The beginning of Summer! :)

Hello everybody! :)

Finally, my first year at this department ended and it is the beginning of summer!! :)

I feel relief and completely happy, even though my GPA is not completely apparent. However, i hope that it will be enough to go Erasmus and in this situation, this is enough for me, too. To be honest, this year was not very easy for me. Because, I really didn't like some classes that I had to take and also the education system of some classes were not completely favorable to me. As a result, I couldn't stop asking questions about the system, about the classes and also about the department. And to be honest, I was thinking to change my department, for a while. However, I couldn't :D Because it is my DREAM JOB and it is not an easy decision to change it.

As a result, I really had some psychological problems at the end of the semester, because I wasn't happy. AND IT WAS A VERY BIG PROBLEM! I think, if I could only accept the situation that I had to be in it and could ask less questions about everything, I would be happier and probably more successful. However, I couldn't do that and because of that, I couldn't study enough for nothing but my German Literature Class :D I'm very very proud about my AA grade from this class and my Physics grade makes me also very happy :D But I can't say that for my Biology grade :D Even though, I haven't known my actual grade yet, I think that it won't be so nice. BUT DON'T BE AFRAID, I'M REALLY IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT :D

I think, in this very first year, I learned a lot about the university, about the department and about how I should study for my classes etc. It was an adaptation year and I hope the next one will be better than this one :)

And now, LET THE SUMMER BEGIN! :) And here is the song for that : Summer!

SEE YOU SOON :)

LOVE YOU! :)

Last Month of 2016 🎄🎁

Hello everyone :)

We are at the end of a huge year and I'm really excited about the next one!

However, I believe that if you don't write a summary of a year, you cannot be prepared for the next one as much as you need! Because, it is obvious that people like to see and read what they could do and what they achieved in last year before they say "GOOD BYE!" to that and they can actually feel stronger when they see that they can do what ever they want if they want it ENOUGH!

And it works for me,too! As a result, here is my summary of 2016! :)

To be honest, this year was a productive year for me. I gained new skills and new hobbies, I got new friends and met a lot of perfect people in different parts of the year.

At the beginning of this year, I was in prep class and all I need to study was English! As a result, I could gain different skills during a semester. I had enough time to do something new! So, I could be an active member of our debate society! :) I could attend 6 or 7 tournaments and during these tournaments I met a lot of different people from different universities and got a lot of amazing friends! :)

In addition to that, I learned C and C++ Programming in this year. I joined in a class in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and I spent my free time to learn something new about computational biology! :) It was really entertaining and made a lot of fun! In addition, at the end of the semester, I made a project about protein interactions in different species and I learned so much about how should I prepare a project! It was perfect for me!

After that, I passed my proficiency test successfully! And this was very important for me, too ; because I really couldn't write or talk English more than some easy sentences! As a result, it is a success for me,too! :) And just before the test, we went our summer house in Bozcaada with my family for 4 days! :) It was a crazy and unplanned trip! However, it was completely amazing and relaxing!:)

After the second semester, my summer holiday was enough perfect for me,too. At the beginning, we organized a debate tournament in our Kilyos Campus (it is near the sea and perfect for a summer holiday!). It was really amazing and we spent great time together! :) After that, I went to Şile with my family to my uncles summer house! I was with my cousins and it was great,too.

In addition to that, I spent a lot of time with my best friends from my high school, because during the semester they weren't in Istanbul. One of them was in Germany, one of them was in Ankara and the other one was in Istanbul but we couldn't spend much time together because of our businesses! :D As a result, summer was a great opportunity for spending time together :)

At the beginning of this summer, we planned with my boyfriend to go on a vacation, However, we couldn't go :( Because his aunt and my brother got married in this summer! But we made some double dating stuffs with our friends, planned different things and could spend our summer holiday together perfect,too :D <3 :)

In addition to that, in summer I tried to join a Neurobiology Lab in Bahçeşehir University an for this purpose I made some very serious conversation first time in my life with different people. It was a successful meeting but the laboratory couldn't be opened, so I couldn't join to lab but; especially in this semester, I learned a lot from the professor in Bahçeşehir University. So, being able to meet him was a opportunity,too.

At the end of the summer, I made my very first class program in this year and it was completely excited! :D Even though, I didn't have any elective courses, it was something new :D

And than, this semester has begun!

To be honest, this semester was not perfect as I expected before, because the stuffs we learned were not very interesting as I wrote in another post and as a first year student, they were not easy,too!! As a result, I got some problems psychologically :( But I'm better now! :)

Besides the classes, I learned to play Bridge and joined the Bridge Club in this year and I found it really joyful! At the beginning, I just wanted to try how it works because my boyfriend loves this game! :) But now, I really love it,too. It's like chess with cards and makes me feel clever :D In addition, I believe it will be good for my CV and PhD application for universities in different countries in the future :)

As a success in this semester, I can say my lab attendance,too! In January, I'll begin to work in our "Cancer and Cell Regulation" Lab in our university and as a first year student, it is really an amazing chance for me!!! I'm very excited about that :)

So, this is my 2016! :) Of course I had bad things during the year,too.We all had them. But these are not important and talking about the good stuffs is always better! :)

I hope 2017 will be great as much as 2016 for all of us :)

Actually, writing all theses things makes me feel really better and you should try that,too! :) It is a good way to say good bye to 2016 :) LET'S TRY IT! :) MAKE YOUR OWN SUMMARY WITH PHOTOS :)

HAVE A NICE LAST MONTH :) <3

LOVE YOU! :) <3



Kumsal

Turning Back Post! (Midterms Everywhere! :D)

Hello everyone!

I wasn't here about a month!
So, I have a lot to say about! :) Let's begin!

First of all, the last two weeks were my Midterm-Weeks (OMG!).. And I had Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics Midterms!
As you can understand,  I was completely excited about my VERY FIRST Midterms at the collage and to be honest, they were not as good as I expected before!
I think this is because that I chose a wrong study plan for the exams! Especially for Chemistry, it was a disaster, I thought that I would be able to remember the topics which I learned in high school and as a result, I didn't study much! On the other hand, I can say: "I couldn't study very well!" because on the same day I had Biology exam,too. As a Molecular Biology student, I preferred to study Biology -_- . However, it is not a valid excuse, because I had to learn and study for all the subjects not only the LAST day, but also planned and regularly!


So, in the end I've learned that University is not like high school. Honestly, REALLY NOT!!
Especially, I could see it yesterday very clearly.
Our last midterm was Physics and to be honest, I study for Physics not bad! I knew all the topics, I followed almost all the classes and took notes, and I solve the problems which are suggested by our professors. However, as you can expected, the questions in the exam were not the same with them! :D As a result, it was a disaster for me! -_- However, it won't be so bad next time!
Because I will change my study habits completely!

I don't want to say "I'll always study daily and I won't do anything else!"! OF COURSE NOT! However, I decided to choose 2 or 3 days for me to study all the topics that I learn in a week and as a result, I won't be behind the classes and I'll have 4 more days for me and my social program in a week :)

I hope that I can do it and I hope it will work as I expect, too! :)

So, one of my next posts will be about my 'exam - lecture - study days' planning! :)

Till next time! :)
Take care of you!

LOVE YOU <3

Kumsal

What Should You Do, If You Feel Depressed?

Hello everyone!

It has been a long week for me. And as you can understand from the title, I was feeling completely depressed and miserable.
To be honest, I don't know why I felt like that, however, it wasn't so easy to solve my problem.

But of course, first of all, I have to explain what my problem was, to you.
So, I believe that there were some days in your lives that you can't figure out what do you really want and for what purpose you study and struggle. These 2 or 3 days were like that for me.

I know that I'm at the beginning of my university education.
However, this department "MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS" has been my dream for almost 5 years. And I gave up different kind of things for this purpose during my life time. So, I was expecting that everything will be amazing! I don't try to say : easy! No! Not easy but different from high school. I don't know, maybe it is just because that I'm in my first semester at the university, but I really don't like much the classes that I have to get. What I mean is:  I get this semester :

Physics,
Physics Lab,
Chemistry
Chemistry Lab,
Mathematics,
Biology 101,
And Biology 111 (in which we discuss about the scientist and their researches who gain Nobel Price)

I know that if I want be a scientist - a good one - I have to know about every type of science. It is okay and I believe that so! As a result, I study for maths, physics and chemistry, too. But the problem that I have is about the biology classes! When I chose this department, I believed that biology classes would be different from the high school. I just thought that we wouldn't just memorize things and wouldn't learn just from different Power Point Presentations like in  high school. I don't know is that just because the first semester or not, but it is disgusting! I always study for maths and physics, and I don't really learn anything in my biology classes!!!
I HATE THAT! Because I love BIOLOGY so much and I really want to do something new in the future! But how can it be possible in this way? :S

I don't try to say that all my classes so easy etc.. NO! They are not easy. On the contrary, I really feel that I have to study all week to get a high GPA. But for what purpose?
And in addition to that, I don't believe that's because the topics in biology, too. Yes, I learned about these topics in high school and read a lot about them. However, it is not important. I didn't choose this department when I don't want to learn about these things more and more times! That was what I want actually!! I just wanted to learn about the topics that I knew before but in a different way. I hoped this time will be more complicated and not just memorizing or something! I JUST WANTED TO LEARN! Theoretically and Practically, too.

But it is not like that. I feel for the first time in my life, bored in biology classes. Because I can read all these stuffs at home from a Power Point Presentation. It is not very hard, isn't it?

So, that's my problem! Because I am afraid of what if it will be like that in the topics that I didn't know before?! I don't want to learn Biology in this way! It doesn't seem right and this way cannot help me to improve myself in the way that I planned for my future. Because of that I fell into depression.
I don't know is it abnormal or not but I felt that my dream never comes real because it doesn't even exist! (I don't know how could I say that but I said) I believed that I didn't like my department and all these things are because of that. And if you believe that your dream is not for you actually: That brings depression!

However, it is of course not true! Biology is my hobby, dream etc. And I can't give up my dream just because that I didn't like the teaching ways of it! MEH! And I believe I'm not alone!

So, as a result, I found a solution for myself! However, to be honest, it wasn't so easy! I talked with a lot of friends of mine to understand what I want and what makes me unhappy. And during this period, I lost my control a little bit. However. luckily I wasn't alone during this time and especially my boyfriend talked with me seriously to help me finding my way!

So, I'm okay now! If I didn't like the way of teaching Biology in this year, I'll teach and learn myself! I can do it!
Here are my solutions:

1) Of course I don't give up studying for my classes. Because I need a high GPA, too.

2) But in the same period , I will learn and study for cancer biology by myself!

3) I wrote e-mails two different professors in my department who study for cancer biology to ask help from them. After I talk and discuss with them, I will make a program for myself to read and study different things.

4) In addition to that, I'm trying to take part in a lab in my university. If I can join a cancer lab, it will be completely perfect for me, because I believe that I can learn a lot of different thing especially in a practical way. So, it will be perfect, I hope.

5) After my first Mid-Terms (in 20 days) I will look a summer internship in a lab for myself. I will prepare a CV and send it to different companies and labs! But for doing this I have to learn how can I prepare a good CV. So, after I make a search for that, I will share the tips with you.too.

6) I will take time for my hobbies to be relief! And I'm serious for that because I understand -in these 3 weeks- academic career means making stress and always trying to be successful! So, I need a way to calm myself to keep going! If I don't feel well psychologically , I cannot study enough and I cannot concentrate on my business. So, I need my hobbies and actually I really don't want to give up from them :) Who wants? :)

So, my next post will be about my hobbies and why they make me relief :)

See you soon, and thanks for reading! :)

LOVE YOU <3

Useful Apps For Students :)

Hello everyone! :)

My first week at the collage has gone! :) And honestly, I can say that it wasn't as easy as I thought before.
I believed that I won't need to study at least in the first week but no! I studied everyday and I had to do that because if I didn't, I couldn't control all the stuff that I have to learn!
So, it was a kind of tiring week but not very bad :)

After a summary of this week, let's talk about the apps I use :)!

Firstly, I want to introduce you : SCRIBD! 
Scribd is the world's biggest online library that all the students can use and reach via an App. In this library, I can find all the documents and books about my classes and I believe that you can find everything about any kind of stuff! :) In addition, it can be used for all papers and homeworks at the collage easily. And, it is free!

Second App I want to talk about is : MATHWAY!
Mathway is an App which can be used for all mathematical problems and algebras in Math Classes! It can solve a lot of problem step by step for you and show all the formulas that we have to remember all the time in Math Classes! So, especially the students who get a scientific education can use this app all the time and everywhere! Take a look at it!

Next App is a time controller in a different way: FOREST!
Maybe, you've heard about Forest but I want to explain it, too. Because it is the App which I use the most! Forest, as I told before, is a time controller App but it is more useful than others, I think.
The App gives you a little place to built your own forest and if you want to have trees you have to study in particular times. For example, if you study for 30 minutes you can get a little tree for your forest but you have to do nothing with your phone during these 30 minutes. Because, if you close the App it stops and you have to begin from the start! So, you can't do anything during this time with your phone and you have to control yourself! It is completely useful! :) Let's create your own forests! :)

The other App I want to explain is : The CRG
If you are in a scientific department at the collage, this App is completely useful for your Chemistry lessons! Because with this App, you can see and study all the chemical reactions that you have to remember for your exams! You can study with that and learn all the reactions every time everywhere!

If you want to learn something different : KHAN ACADEMY
I believe that most of you know about Khan Academy! Normally, it is a website which can be used for learning about every topic online via readings and videos! And this website has an App now, too. So you can read all the stuff that you want to know about and follow different lessons with your mobile phone! Try it! It is completely useful! :)

The last App I use very often is: PL@ANTNET
As you can see on its name, it is a biology App which can be used by every biologist and molecular biologist! By using this App, I can learn everything about all the plants around me! What I mean is, I take a picture of a plant that I see in the road and search on this App's database. And than, it shows me the latin name of this plant and everything technically about it! I really love this App, Because after I started to use it, I've learned very interesting things about a lot of different plants! :) So you can try it even if you just want to read about your flowers in your house! :)


Yes, this is the end of my post but the beginning of a new week! :) I hope that your week will completely perfect for you!! :)

I will share you what I plan for this week in my next post! :) So, see you then!

LOVE YOU <3

First Day At the University!

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was my first day at the college and it was completely awesome! :)
Actually, I was a little bit nervous because that was the first time that I listen everything in English during a class.
In addition to that, my first class was Physics! Completely HORROR for me!
However, to be honest, It wasn't so bad. In fact, It was interesting in some ways :)

First of all, I felt amazing, when I came to class. There were a lot of people who are the same department with me! :) And I really liked them :)
That's cool, because I was nervous about that,too : What if I wouldn't like my classmates?! But, they were actually very cool! I liked them! :) <3

During the class, I took my notes in English and taking English notes was not horrible as much as I expect! Yeah, sometimes I couldn't understand every words that the professor said, but not important! I understood the topic!

After the class, I bought my first university book from Bookstore : Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics --> Serway/Jawett

I have not viewed in it deeply, yet. But, I rewrote my class notes clearly, after the class.
So, before the exam, I won't have to write study notes again! :) If I can do it daily during the semester, it will be perfect and completely easy for me to study for anything! I hope I can! :)

This post will be a diary for this time. But after that post, as I mentioned before this post, I'll share the useful Apps that I use regularly, with you! :)

So, SEE YOU SOON! :)
Take care of yourselves! :)

LOVE YOU! :) <3

Which Websites Can We Use? :)

Hi everyone! :)

Today I will share with you some websites that we can use during our college time and most of them are really very useful for us :)

Yesterday, I made a huge investigation to find different useful websites that can be helpful for learning something easily or finding something about or for my future tasks at the college.

So, here are the results:

• Google Calendar: I know that you think Google Calendar is a typical online calendar that everybody can use. But these website, actually, can be very helpful to organize our tasks, meetings, jobs and classes etc. Distinctly from other typical calendars, Google Calendar is completely trusty and it can be synchronized with a lot of different websites and apps which had produces by Google, too. So, it is more useful and more helpful that you think! Look at it for once and try, than you will see the difference :)  

• Wolfram Alpha: Wolfram Alpha is  "a computational knowledge engine" that can calculate  every single basic math problems that you have to solve! Step by step, you can see the solutions of problems and it is very very helpful when you cannot understand something during the class. In addition to that, you can ask and search in different topics like biology, chemistry and astronomy etc.  Here is the link!

• Lynda: Lynda is a perfect website for learning something new from video courses! It is like an extensive video library that can be very effective to learn something and to gain different skills easily. Mostly, you can learn different skills centered around computing and media production. Normally, you have to pay for using the website. However, its free trial is not very short - 10 days- So, you can try and use it for free! :)  Here is it! :)

• Stack Exchange: If you have questions about different topics like biology, chemistry, programming etc. , Stack Exchange can find a great solution for you. This website is a collection of question and answer communities. So, if you have a question, you can find the solution most likely on this website!  Let's Try It! :)

• Sleepyti.me: This website is very simple but can be useful for some of us. Because it uses the sciences of REM cycles to calculate the optimal time that you should go to bed to feel good and well-rested in the morning! :) I like it and want to try during this week! You can try, too. Here!

• Coggle: Coggle is a mind-mapping tool that can be used for learning and teaching something in a clear way. Actually, it is not very easy to explain it with words, so you can watch this short video to understand it easily. And here is the website!

• Cheatography: As you can understand from the name of the website, Cheatography is a website that collects all the cheat sheets about any topic. So, you can find some brief information about your classes and can be useful for other things, too ;) So Let's Try It! :)

So, these are the websites that I find helpful for college in some ways. And most of them have their Apps for mobile phones,too. That means, you can use them easily and regularly if you like and want! 

I hope they will be beneficial for you,too. 

In the next post, I'll share with you some different Apps about studying and biology itself that I always use :) 

Until the next time, Have a nice Week!

See you soon! :)

LOVE YOU <3

Having A Habit Tracker! :)

Hi everyone! :)

I hope, you have a nice weekend! :)
Today I'll share my habit tracker for my first month of college year with you!
But first, what is a habit tracker?

If you're a planned living person like me, I believe that you plan everything in your lives. But I mean really EVERYTHING! For example, besides your homework, tasks and meetings, you also plan your free times and daily habits, too.
What I mean with daily habits are actually very simple things like drinking enough water, reading enough pages everyday and writing a diary regularly etc.

So, a habit tracker helps you to organize your simple and daily needs :) And of course, you can use that for forming a new habit into your lives.

For example, if you want to make yoga for at least 30 minutes everyday. You can write that to your habit tracker.

And than, in a long period of time you can mark the days on which you make yoga 30 minutes or more. So, after a month, you will be able to see and control your steps and you can see how many time you make yoga etc.
For me, it is usually supportive to do what I planned before. Because at the end of the month, I don't want to see what I didn't do. And I feel more comfortable and more proud when I mark something that I did! :)

At the end of the post, you can see how I made my habit tracker and you can search on Pinterest for different ideas,too. I believe you will get inspired! :) So, if you want to form a new habit or only want to organize your daily habits, you can easily use a habit tracker to motivate yourselves!

And here is my own Habit Tracker! :) Let's make one for yourself,too! :) It will surely work!!

Have A Nice Week! :)
See you soon! :)

LOVE YOU <3

What I've Been Planning for My Future? What I've done and will be doing?

As I said in my first post, being a successful molecular biology and genetics student has been  my dream since I began to high school.

Because of that, I've been planning my future for a long time.

Since I decided to be a part of this department, 

*First of all, I learned German and English in high school. Because I've thought if I want to have a successful academic career in the future, I have to be able to speak three or more languages fluently.
As a result, I wish to learn one more language during my university years :)

*After that, I chose a university in which I can learn all subjects in English. Because it is real that English is the most common language for most science departments all around the world. So, all my classes will be in English this year!
Honestly, it is a little bit scary for me, because i never can be completely sure that I'm ready to listen all the things in English all the time. And I always think about, what if I cannot or don't understand something because of English?
So, I hope that I can get used to that in a short span of time. And I also hope, this blog will be useful for my development in English, too.

* In addition to learn different languages, to get a successful academic career I completely believe that I won't be a geek student during these years. So, of co
urse, I have to study for having a great GPA, but GPA is not always enough for being a successful student. On the contrary, I have to improve myself in different areas but classes, too.
For instance, being a member of a club and having different hobbies can work for that. For myself, I chose to be a member of our Debate Society and our Science Club at the university. And I really got a lot of perfect friends and different skills from these clubs :)
In addition to that, reading, photography, cooking and handmade crafting are my hobbies! :) And of course, this blog will be one of them, too :)

*Besides the hobbies and different languages, I believe that extra courses can be useful for getting different experiences,too. Last year I took a course for C, C++ Programming and Graph Theory. Because it is obvious that during and after the college I always need to be able to understand coding and programming for my job. As a result, I tried to learn at least the beginning of coding etc.
That was very helpful but I wish and plan to improve that in this year,too :)
And than, in my country there are some open universities in which students don't have to take classes but learn everything at home from books,video classes etc. and than take exams like other universities to get a GPA.
In this year, I've begun to study "Management" from one of these universities, too. It will be like taking a course for business i think. And after 4 years I can get a second university diploma! Yey!
I wish that it will be useful for my career,too.

After all these things, the first school year of mine begins on this Monday! And I'm very excited! :)

> As a habit, I always live planned, so I bought an agenda for myself and I've been making a study journal for this year.
About this study journal, I will post a different text,too.
So, maybe you like it and want to use it, too.
>And I believe that having a peaceful study place is very important to be successful. So, I bought and did myself different kind of stuffs which make me happy and get concentrated.
(You can see my desk on the picture :) )

In addition to that, I think that different websites, apps, note taking skills and study programs etc. are very helpful for a college year. So, after that post, I will write about

• Useful study types
• Practical apps and websites for students
• Note taking methods
• Having an agenda and study journal
• Having a habit tracker
• Having a peaceful study place and how can we have that
• Different Youtube channels for all kind of sciences (mostly Biology of course)
• Pause and work controllers
• How can we keep important things in our mind easily?  ... etc.

Actually, writing about all these things will be very exciting for me, too. Because I will be learning during these times to :) 

So, we learn and read together, if you want to join me,too ! :)

In addition to these stuffs, naturally I'm going to share different videos and video explanations which I like and find useful, and my class notes, work notes and different papers about everything! :) 

So, we really learn, work, study and read everything together! :)

I wish you will enjoy with me, too :)

See you soon! Bye!

LOVE YOU :) <3

A Journal of A Molecular Biology Student :)

Hello everyone!

My name is Kumsal and I'm a first year Molecular Biology and Genetics student at Bogazici University in Turkey.

I'm 20 years old and I've been working for this since I've begun to high school and now here it is!
I'm very excited to be in this department and to learn new things about biology! And because of that, i want to share everything about that,too.

As a result,

Here is my first text of my online biology journal! :)
I hope that you'll enjoy reading my experiences and the things that I'll learn and I've learned.
I'll share all of my lab experiences, biology and chemistry news all around the world and my study plans everyday.

I hope that you'll enjoy as much as i do! :)

LOVE YOU! <3