Midterms. They’re here and they’re here to stay. That means it’s time to buckle down and slog through the tons of notes we’ve taken so far. Luckily, there are a few ways you can spice up your notes so that studying isn’t absolutely unbearable.

1. Write “da” instead of “the”. It’s one letter shorter and it’s way cooler, always. For example, “da chain of events”, “da GDP deflator” and “da democratic threshold”.  If you can work “Fo-shizzle” in somewhere you’ve notes will be off da chain.

2. Always use pink highlighter because pink is the happiest color of all time. That is if you can’t get your hands on a pink scented paper. Don’t you think it just adds a little something extra?

3. Use curse words as much as possible. They’re totally out of place when you’re discussing serious or dry topics but we’re all immature so that’s what makes them so funny, especially in a History or English class. If there’s a character or historical figure that really grinds your gears, it’s fun to call them names.

4. Write down all of the questions you were embarrassed to ask in class (or the ones that were just rhetorical jokes for yourself). You can look them up later, ask about them during your professor’s office hours or sometimes they can just provide you with a good laugh. I like to call them my biggest (internal) questions of the day: “there’s a place called Chihuahua?”, “why are all of the words on this continuum sideways?”, “why can’t our eyes turn sideways? That would be awesome!”, “why am I here?”, “where am I?”

5. Smilies are a must. I do happy faces for anything positive and sad faces for anything negative. I also do lots of confused faces: when I’m feeling particularly confuzzled I draw agape frowns with huge eyes. Smilies are nice because they provide a little companionship. Maybe I should invest in some friends.

6. Include professors’ weird anecdotes about their lives. They’re often amusing and they can help you remember topics that you wouldn’t have normally.

7. Draw! Graphs are boring, but not when you draw roller coasters and long-necked dinosaurs onto them. Camels are particularly fun to work into sine graphs on hump day.

8. Action movies are more fun than note-taking so make note-taking more like an action movie! Use words like “Kaboom!” and “Pow!” even if what you’re learning doesn’t warrant that much excitement. Also, all caps reminders with tons of stars are a great way to get your attention later. Toss in some of that pink highlighter I mentioned earlier.

9. Arrows! Lots of them! They can relate topics, draw emphasis, and show cause and effect. There are straight arrows, squiggly arrows, loopy arrows, colored arrows, the possibilities are endless!

The whole idea is to lighten the mood and make you smile at least once while you’re reviewing the Ontological Argument. So don’t worry, be happy, and you’re welcome.