My Essentials

#myessentials

First: I want to start off with my Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 laptop. It lets me do basically everything when it comes to digital note-taking (I have a pen specifically to my Dell) or digital Bullet Journaling in OneNote when in Tablet mode and works as a basic laptop computer. Below are my other Essentials which are my 3 hole punch and my ruler.

Second: my pens, markers, and highlighters. I am a stationery addict. Ever since I watched the studygram and stationery YouTube channels and followed them on Instagram, I got obsessed with finding the best highlighters and the best pens and yeah maybe I did waste some money on brush pens and gel pens. I just couldn't stop buying them over the last year and this year. I use most of them, though, so now I don't need to buy anymore. I have more markers and pens that I stored away, though because they were extras of the pens that I use, so I'll have pens/markers until I use the others out. :) Please don't come for me 🥺

I also have some headphones that I hang on a hook. They're Bluetooth headphones that I got from urban outfitters over a year ago. I thought they were cute and aesthetic and they were decently priced, so I bought them and they still work amazing after 2 years. I just charge them up before my class and use them during the zoom meeting. They work for what I need them to work for and I love that they are over the ear. Earbuds tend to hurt my ears a lot for some reason, so I don't like using those. I prefer the over the head earphones because they don't hurt as much for me.

Third: Notebooks!!! I use all four of my notebooks. I actually am re-using some that I bought over a year ago for my other classes. I love u paper and writing so much in them actually. I have two whitelines notebooks and the nicer one is for biology and the spiral bound is for my Algebra class. I use the other ones to put my Biology homework assignments in and to write Biology Lab notes in because sometimes during lecture, if I don't understand something, I'll write it down quick in the other notebook. I don't really need a notebook for lab, since I have a lab workbook that we use during the lecture, but sometimes I like to use that extra notebook (blue one) for stuff that is said during lecture and not in our workbook.

Fourth: I have binders. Since my Biology Lab workbook was in a looseleaf form, I am re-using a binder that I have been using since, I don't know, a year ago. I had a bunch of binders, so I had to get rid of some. They were old and breaking apart, but I kept my cute ones and my nice ones that I had for school a year ago. I don't like to buy binders anyway, because I think they are good enough to re-use. I had bought big ones last year because of the amount of handouts I was given were insane! There were like 20 handouts per lecture! Anyway, I honestly don't know what happened to my other big binders, though. I probably lost them in the move, which is fine since I have one that I kept. I don't have a picture of it, but here's my binders that I currently use.

I also added my Kindle here. It's an outdated Kindle actually that I bought so long ago. I want to say it was 2013 when I bought it. It still works really good and the charge lasts still. I keep my rented e-book of my biology book on my Kindle because seriously textbooks are way too expensive, so I found a way to get it cheap!! I think I only paid $10 for 6 months of access to the book. Also, I'd rather pay cheap than paying a high price and not have a physical form of a book that I won't be using later on. I had so many textbooks from over the years that it just cluttered my home and I had to get rid of them! My suggestion is to go completely e-book unless you have to have an access code for the class, but still go e-book! So much cheaper!

Fifth: My printer~ I absolutely need and adore my printer. Not only do I have to print some assignments out, I also have to scan assignments in. I actually use my phone to scan my assignments in, though. I use an app called HP Smart and it scans my documents from my phone camera and it looks like I actually scanned my documents through a scanner and not by my phone camera. I suggest this app!! Anyway, I use my printer only for printing. I even used it once to print out a diagram to put in my notes because I was too lazy to draw it out xD but sometimes I'm too lazy to print, so I'll just draw the diagram.

Sixth: I have my calculator~ I had enough saved, so I bought the cutest calculator that I needed and that is the TI-84 Plus CE in mint color. I love it so much actually!! It has a charger so no need to replace it with batteries. You can also get some sort of apps on there, too, but I haven't utilized that yet. I use it for my Algebra class, but I'm sure to be using it in the future for anything. With my calculator I have my smudge guard glove, which I just received. It's to help with palm rejection on my computer because I was so frustrated when my computer kept recognizing my hand and stuff started to pop up while I was trying to write, UGH! I also have page flags. I use both clear and paper flags. My paper flags are for diagrams and labeling them, which actually works so well because I just put the flags together on a cell diagram to test myself and I got them all right!! This really helps my memory especially for visual learners.

Extras: I don't have much extra stuff like snacks and drinks. I actually don't drink coffee often. Ever since my heart became erratic due to a sickness that I developed, I slowed down on drinking coffee. I'll have it every once in awhile, though. Here's an interesting fact on coffee, though. Coffee is a stimulant, so that's why when people drink it, they get energized and moving, but those with ADD or ADHD are able to focus when drinking coffee, kind of like how Adderall is a stimulant. (Hopefully this tip helps. It's not actually for sure, though about it, because I don't have ADHD. So whoever does, test it out and see if it works!) Also, another fact! Both coffee and tea are diuretics. So, when you drink coffee and tea, they will react with your system and make you pee a lot or make you poo. TMI, but I thought these were interesting facts. I do only drink water and sometimes juice or iced tea.

Lastly, I'll show you my education apps that I use. I don't use a whole lot, but I use these certain ones because my class requires them. I also have extras like whitelines and HP Smart for notes and homework. Kindle and Bookshelf have both my textbooks on them. X mind is for mind mapping which I haven't utilized yet. I use OneNote for notes, too, but that's on my computer.