• actually study! study the things you love, the things you like, the things you know nothing about — the pursuit of knowledge lasts a lifetime, and there is so much to learn
• visit your professor’s office hours! it always helps to make yourself known to your teachers (i’ve been given grade bumps and had great conversations with my university lecturers)
• avoid and check yourself for the pretension that can often accompany academia — it hurts no one to be kind and mindful
• delve into the realm of philosophy (for starters: metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics) it will broaden your mind
• stay late at your university library studying (if you can do so safely, preferably with a friend). university campuses feel magical in the evening

• wear darker, muted colours
• plaid coats, pants, or skirts
• button-up shirts (Peter Pan collars are a bonus)
• turtlenecks
• tie your hair with a bow
• accessorise! a vintage watch adds sophistication to any outfit. try wearing it with a ring or three
• practice good posture — standing tall creates an air of elegance, confidence, and if paired with the right amount of nonchalance, mystery

films

• dead poets society
• cracks
• the dreamers
• thoroughbreds
• breathless (à bout de souffle)
• cléo from 5 to 7 (cléo de 5 à 7)
• handsome devil

tv shows

• gilmore girls
• chilling adventures of sabrina
• black mirror
• the good place
• the politician

books

• the secret history
• the picture of dorian gray
• the goldfinch
• the line of beauty
• persuasion
• the collected poems of oscar wilde 
• ovid’s metamorphoses

music

• listen to classical music as you sleep/read/study
• you can check out this dark academia playlist for inspiration

• make yourself tea in pretty teacups (you can find plenty in secondhand stores!)
• light candles in your bedroom, and read by candlelight 
• dry flowers for your room/desk
• explore secondhand bookstores for old, pretty editions of novels you may or may not have heard of
• give handwritten letters to your lovers/friends/yourself
• wake up before the sun rises to watch dawn break
• brood during a thunderstorm, and write extravagant, flowery poetry on parchment
• join a secret society
• exist in the real, with your books and art, and your turtlenecks and plaid coats, as a mystery. social media can give too much of you away
• host an unceasing bacchanal for you and your pals

• a new tattoo.
• to be kissed.
• to not be nervous about my future.