst anxiety spike this year, but some tips that really helped me get over it:
- my mom told me that 96% of your worries never come true, and 3% of those worries that will come true are preventable, and the 1% was bound to happen anyway--so why worry about it?

instead of letting your thoughts run, act on them--my volleyball teammate's dad would always say when she's complaining, "why are you complaining about it when you can do something about it?" and i think that's so right!

if you think you're ugly, instead of drowning in that thought, get up and start experimenting with your makeup.
if you're upset because you can't eat healthy, start slow--bananas and dark chocolate is always my go-to
if you're like "i'm going to fail", start studying so you don't. my personal motivation talk is that a lot of people taking APs are dumb, so if i work hard i can definitely get a 5 in everything because work beats talent
if you want to do something, do it, instead of stressing about it

with emetophobia, i still get anxious when i feel sick, but i've learned that doing something to distract myself really helps.

lastly, give yourself leisure time to hang out with friends and do things you enjoy. sitting at your desk and procrastinating isn't going to do you any good, so might as well accept defeat and "officially" take a break

---

thanks for letting me be your online big sis / influencer or if you're older than me, being your smarter little sister