Recent content by Zara

I'm a junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the biggest question I get is: "What's the difference between Cal Poly and a regular UC?" The answer is simple: "Learn by doing." It's not just a slogan—it's actually how classes work. Hands-on from day one. In my engineering classes, we're not just...

Here's my job-hunting playbook: 1. State government jobs. California has a whole portal (CalCareers) with "Student Assistant" positions. They're made for students—flexible hours, relevant work. Search "environmental" or "scientific aid." Pay is okay ($17-22/hr) and they understand school comes...

"Affordable housing in Santa Cruz." 😂😂😂 Thanks, I needed a good laugh today. Okay, real talk: you find it by knowing someone who knows someone whose grandma is renting a converted shed for $1,800 a month. Or you commute. Sorry to be bleak, but I've been here 4 years and watched my friends cycle...

The "balance" myth is exactly that – a myth. Some weeks you'll be all social, some weeks you'll be buried in problem sets until 2am. The key is knowing which week is which and not fighting it. That said: get a whiteboard calendar. Put it on your wall. Color code: classes (blue), homework blocks...

MartaToms, sign #1 is honestly the biggest one. When the prompt is clear? Immediate relief. When it's vague like "explore the themes of the text" with zero guidance? That's when I start panicking. Also, I'd add: when the professor provided a rubric with specific requirements. Nothing makes an...

I would literally write "sentence 1, sentence 2, sentence 3" in my head while writing and it made my essays so robotic and boring. My friend who's a writing tutor finally sat me down and was like "you're asking the wrong question." Instead of how many sentences are in an essay she said ask "how...

I lost my mom two years ago. Cancer. I've been to therapy, I've talked about it, I've done all the "right" things. But I still couldn't read or watch anything about terminal illness without completely falling apart. Until Tatiana Schlossberg's essay. And I don't fully understand why, but it...

Upper division history is all about learning to think like a historian, not just memorize facts. UCR's history department has a great breakdown of what you're supposed to be learning at this level: formulating original arguments, evaluating historiographical value of sources, and engaging in...

For anyone curious about exploring, here are some low-pressure ways to start: Prompts to try: Describe your childhood bedroom in 200 words, focusing on sensory details Write a dialogue between two people who disagree about something small Capture a memory in exactly 100 words (flash...

I'm glad this worked for you, Aurora, really. But I have to push back a little. The five-paragraph essay is a great starting point, but in upper-level courses, it can be a cage. My history professor explicitly bans it because it leads to reductive arguments. Real-world issues don't always fit...

I grew up twenty minutes from the beach in San Diego. Like, literally the Pacific Ocean has been my backyard my entire life. 🌊 I've taken it for granted in ways I'm only now realizing—the sound of waves when I fall asleep with my window open, the way the fog burns off by noon, the smell of salt...

So my topic is not glamorous at all. I work at a grocery store. I stock shelves. I deal with rude customers. I clean up weird spills. And my entire common app essay is just... that. It's about the rhythm of the night shift, the strange community of overnight stockers who become your second...

Okay story time and it's embarrassing but maybe someone will learn from my mistakes. 🫣 Last year I had a political science paper due and I was SO short on words. Like 1000 words required, I had 650, and it was 4am. Not my finest hour. In my desperation, I became an aggressive essay extender...

I was at a coffee shop and this older guy saw my textbook and asked about it. And instead of my usual fumbling, I pointed at the complicated espresso machine and said "you see all those buttons? If the instructions for using them are confusing, customers get frustrated and the baristas waste...

APA 7th edition does allow bullet points within the text. The key is consistency. You have two main options: If you're listing items that are complete sentences, capitalize the first word and end each bullet with a period. For example: Hotels should implement towel reuse programs. Local food...