What to do if you suddenly become homeless

FOOD

• Find your nearest food bank or mission, for food
• grocery stores with free samples, bakeries + stores with day-old bread
• different fast food outlets have cheaper food and will generally let you hang out for a while.
• some dollar stores carry food like cans of beans or fruit

SHELTER

• Sleeping at beaches during the day is a good way to avoid suspicion and harassment
• sleep with your bag strapped to you, so someone can’t steal it
• Some churches offer short term residence
• Find your nearest homeless shelter
• Look for places that are open to the public
• A large dumpster near a wall can often be moved so that flipping up the lids creates an angled shelter to stay dry

HYGIENE

• A membership to the YMCA is usually only 10$, which has a shower, and sometimes laundry machines and lockers.
• Public libraries have bathrooms you can use
• Dollar stores carry low-end soaps and deodorant etc.
• Wet wipes are all purpose and a life saver
• Local beaches, go for a quick swim
• Some truck stops have showers you can pay for
• Staying clean is the best way to prevent disease, and potentially get a job to get back on your feet
• Pack 7 pairs of socks/undies, 2 outfits, and one hooded rain jacket

OTHER

• first aid kit
•  sunscreen
•  a travel alarm clock or watch
•  mylar emergency blanket
•  a backpack is a must
•  downgrade your cellphone to a pay as you go with top-up cards
•  sleeping bag
•  travel kit of toothbrush, hair brush/comb, mirror
•  swiss army knife
•  can opener

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Exam Revision Tips

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Learning Style Ideas

Visual learners:

• Create mind maps and concept maps
• Colour-co-ordinate your notes
• Use visual aids such as flashcards, diagrams, charts and pictures in addition to your class notes
• Watch a short clip or movie about your topic

Auditory learners:

• Try recording your lectures, notes, etc. and playing them back
• Have a group study session (e.g. go to the library, cafe or friend’s house)
• Get involved in class discussions
• When writing essays and assignments, try reading the material out loud
• Make up rhymes or songs about key theories and concepts
• Use word association (Think of similar words that can be associated with the concept or definition you are trying to learn)

Kinaesthetic leaners:

• Include a physical activity e.g. dance, pacing, acting out concepts or theories.
• Build  a 3D model or diorama
• Go on a field trip

Read/Write learners:

• Take detailed notes in class
• Re-write your notes as a revision exercise
• Turn diagrams and charts into words
• Ask your lecturer or teacher for handouts
• Read multiple resources such as the internet, text books, class notes and articles
• Write a creative piece about the information you are learning

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Study Skills and Tips

• Apples instead of coffee: Apples give sustained energy whilst Coffee stimulates a fight or flight system.
• Cold water with lemon in the mornings: This will help you feel more awake and refreshed.
• Study with a particular scent in the background: and sleep with that same scent. Your brain will strengthen the memories with that scent better.
• Chew a certain flavour of gum whilst studying, and during your test/exam: Chew peppermint gum or a peculiar flavour you may not chew.
• Night is a great time for studying: your brain refreshes information when you sleep so spend around 10 minutes studying before you sleep, and quickly review in the morning as the brain is still absorbing some information.
• Apply meaning to the information you are studying: if you are learning certain words or phrases then try placing them into a sentence. For example: baby, tennis shoes, chicken, music -> baby in tennis shoes dancing to the chicken dance.
• Use mnemonic devices for order: rhyming, acronyms, songs, and associations.
• Study while you sleep: record your voice reading out the content you are revising and play it back when you sleep. Your body when asleep can understand the information and will work into your long-term memory.
• Reward yourself: after each little bit of studying do something nice like watch youtube videos or eat some sweets :)
• Listen to classical/instrumental music: This will help with focusing and allowing you to get some work done!
• Change your environment and have all of your materials: ensure you have your essentials so you don’t get distracted by moving to get equipment.
• Blue ink helps memorise: I always use this with English lang+lit combined since theres SO MUCH terminology to remember. Writing in blue ink (especially for vocabulary words and flashcards) helps with memorisation.
• Know what way of studying works for you: visual? auditory? kinaesthetic? read+write®?
• Flashcards are good in emergencies: but they are only good for short-term memory, so only use them as a last resort before your test.
• Take short breaks frequently: your brain retains information more easily from the beginning and end of your sessions- so take more sessions. 
• Space out your studying: this helps with long term memory, and also make sure to review throughout the time period given.
• Know your weak areas: test yourself or have somebody else test you so you can see where some extra revision may be required.
• Use active recall: helps change retaining content from short-term memory to long-term memory.

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Study Break Ideas

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Tips for School

Here are some tips that will make your school year a lot more easier when it comes to organisation,studying and it might help you when its time for exams!
*Organisation Tips*

• Make to-do lists. Prepare your to-do list the night before. In doing so, you will know exactly what tasks you have to accomplish the next day.
• Pack your bag the night before and ensure that you have everything you need for the following day.
• Write the date next to any notes you take and title them so they are easy to identify. Putting page numbers on your notes is a good way to keep track of them.
• Check your to-do list daily and cross off completed tasks.
• Make sure your notes are complete. If you have incomplete notes it will be hard for you to learn from them when you are studying.
• When you know you’ll have an upcoming exam,test,event or anything you must prepare for to attend, record it in your planner straight away. Don’t wait for later, you might forget it. 
• Break up your study time. Work out how many study hours you will need and schedule the study time in your planner accordingly.
• Set certain times of the day for studying,homework and other school-related activities and stick to it.
• Work on the most important assignments with the closest deadlines and set aside time to work on longer-term projects.
• Divide big assignments into smaller, more workable tasks.
• Focus on the goals you’ve set for yourself and follow them up.
• Never allow the work to build up. Always try to stay on top of everything and keep ahead of deadlines.
• Use a wall calendar for each term. List all projects and exam dates for each subject as well as any other important commitments you have.
• Label desk drawers with their contents.

*Study Tips*

• Ask for copies of past exam papers. It’s always good to find out what kind of questions are included in exams and the best way to do this is to look through old exam papers.
• The key to learning something well is repetition; the more time you go over the material the better chance you have of storing it permanently. 
• Explain your work to others. Find someone who doesn’t understand the topic and teach it to them. This will help you to get it clear in your head. If you are unable to explain something clearly then more study is required.
• Take short breaks during your study time. Eat nutritious food that helps your brain to focus and make sure you drink plenty of water.
• Attend all review classes whenever possible.
• Study in a well lit place with no distractions and have all the things you will need ready, such as paper, pens or a calculator. 
• Create your own study aids to help you. Create an outline from your notes of the main points or create a timeline of important dates. Make up your own flash cards or quiz and have someone test you.
• Study more difficult subjects first and do the easier, more fun ones after.
• If there is anything you are unsure of ask your teacher for guidance. 
• Set yourself a goal. Know what you want to accomplish before you begin to study.
• Discuss topics with other students and arrange study groups to help each other.
• Challenge yourself. A task thought of as too hard can slow you down. The same task thought of as a challenge can spur you on.
• Time spent working on understanding issues saves time because you will then know what you are doing.
• Find a study method that suits you. Make notes,use diagrams,flow charts and mind maps. Experiment and find what works for you.
• Use any spare time you have to rewrite your notes and summarise your work.

*Exam/Tests Tips*

• Read over the entire test and calculate how much time you will spend on each question.
• Read the instructions carefully and make sure you understand what you have to do before you attempt to do it.
• Answer questions directly. If you get stuck on a question, move on to the next one and come back to it later.
• Leave time at the end to look over your work. Make sure you have answered every question and check your mistakes.
• Eliminate obvious false answers first when doing multiple choice questions.
• Good handwriting is essential. Train yourself to write quickly and neatly.
• Don’t leave studying to the last minute. Cramming can cause you to panic and leave you too tired to think clearly the next day.
• Read all assigned material well in advance of the exam date.
• Over learn material for you exams. Continue to study past the point at which you think you know it well.
• Always read the instructions and answer easy questions first.
• Ensure your grammar, punctuation and spelling are correct. You may receive lower marks if your answer is poorly written or grammatically incorrect.

*Reading Tips*

• Know what your purpose is for reading. How do you need to use this information? What do you expect to learn from reading this document?
• Try skimming over the document first to get a sense of the general theme before you read it in more detail.
• Make sure you understand what you are reading. If something doesn’t make sense then re-read it from where you became confused.
• It may be helpful to read the words out loud or to form a picture in your mind of what you are reading to gain a deeper understanding.
• Authors often include context clues to the meaning of words. The clue usually appears in the sentence or paragraph in which the word occurs.

*Listening Tips*

• Listen out for key phrases from the teacher such as “this is important”, “you need to know this” and “it is essential”. 
• Don’t confuse listening with hearing. Listening is an active activity, you must be thinking in order to listen.
• Think about the reason why you are listening and set yourself a goal.This will help you focus on important information.
• It is important to listen effectively. 80% of what you know is acquired through listening.

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How to write a cover letter

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