MedEvac Foundation International Children’s Scholarship

Army ROTC Scholarships to Apply

Deadline varies according to program

http://usascholarships.com/army-rotc-scholarships-apply/

I can’t wait to go back to uni!

xx Sunny

Scholarship: The No Bull Sports scholarship

Application Deadline: March 1st, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/no-bull-sports-scholarship/

YA book recs

no one personally asked me for this, but i have a couple of friends who might take interest so here you go!!! (i’ll give brief summaries and warnings next to the titles. my favorites are marked with ***)

LGBT+

*** aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe (sequel coming soon!) - coming of age, best friends turned lovers, slight homophobic slurs and violence

the song of achilles - greek mythology, war, gore and violence, greek gods, brief nsfw scenes, angst

*** carry on - magic, wizards and mages, fantasy, enemies to lovers, strong female characters, action and adventure, “chosen one” main character

openly straight (sequel coming soon!) - friends to lovers, sports, slight homophobia, college students, drama and angst

will grayson, will grayson - two sides of the same story, theater production, depression, homophobia, if i remember right there’s slight nsfw content

more happy than not - depression, suicide, sci fy, homophobia, angst, plot twists

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda (movie in production!) - secret admirer, slight homophobia, fluff, blackmail, kind of a “who dun it?” story line, a little bit of nfsw content

*** all for the game (trilogy) - made up sport, action, angsty romance, slow build, homophobia, self harm, torture, rape, strong female characters, gang members and the yakuza, drug use, violence, nsfw content, basically a lot of warnings and probably cannot be called young adult

perks of being a wallflower (has a movie) - has lgbt+ themes, coming of age, highschool life, slight adult themes, diary format

boy meets boy - fluff, angst, drag queen side character, coming of age, breakups and makeups

*** i’ll give you the sun - two sides of the same story, two perspectives, siblings, art, metaphors, coming of age, straight and lgbt+ relationships, mentions of ghosts

NON LGBT+

*** unwind (series, movie in production!) - sci fy, futuristic, action, adventure, gore, slight romance, some violence, black marketing

*** the outsiders (has a movie!) - greasers, gangs, violence, angst, strong sibling bonds, coming of age

cirque du freak (series, has a movie and a manga) - circus setting, vampires, monsters, adventure, action, best friends turned enemies, very brief romance, apprentices, a bit of everything

go ask alice - heavy drug use, diary format, rehab, long road to recovery, might be mentions of rape

me, earl, and the dying girl (has a movie) - cancer, highschool life, quirky, light and briefly mentioned romance, film production, slight violence, angst

that’s all for now! if i’m wrong on describing any of these books please let me know. if you’ve read some of these and want to talk to me about them i’m more than happy to chat! 

Scholarship: Accenture Student Veterans Scholarship

Application Deadline: March 31, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/accenture-student-veterans-scholarship/

Bill to Give Veterans Full Access to Private, Local Medical Care

Bill to Give Veterans Full Access to Private, Local Medical Care On Tuesday Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) introduced legislat...

Free Online Course on Chicken Behavior and Welfare

The course will start on 6 February 2017.

http://usascholarships.com/free-online-course-chicken-behavior-welfare/

For those of you who still aren’t sick of studying even during the summer break or for those who want to pimp their CVs with some awesome certificates and skills, I made a list of all of the online platforms where you can take courses. :)

I listed them from my favourite to least favourite. edx is definitely number one since it’s partner with so many good universities and you can get certificates for free (or paid if you want to get your identity verified). So yeah, feel free to try them out and don’t hesitate to ask me about my own experiences with these platforms. ;)

Scholarship: Forest County Potawatomi Foundation Lois Crowe Scholarship

Application Deadline: March 30, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/forest-county-potawatomi-foundation-lois-crowe-scholarship/

On Thursday morning, chancellor Beverly Kopper of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater sent out a public message condemning two students for posting a picture of themselves on Snapchat wearing blackface. Thing is, the students weren’t in blackface at all.

Scholarship: SAWE Scholarship / Frank Fong Memorial Scholarship

Application Deadline: April 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/sawe-scholarship-frank-fong-memorial-scholarship/

14.02.2016 // one essay written this weekend and now it’s on to critical pedagogy. ☀️

Scholarship: The Farm Kids for College Scholarship

Application Deadline: April 13, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/farm-kids-college-scholarship/

© melanie o'brien - dining hall of an agricultural college - trim, co meath, ireland - 2014

 Free Online Course on Entrepreneurship 101

The course will start on February 28, 2017.

http://usascholarships.com/free-online-course-entrepreneurship-101/

10 Free Online Courses to Increase Your Productivity

Medium writes:

Increasing your productivity is a goal that many busy professionals, parents, students, and entrepreneurs share. Finding enough hours in the day to accomplish all of your tasks or goals can be difficult. Sometimes the day has slipped away and you have accomplished little, and you don’t know why. It is also frustrating when you know that part of the reason you cannot get everything done is because you are not organized enough or because you cannot manage your time well.

Invest some time in one or more of these courses to help increase your productivity.

Scholarship: Freeman Awards for Study in Asia

Application Deadline: March 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/freeman-awards-study-asia/

7/1/17 // spent this morning organising my uni room before working on some prokaryotic genetics work

Scholarship: Freeman Awards for Study in Asia

Application Deadline: March 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/freeman-awards-study-asia/

― How to write an essay as an undergraduate history student

These are general guidelines to help undergraduate students write better essays. *Note that every assignment is different. You should take the time to closely read the instructions and meet with your Professor if necessary. I hope you will find these useful and good luck writing your papers!

B E F O R E   Y  O U   S T A R T

Make sure that you have closely read the instructions as presented by your Professor. There are many different types of historical essays (argumentative essays, historiographical reviews and so on). It is imperative that your style is adapted to the type of essay you are required to write.

Gather all your information. Some Professors want students to write essays using only class material, others expect them to do more research.  If the latter, make sure to gather all (most) of your information beforehand. If you are a university student, you  have access to a library and many academic journals. Use this access and make sure to ask librarians for help when needed.

Take careful notes as you are reading in preparation for your essay. If your Professor provided a specific question, make sure to read critically for information that is susceptible to help you answer this question. If your Professor has not assigned a question, you should still read carefully and try to find the different ways in which historians address certain issues. 

Some students prefer not to plan essays, others do. I suggest planning as it may be the best way to map out your ideas and begin forming an argument. It is impossible to cover all the facets of a problem in one essay, therefore, planning your essay may be the easiest way to make sure your work covers important aspects of a given issue. Planning will also help ensure that all your arguments remain connected and support a central claim.

Find a few (preferably history) essays that you find well-written and pay special attention to their structure. While you should be careful never to be so inspired as to be tempted to copy (this is a very serious academic offence) the goal of this exercise is to find more academic vocabulary and see how it is used by actual scholars. 

W H E N    W R I T I N G 

If your Professor gave you a question to answer in advance, make sure you answer this question and this question only. While you should always supply your arguments with pertinent examples, these should be succinct and focus on the main contention debated in your essay.

Make sure your essay has a thesis statement (yes, even when you are asked to answer a question). Your Professor should know from the very beginning of your essay what you will be arguing and what position you will take. All subsequent paragraphs until your conclusion should serve to better make the case for your thesis.

Try to follow the “classical” essay model, that is: introduction, body and conclusion. 

Began each paragraph with a topic sentence announcing the focus of the next few lines. Conclude the paragraph by rephrasing the main idea and possibly by trying to make a connection with the next body of text.

Always bring evidence to support your arguments. This evidence may come from the work of other historians are from a passage of a primary document. Whatever the case may be, make sure that your arguments are solidly built and “defended”.

Introductions and conclusions are (usually) not optional. Your introduction should help the reader understand what the text will argue and how it will proceed to do so, while your conclusion finishes the text by summarising key points and perhaps even making a suggestion for future studies. (An additional tip may be to write a simple introduction at the beginning and then rewriting it when the essay is finished. Once you are satisfied with your introduction, you may copy and paste it as your conclusion making necessary adjustments and avoiding copying the exact sentence structure. The point here is to use your introduction as a guide to write your conclusion.)

Be precise, you are writing a history paper, dates and names matter. 

Be clear and concise but make sure that all your points are well-developed. 

G E N E R A L   T I P S 

Locate your argument in historiography. As a historian in training, it is important that you show your Professor that you understand there are debates regarding specific interpretations. It is also important that you demonstrate that your line of argumentation is supported by the work of experienced researchers. Even if your essay primarily focuses on primary document analysis, surely some have analysed this text or object before, make sure to mention these scholars and their contributions to the debate.

Citations should be used wisely. As said before, it is important to ground your argument in the work of other historians. In this sense, citations are immensely useful. That being said, depending on the length of your paper, too many citations may suggest laziness as you have made little efforts paraphrasing. A few carefully selected and well-integrated quotes in your paper should do the trick.

Unless prohibited (for some odd reason) by your Professor, use footnotes to give additional information. Using footnotes to engage in discussions that are important but that otherwise cannot find their place in your text will show your Professor that you had a strong command of the topic at hand. It is also the best place to suggest further readings.