Everything You Ever Needed to Know about Reflection and Refraction.

Everything You Ever Needed to Know about Reflection and Refraction. What are Reflection and Refraction? ChaptersReflection All Starts with Waves.So, What is Reflection?What is Refraction?Honestly, it is quite special that you can look into a mirror and see reflected in the glass an image of you. It is so incredibly clear â€" depending on the quality of the mirror, obviously â€" with all our features and details so well defined.Of course, although we are one of the few animals on this planet of ours that can actually recognise ourselves in that reflected image in a mirror, we take this thing a little for granted.Thinking of all this, have you seen the famous images of Eilean Donan, the castle in the Scottish Highlands? Usually, it is photographed from across a loch â€" as, from here, you can see the castle doubled in the surface of the water.Have you ever shouted down a long tunnel and heard your voice return a hundred times? Have you ever had an x-ray? Have you ever seen a rainbow?The point of all this is that reflection is something that is happening all around us at all times. Even a s you are looking at this screen, you are probably seeing a faint silhouette reflecting back at you.But what is reflection? Do you know? What makes that image of yourself return to you from the mirror? Or how come you can see Eilean Donan both on land and in the water?It’s quite a simple scientific phenomenon, really â€" but, given that there is quite a bit to learn, it is what we are going to talk about here.So, let’s get ready and dive in. Reflection all begins with the science of waves.Find a math and physics tutor here. When a surface reflects like a mirror, the reflection is known as 'specular''. PetarPhysics Teacher 5.00 (11) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamPhysics Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Dr parikhPhysics Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RubenPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors FrankPhysics Teacher 5.00 (8) £90/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JidePhysics Teacher 4.80 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors DorothyPhysics Teacher 5.00 (5) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RahulPhysics Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsReflection All Starts with Waves.The science of reflection all begins with waves â€" light waves, sound waves, seismic waves, whatever type of wave you fancy. But what are waves?Waves are disturbances or variations in space-time which, through their propagation, transmit energy from one point to another â €" or indeed from one point to many others. This energy travels in straight lines from the wave’s source and disturbs the medium through which it travels as it travels.No doubt you’ll have seen diagrams of waves in your science classes. Usually you see images of transversal waves, the waves that produce ripples, peaks and troughs, disturbances of the medium that are perpendicular to the direction of the energy’s travel. Yet, there are longitudinal waves too, in which the disturbance is parallel to the travel of energy.Depending on the type of wave â€" longitudinal or transverse, mechanical or electromagnetic â€" and its wavelength (essentially the size of the wave), different waves can travel through different media. So, transverse waves, such as the movement of a guitar string, can only travel through solids. Meanwhile, sound waves â€" which are longitudinal â€" can travel through solids, liquids, and gases.Electromagnetic Waves.It is important to note that electromagnetic wa ves are transversal too. However, these guys are in a different ball game.Because they don’t actually need a material medium through which to propagate â€" as they create a magnetic field that allows them to ‘self-propagate’. Thus, they can travel through a vacuum.As we said, however, depending on their wavelengths, they may not be able to travel through some solids or gases. Think about it. You can listen to your radio in your bedroom â€" and radio waves are electromagnetic â€" however light waves (also electromagnetic) cannot travel through walls.The wavelength of light is much smaller than the wavelength of radio waves. And this is the key to their fate: absorption, reflection, or transmission.Find out about the properties of waves!So, What is Reflection?Let’s turn to reflection now. Do you know a good definition of reflection?Reflection is the change in direction of a wave on meeting an interface between two different media â€" so that it returns into the medium from whi ch it came.If light, travelling through air, hits a reflective surface, it will bounce back. However, this change in direction cannot occur apart from at a surface â€" an interface â€" between two materials.The Case of Light.Light is usually the type of wave that is discussed in relation to reflection â€" if only because, as outlined above, it is one of the types of reflection that we see so often.But light doesn’t reflect off every single surface, does it? When you look at a brick wall, it doesn’t reflect. Nor if you look at a transparent pane of glass. This is because the type of material that a light wave encounters will determine the effect of made upon the wave of light.Light, when it encounters an interface, will follow four different paths:Transmission â€" When light passes through a material, such as a transparent material. This includes, refraction, when light passes into a different medium through which it slows down.Absorption â€" When the light passes into a differen t medium which absorbs its energy â€" and transforms it into a different kind of energy (such as thermal energy).Specular reflection â€" When light is reflected in such a way that it produces a mirror-like effect. Light here is reflected from a smooth surface at a definite angle.Diffuse reflection â€" When light is reflected from a rough surface and its waves are scattered. In these cases, the mirror-like image is lost.Whilst specular reflection is what we conventionally understand to be reflection, actually all surfaces that don’t absorb light reflect it. Your skin, the computer keyboard, houses and animals â€" literally everything that you can see reflects light. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to see it. The distortion of the image is all to do with refractionThe Law of Reflection.One of the most important things to learn when you are studying the reflection of light is the so-called law of reflection.Simply put, the law of reflection states that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. To translate these two terms, this means that the angle from which the wave strikes the interface will be equalled by the angle at which the reflection of light bounces back.If you draw a line at ninety degrees (a right angle) from the reflective surface â€" a line which we call the ‘normal’ â€" the angles of incidence and reflection are measured between the incident wave and that normal.So, if light enters at forty-five degrees, it will reflect at forty-five degrees too.By the way, this only applies to surfaces that are ‘smooth’.What Makes a Surface Reflective?You know a reflective surface when you see it. It is sort of shiny, again smooth, and you can see your face in it.Yet, t his doesn’t really explain why that surface is shiny. Nor does it tell us what it is in that surface that is shiny.The thing that determines the reflective potential of a surface is not really fully explained by a reference to ‘smoothness’. Because, as we know, waves are absolutely tiny â€" so a surface that is visibly smooth may well not be at a level appropriate to light waves.Electrons.Rather, the reflectiveness of materials and their surfaces is all about electrons. These subatomic particles vibrate at different frequencies depending on the material.But light waves have differing frequencies too. ‘Light’ as we know it is a selection of a whole load of different frequencies and wavelengths.When a particular light wave encounters a material whose electrons have the same vibrational frequency, this light wave is absorbed into this vibrational energy. However, when the frequency of the electrons’ vibration is not equal to the frequency of the light waves, the light is re flected.Remember that every surface you see is reflective. Yet, the different light waves responsible for each colour have different frequencies. This means that some light waves might be absorbed by some materials, whilst others are reflected â€" giving you different colour materials.Find out all about sound waves! You see refraction in rainbows too!What is Refraction?Do you remember that one of the things that happens to light as it reaches an interface is known as transmission? This is what happens when the wave just keeps on going.However, with light, this is only possible with transparent glass â€" and the clearest of water.When a medium is not completely transparent â€" or if the medium is quite large â€" the transmission can still happen. However, the light wave will slow down and, as a result, it will change direction. This is the process known as refraction.One of the most common examples of refraction is that of the glass prism. These triangular objects have an effect on light that means that the waves scatter into the colours of the rainbow. This is because of the different wavelengths of the different light waves responsible for each colour. They all slow down at their own rate.

A Student Review of Cornell University

A Student Review of Cornell University The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teach theyre sharing their college experiences as well. Michael is a New York City tutor specializing in SAT prep tutoring, ACT prep tutoring, SSAT prep tutoring, Algebra tutoring, and more. He graduated from Cornell University in 2013 with a Bachelors degree in Human Development. See what he had to say about his school: VT: Describe the campus setting and transportation options.How urban or safe is the campus?Are there buses or do you need a car/bike? Michael:All freshmen and transfer students are given a free bus pass for their first year at Cornell, which really comes in handy! I bought a bus pass throughout my whole time at Cornell since the campus is quite big. Most students do not bring cars to campus, but it can be advantageous to do so if you work off campus or go home frequently. The campus and surrounding town (Ithaca, NY) is pretty safe; Ithaca is always mentioned as one of the top college towns in the United States, so Id say that most people believe it is safe! VT: How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants? Michael:I have always found professors and TAs to be very accessible outside of the classroom as long as you put forth the effort to connect with them. All professors and most TAs have office hours that exist to be taken advantage of if you have any questions about the course material. Its really up to the student to be proactive and go to office hours if they need help, or if they just really want to do their absolute best in coursework. VT: How would you describe the dorm life rooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Michael:All freshmen students are placed in housing on North Campus, which allows first-year students to really connect with members of their class. West Campus is housing for upper-level students, and it probably has the nicest dorm facilities at Cornell. Also, the food at Cornell is really good! Its consistently rated as one of the top college dining programs in the country due to its wide variety of available, high-quality food. I miss the food being at home now! VT: Which majors/programs are best represented and supported?What did you study and why? Did the university do a good job supporting your particular area of study? Michael:I believe that Cornell is best known for its Engineering, Pre-medical, and Hotel Administration programs, but it has strong areas of study across its numerous colleges. I majored in Human Development and minored in Educational Studies. I loved the large majority of courses I took at Cornell and believe that many courses are set up to be thought-provoking and informative to students. I do believe that Cornell could place a greater emphasis on its recently dissolved Education Department, but I am pleased with Cornells academic support overall. VT: How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Michael:Cornell helps freshmen to connect with each other by placing them all in close proximity to each other on North Campus, thus facilitating relationships through joint dorms, dining halls, and community centers. But, you have to be proactive in meeting people at Cornell (as at any other school). Greek life is relatively popular at Cornell, but it is not the only source of campus social life, especially for upperclassmen that live in Collegetown. VT: How helpful is the Career Centerand other student support services?Do many reputable companies recruit on campus? Michael:On-campus recruiting is extremely popular at Cornell, especially for engineering and other technical positions. Big companies like Goldman Sachs, Teach for America, IBM, and Google consistently have representatives coming to recruit Cornell students to work for them after graduation. The student services vary in their helpfulness, but the University Career Center in Barnes Hall is known to be one of the better sources. VT: How are the various study areas such aslibraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Are they over-crowded, easily available, spacious? Michael:There are at least 15 different libraries at Cornell that vary in size and specialty (e.g. Law School Library, ILR Library), so there is always an available place to study on campus! All of the West Campus dorms also have their own study lounges that are usually available. Not that many people study in the student union (RPCC), but I believe there is some study space in the building. VT: Describe the surrounding town. What kinds of outside establishments / things to do are there that make it fun, boring, or somewhere in between?To what extent do students go to the downtown area of the city versus staying near campus? Michael:Ithaca is a suburban town that is often referred to be as being crunchy because of its highly liberal population and its inclination toward organic food and other progressive reforms. There is an eclectic mix of restaurants in Collegetown and Downtown Ithaca, in addition to some bars. Most Cornell students stay near campus or Collegetown when eating and going out at night, but there are things to do in Downtown Ithaca if you want to drive or take the bus. VT: How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Michael:I believe there are about 10,000 undergrads at Cornell, which I think is a good number because it is not too big and not too small. Class sizes greatly varied depending on the course subject and what grade the class was geared toward. My Introductory Psychology course had around 800 students! But, most of my upper-level courses in my major had between 15 and 40 students. VT: Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one youregretthe most. Michael: I remember in my Biopsychology class when the professor had all 150 or so students stand up and form a chain holding hands around the auditorium to represent how an electric impulse travels along a neuron. I will never forget how a neuron works thanks to that demonstration! Check out Michaels tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

The Top 10 Skills for a Successful 21st Century Worker - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / The Top 10 Skills for a Successful 21st Century Worker - Introvert Whisperer The Top 10 Skills for a Successful 21st Century Worker Abstract Are you trying to make a mark in your professional life but despite all your efforts are not able to get the desirable results? Read on to find out which skills are necessary for you to have a thriving career! Content The competition has become tougher than before in the job market thanks to the increasing population and depleting resources. Another factor is the advancement of technology that has undoubtedly taken a lot of burden from the human beings but because of it, many human skills have now become unnecessary and obsolete. To be at the top in the 21st century, one needs to be better than the rest and possess such a set of skills and talent that increase his overall worth. The University of Phoenix has presented an interesting compilation of skills which are remarked as being essential both for successful workers and successful learners. These skills are:

An introverts guide to preparing for a meeting - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / An introvert’s guide to preparing for a meeting - Introvert Whisperer An introvert’s guide to preparing for a meeting Oh no, another meeting?! Your colleagues may be the loveliest people, but as an introvert the idea of rounding them all up at once for a group chat probably feels both unpleasant and unproductive. You do your best work on your own or one-on-one; a meeting is just a chance to get your ideas drowned out by more persistent voices and waste precious minutes away from your desk. Right? It needn’t be that way. Maybe you’ll never fall in love with the meeting process, but so long as meetings remain a part of office life you may as well learn how to get the most from them â€" even if your skill set is better matched to more intimate scenarios. The key, as an introvert, is that you can turn your research and preparation skills to your advantage while your friends and rivals wait for the chance to put their quick wit and overbearing voices into action. Get hold of the agenda a couple of days in advance and look deeper into any aspects that you feel need further research. Print and annotate the agenda with your thoughts to use as a cue in the meeting. Knowing the ins and outs of the subject in advance not only gives you a chance to respond on your own terms (as the meeting room can be a bit busy to think) but also to speak confidently in the awareness you’ve got the facts at your fingertips. On the day, avoid caffeine â€" which may actually over-stimulate your mind â€" and concentrate on relaxing instead. Roll up early to the conference room, since chatting with colleagues face to face before the meeting starts can make it easier to speak up once all eyes are on you. Feeling better-equipped? This new infographic from On Stride Financial contains full instructions on what to do once that meeting begins â€" and how your personal post-meeting debrief can help you move ahead to future meetings with assurance.

3 Fun Rhythm Guitar Patterns So You Can Learn to Sing and Play

3 Fun Rhythm Guitar Patterns So You Can Learn to Sing and Play Megan L. Mastering a few basic rhythm guitar patterns is key to learning how to sing and play guitar at the same time. Follow this guide from guitar teacher Andy T.  and youll be strumming like a boss in no time Singing and playing guitar at the same time is one of the most challenging things that  a musician can do. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your stomach, only ten times more  difficult. Today, we are going to look at three easy and hip rhythm guitar patterns that you can use  to get started. For the purposes of this article, we are going to use a guitar as the example instrument.  However, with a little creativity, these rhythmic patterns can be converted to piano, ukulele,  banjo, or any other chordal instrument. Each rhythm guitar pattern is notated using slash notation  and is accompanied by an audio clip. Above each beat, you will see either of these two symbols: a downstroke or an upstroke . These symbols refer to downstrokes and  upstrokes, respectively. Don’t forget to play the rests! In other words, any time you see a rest,  go ahead and move your strumming hand over the strings like you’re strumming, but don’t  actually touch the strings. This will keep your hand in sync so that you are strumming down on  downbeats and up on upbeats. You’ll also notice that each pattern has two versions. The only difference between two  versions of the same pattern is where the change in chord takes place. By altering where the  chord change takes place, you can significantly change the feel of each pattern. Pattern #1 This is one of the most common types of strumming patterns and is a good start to getting a  song under your fingers. The trick to nailing this progression is remembering to start the  second group of notes on an upstroke, so that you can smoothly land the downstroke on the  downbeat of the next measure. Strumming Pattern 1A: document.createElement('audio'); /blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/StrummingPattern1A.mp3 Strumming Pattern 1B: /blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/StrummingPattern1B1.mp3 Pattern #2 Take note that this pattern is swung by observing this notation: This means that all  upbeats are shifted from perfectly in between each downbeat, to about 2/3 after each  downbeat (or 1/3 before each downbeat, depending on your perspective). While difficult to  explain in words, hearing and feeling a swing rhythm is much easier. Just imagine the sound  of a train clunking along the tracks, or your car’s tires as you drive over a bridge, or a pair of  boots or high heels walking around on a hard surface. You’ll notice this kind of strumming  when listening to artists like Jack Johnson. Strumming Pattern 2A: /blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/StrummingPattern2A.mp3 Strumming Pattern 2B: /blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/StrummingPattern2B.mp3 Pattern #3 This is one of my favorite patterns, especially the second version with the quicker chord  changes. That’s because the chord change happens on the last beat of the second measure,  as opposed to the first beat of the third. It’s that unexpected (and early) change that makes  this so groovy. This pattern and its variations are frequently used by artists like John  Mayer. Strumming Pattern 3A: /blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/StrummingPattern3A.mp3 Strumming Pattern 3B: /blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/StrummingPattern3B.mp3 Practicing These are three fun, easy strumming patterns to get you started. Before you go, let’s talk a  little bit about the best way to practice these: Slowly. Start by playing much more slowly than  you think you need to. Make sure that you have the pattern looped smoothly before increasing  the tempo. Despite popular logic and opinion, it is much harder to play slow than fast. Which  brings me to my next (and last) point: Use a metronome. A good place to start is typically 60  bpm. See if you can loop a chord progression for at least three minutes (the radio ­standard  length for a song) before increasing the tempo. Good luck, and have fun! Get more guitar guidance by studying with a private music teacher. Guitar teachers are available to work with you online via Skype or in-person depending on location and availability. Search for your guitar teacher now! Andy T. teaches in-person guitar, performance and songwriting lessons in Austin, TX. He has a degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin and has been teaching private guitar lessons for 6 years. Learn more about Andy here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by  Mathias Miranda

4 Rules for Improving Academic Performance

4 Rules for Improving Academic Performance Improving Academic Performance Based on our work with students every day and in our review of the research on academic performance (and really, any type of performance), we’d encourage anyone wrestling with doing better in school, preparing for a standardized test, obtaining admission to college, graduate school, or business school, to follow four simple rules. This article will describe these four rules, and also provide links to easy-to-read books that explore each in much more detail. At the end of the article, we’ll offer a brief summary of how these rules work together to improve academic performance. Rule #1: Adopt a growth oriented, ownership mindset It turns out that what we believe about the nature of intelligence, ability, or even personality traits can literally determine how successful we’ll be in a variety of areas. Why? Because, some beliefs dramatically increase your ability to learn, improve, and take ownership over your education, while others prevent you from even trying to learn new or difficult things, let alone actually learning enough to excel at them. A belief that you can improve, that you “own” your education, leads to extremely high levels of “grit” and the drive to persist when you are struggling. So, your mindset matters â€" a lot. Adopting the growth mindset is critical. It’s a foundational concept and the absolute key to improving and excelling at anything. It unlocks your ability and your willingness to follow the rules we’ll be discussing next. The growth mindset theory was developed by Dr. Carol Dweck, a Stanford Psychologist who, for years, has been studying the impact of mindset on performance and success in a wide range of age groups. She identified two basic mindsets: fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset tend to think their abilities, personalities, and intelligence is given at birth, and can’t be changed. They may tend to avoid activities at which they fear they’ll fail, since this will expose a lack of ability which of course, can’t be changed. People with a growth mindset believe that abilities and talents are built up over time through hard work, persistence, and feedback.They believe, accurately, that the brain is a muscle that can be improved and built to “grow” through exercises that make it strain, but ultimately get bigger and better. To learn more about rule #1, consider reading these books: Rule #2: Build the right skills deliberately It turns out that words and concepts such as natural intelligence, talent, and ability, don’t really mean what many of us tend to think they mean. Instead of having, say, mostly to do with your DNA and “natural gifts,” they arise from intense, highly focused, and high quantities of practice. But, that practice must be performed in specific ways that build skill. This literally means that Mozart and Albert Einstein may not have had fundamentally different mental capacities than your or me -they just completed far more deliberate practice in their areas of expertise. So, you might have a growth mindset, and you might have a lot of grit. But, you may not build academic skills all that efficiently or effectively if you aren’t studying in very specific, scientifically proven ways. Rule #2 is all about an incredibly powerful concept called deliberate practice, which research suggests is the key determinate of whether someone can become an expert at something or achieve high levels of performance. It requires intense practice for reasonable (not that long) periods of time, with high levels of focus and lots of mistakes with immediate feedback. If you are practicing deliberately, you are focusing on the building blocks of the skills you are trying to build, pushing yourself beyond your limits, and ultimately creating new mental pathways in your brain that build skill over time. This rule also requires that you are employing a strategy, and that you’ve determined what skills you need to build in the first place (see rule #4). In other words, when it comes to practicing or studying, both the quantity and quality matter. The more deliberate your study or practice habits, the higher the quality. To learn more, read these books â€" Rule #3 Fuel your body and mind Athletes pay close attention to their bodies, but the rest of us, and even those involved in highly academic or intellectual tasks that require lots of brain function, tend not to. Rule #3 is about recognizing and adopting some powerful but very simple rules about nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress. Studies repeatedly show positive correlations between eating right, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep and academic performance. It’s easy to roll your eyes a bit at this, as it seems obvious. But, the problem is that many of us don’t actually come very close to eating right, exercising regularly, or getting enough sleep! We just don’t. Here’s what it would mean to follow this rule: Eat right â€" 5-6 smaller meals a day, balanced mix of carbs, lean protein, and fats with every meal, basically no refined sugar, and very little to no saturated fat Exercise regularly - 30 minutes of some sort of physical activity every day (brisk walking), with at least 2-3 days of moderate physical activity that includes some amount of resistance training Get enough sleep â€" ~ 8 hours for kids, and at least 6 hours for adults And, there’s one other element of rule #3 that we need to address: having a healthy mind. Just because you have no major or minor diagnosed mental health disorder, doesn’t mean you have a completely healthy mind. If school, sports, or social situations tend to make you nervous and highly stressed, your performance suffers. You’ve probably heard that the right amount of stress is a good thing, but too little or too much stress is a bad thing. The idea is that if you are too care free, you may let important tasks fall through the cracks, and end up dropping the ball on that big school project. At the same time, if you are extremely nervous about performing poorly and get really worked up before a big test, you might find yourself having a lot of trouble concentrating or thinking clearly. Too little stress or too much stress is bad, but the right amount of “stress” can lead to clear thinking, appropriate focus, and an extremely helpful sense of calm and confidence that allows you to execute on test day or deliver a great presentation in school or at work. How do you go about improving the health of your mind? One painfully obvious way to do this is to prepare in advance. So many students are stressed out before big tests, but a large proportion of those students also didn’t practice or prepare as much as they could have. On test day, not only do you know less of the material because you haven’t practiced, but your confidence level is lower, and your stress level is higher. It’s a vicious cycle. So, practicing and preparation not only build knowledge and skills, but they naturally increase confidence and reduce stress. But, the more interesting, and less well known, approach to reducing stress is to practice something called mindfulness. What’s mindfulness? Practicing mindfulness is new to most people. The following is borrowed from Joshua David O’Brien, founder of the Mindfulness Community of Central Pennsylvania. “Mindfulness Meditation is a practice of being fully and attentively present in the moment…in formal practice we use the breath as an object of awareness. We follow the physical sensations of the breath as it flows in and out of the body…one of the first things we learn when we try to do this practice is how easily distracted the mind can be. All sorts of thoughts, ideas, feelings, and sensations call for our attention and we find we’ve forgotten all about the breath. When we realize we’ve been distracted, the appropriate response is to simply return to awareness of the breath with kindness, gentleness, patience, and a little dose of curiosity about ourselves…as with any new skill, this becomes a little easier each time and develops best if we set aside any self-conscious judgments or expectations about how our meditation is developing. The practice is to simply relax and wake up to the awareness of what is happening in the present.” One particular University of London study showed that chronic stress negatively impacts your memory, problem solving abilities, ability to concentrate, and in general, your ability to learn new things. Luckily, over 250 studies have shown that mindfulness effectively reduces stress and anxiety. In some cases, it’s as effective as prescription medications. For an easy to read, practical guide to being more mindful to reduce stress, read â€" Rule #4: Develop and employ specific strategies To truly achieve high levels of performance in general, you should actively apply all or most of the above rules. However, rule #4 is critical to achieve specific results in any given area. It may seem obvious, but if you don’t set specific goals, understand exactly what is required to reach them, and develop clear plans for what you will and will not do to achieve the goal, you’ll be much less successful than people that do these things. Setting goals, researching what is required to reach those goals, and developing specific plans that lay out what you will or will not do, is the essenece of developing a strategy. As we’ve learned before, research shows that successful people aren’t smarter, or harder workers. They tend to focus on the ability to improve (growth mindset), which makes them grittier, and when they practice, the do so deliberately. However, what they also tend to do is think more strategically about what they’re doing in school, business, and life. They set goals, focus on the process of improving, and think positively, but realistically, about being successful, so that they can uncover and address roadblocks. What do all of these statements mean for a student? A student functioning strategically would, for example, start thinking about college early in high school. He would make choices about classes and activities that result in the type of resume required for admission into his desired colleges. In any specific class, he’d carefully read the syllabus, understand how the final grade was to be determined, and take advantage of extra credit, participation, or office hours to maximize his point total and grade. These steps aren’t rocket science, but they do require planning and foresight. To learn more about being strategic to be more successful, read â€" Quick Summary As you may have already guessed, many of these rules are linked, and complementary. To use a business term, there are synergies to following all of the rules at once. In other words, I suspect you’ll get more out of each of the rules by following them all, i.e., 1+1+1+1 = 5 or 6, not 4, when it comes to these rules. But, let’s assume not all of this resonates with you. You just don’t believe each of the four rules really matters. Of course, I'd encourage you to do some research, because there really is a lot of evidence to support everything written above. And, I'd encourage you to pick and choose what does resonate with you, and try to build a system for improving performance that works for you. After all, the fixed mindset student with poor eating, exercise, and sleep habits who rarely studies will be more successful if he follows specific strategies!

AP Tests European Degrees

AP Tests European Degrees ACT SAT Prep and College Admissions Blog Plenty of students take AP courses as a way to prove to colleges that they are capable of handling exactly the sort of work that universities demand of students. However, while taking the courses themselves is often quite important in admissions decisions at American universities, the scores often matter more for the purpose of getting advanced credit. Therefore, for many students, the difference between a 4 and a 5, depending on the university that he or she ultimately ends up attending, is not that vast. In Europe, things are very different, as subject-specific exams like AP tests often make up the entire rationale for a decision by an admissions committee to accept or refuse an applicant. After all, European universities base their decisions on academics, meaning that factors like sports, extracurricular activities, jobs, or other attributes have little, if any, impact on whether or not a student is accepted. To understand why this is, it is useful to first understand a bit more about how European universities work. Most obviously, European degrees tend to take only three years, as opposed to four (though some Scottish and Irish universities are the exception). Similarly, European universities typically focus their degree studies within one or two fields. In the United States, if someone wants to study economics, she typically takes between a quarter and a third of her courses in economics, another quarter or third in general education requirements, and the rest as electives or towards a minor or second major. In Europe, upwards of 85% of a student’s courses are taken in the major area, with relatively little room for electives, much less another area of study. Because of this, European degrees expect applicants to be passionate about a field of study and to have also already learned the basics. A chemistry lecture in the UK or Germany for chemistry degree students will not waste time going over the basics of the periodic table, as is often the case in the United States; students are already assumed to know the difference between atomic mass and atomic number. That need to demonstrate passion is where the personal statement and letter of recommendation come through; notice that both of those are singular, as European admissions offices rarely require, or even permit, more than one of each. So what does that mean for AP students? First and foremost, if a student is already taking a number of AP classes, she is already on the way to being a competitive candidate for studying overseas. However, taking the class is not enough. Instead, it is important to do well on the tests in question, as those are what ultimately will help universities evaluate whether or not a student is up to the required standard. Just as in the United States, different universities have different AP requirements; Oxford and Cambridge expect their applicants to get fives, while less famous universities are happy to admit students with threes. As a result, students who want to apply to top European universities should be prepared to focus their efforts on tests that they expect to do really well on; for those students who genuinely enjoy their subjects of choice, this could be especially fulfilling. Additionally, the subject of the AP tests matters immensely. Students interested in studying English literature should expect to do well on AP English Literature, AP English Language, and one other related class. Good choices would be an AP History class, an AP foreign language class, or AP Art History. AP Calculus BC would likely be wasted on an English admissions committee. On the other hand, it would be of great interest to someone wanting to study science, engineering, or even economics. In fact, many medicine programs (which is an undergraduate degree in the UK) require AP Chemistry and AP Calculus, leaving the other option open between Physics and Biology. In the end, the effort required to get the appropriate scores to study in Europe can be substantial, but ultimately it is often a smaller headache than balancing many of the other factors that weigh on students applying to American universities. For students who know what they want to study and show considerable passion, it can be a great way to spend high school focused on learning more about what he or she thinks is interesting rather than attempting to meet an admissions committee’s idea of the perfect applicant. About the Author Kevin Newton is the owner of An Education Abroad, a company that helps students who are interested in earning degrees around the world. To learn more, visitwww.aneducationabroad.com.

Four bad reasons to transfer Universities

Four bad reasons to transfer Universities A third of university students will transfer courses, or universities at least one time during their undergraduate years, according However, while there are plenty of viable reasons to transfer, doing so is not always the right move. Let's count down the top four reasons to stay the course... 1. You're Homesick Approximately 16 percent of transfer students switch universities before returning for a second term, according to further figures from the NSCRC. A common reason? Because they miss home. Unfortunately, homesickness is a very real part of the university experience, but the only way past it is through it. When you start to feel homesick, revisit the reasons why you left home and went to uni. Will switching universities offer a permanent solution, or just a temporary fix? Also, don't forget that there are plenty of ways to feel connected with loved ones back home thanks to modern technology. Phone calls, video chats, and text messages help bridge the distance without necessitating a move. 2. You're Not Making Friends Developing meaningful friendships takes time. Rather than throwing up your hands and starting somewhere new where the same set of challenges are sure to await, commit to establishing a social network on campus. Student clubs, study groups, and intramural sports teams offer the chance to connect with like-minded classmates. And remember: many of your fellow students are facing the same set of challenges. Your efforts in reaching out may deliver a valuable lifeline to another struggling student. 3. Your Classes Are Too Hard (or Too Easy) Establishing a study schedule and getting a grasp on college-level expectations takes time. If your classes are beyond your capabilities -- or if your capabilities are beyond your classes -- transferring isn't your only recourse. Instead, re-evaluate your course load. Could you be taking different or fewer classes? Are there independent study opportunities which might be more appropriate? Your academic advisor can offer valuable insights into finding coursework at your ideal academic level, please speak to student support. And remember, while you may initially have to endure dreaded prerequisites, a world of new possibilities opens up once they are completed. 4. You Had One Negative Experience It's easy to let a single negative event or interaction early on in your academic tenure set the tone for your entire experience. However, bad room-mates, difficult professors, and academic stress are part of campus life. Rather than characterising what could be an otherwise phenomenal four years according to one less-than-ideal experience, commit to rise above and persevere. Running away from a problem is not a solution, and will not help you grow as a person. Instead, learn what you can from the experience and move on with your head held high. In some cases, transferring is absolutely a smart decision: for example, if your current university doesn't have your major or if financial constraints become a factor. However, because of the significance of the decision, it's essential to make sure you have the right reasons before calling it quits.