How much do you sleep each night?
It’s all about balance. There should be no reason for your anti-social dilemma. Like the “Prof”(hehehehe) said drop your friggin course load. University is an experience which you should enjoy, especially with a BA degree. I applaude you for your hard work, but there’s a difference b/w working hard and working smart, talk to some peers and ask them how they study and cope with the course load, it sounds like your overtraining. Now go tap those kegs…
[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
How much do you sleep each night?[/quote]
What is this sleep you speak of?
[quote]conorh wrote:
You’re bitching about a health studies major? You shouldn’t rag on com. studies majors when you’re major isn’t very rigorous if you remove the chemistry, calc and chem, basically all the stuff you’re saying you’re struggling with. Some would say it’s not too rigorous that stuff included.[/quote]
Well this is where we differ. Though I may have an easier time with anatomy type courses, I still consider them “rigorous” even without the Calc and Chem. And Prof., I do appreciate your post, but I do in fact want to learn this material. Being interesting does not make it any easier
The Prof X is right about taking as long as you need, and about the one hard course at a time technique. A year ago, I took Human Neuroscience plus two cake classes. Aced the lab practical (which I thought would be the hardest part), screwed up the midterm (sensory).
I was stressed out by the grade, but I buckled down with not so much stress the second half. I studied three to five hours a day, occasionally skipped my other class to study. The final (motor), where typically performance was 10 points worse than on the final? Aced it.
Also, Wikipedia is your friend, especially for math, computer science, and advanced science, where not many people are in a position to vandalize the info deceptively. I didn’t use it then, but I find for a lot of math related things it is extremely helpful.
I’m one of the really smart guys with a shit work ethic. I never really had a problem with college, but then I’m an English major. This kind of fits in well, because all I do anyway is read and write. I chose what I was extremely interested in.
Take a look at your major and make sure that you really want to do all this- even when I was halfway through a 15 page research paper about transcendentalism, I knew that there was no other thing I’d rather be studying, being as you have to be in college anyway.
I never took more than 15 credits either, which for me is 5 classes, simply because shit stacks up after a while.
Besides this, freshman year is the hardest because you don’t know how college works. Most seniors do less work and get better grades than they did when they were freshman, simply because you learn how to work the Professors, you understand what’s going to have to be done to get a good grade, etc.
Your work ethic will keep you going, as long as you don’t burn the fuck out. DON’T BURN OUT. Lower the course load like a normal person would do, and don’t whine about your pride. Shit man, there’s no reason to kill yourself over it.
[quote]jimmyjames66 wrote:
BigPaul wrote:
So you refuse to change your major or lessen your courseload even though you are not able to grasp the material?..Need I remind you that typically much of what you study at university is involved in your profession?
Yes, thank you. I was aware of this. Let me be more specific to my struggles. I am a PT/AT major and am not struggling with PT/AT courses. What I am struggling with is the damn chemistry, Calculus, and probaly physics next year. (Though Physics pertains to PT and AT more than Calculus and chemistry).
Problem is I need to have a 3.0 before third year to stay in the program; failing chem and calc will prevent this. So I am frustrated that I may not be able to proceed with what I want to do, because the department feels that if I can’t solve various quantative problems I will not be successful in the long run, which I disagree with.(though many argue against my opinion. ) [/quote]
If you slip a little in calc and chem you should be alright then, in my experience physics is much less mathematically complex at the less advanced levels than your calc classes likely are.
Either way though, there is no shame in lightening your load, thats what god made summer school and fifth year seniors for.
There is no harm in taking a 12 credit course load to ease up a bit, then next semester taking 18 or whatever. Or even bang out a summer class in 6-8 weeks. Summer classes are quite condensed but you will have to stay up on the material and before you know it, it’s over.
Is your major something you are interested in? You could never make me a philosophy major no matter how much I studied. But when it comes to anatomy/physiology or kinesiology, I eat that stuff up.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
conorh wrote:
You’re bitching about a health studies major? You shouldn’t rag on com. studies majors when you’re major isn’t very rigorous if you remove the chemistry, calc and chem, basically all the stuff you’re saying you’re struggling with. Some would say it’s not too rigorous that stuff included.
Some of that could also be the simple fact that he doesn’t really want to know those subjects.
[/quote]
This has been the biggest stumbling block that I’d seen with younger students when I went to college. The “what do I need to know this for” syndrome.
As much as they didn’t want to fail, it was destined to happen if they weren’t able to assign value greater than not failing to the subject.
jimmy,
Do you like what you’re doing? Then take your time doing it. There’s no race.
Do you dislike what you’re doing? Then do what you want to do instead of what you’re doing.
That’ll be $49.99, LOL!
I’m guessing this is what it comes down to. You know you have to work hard, and you’re going to do it . . . you’re just bitter about others having it easier.
Guess what? Somewhere out there, in every aspect of life imaginable, someone has it far easier than you. Too bad.
And you know what? You have it much easier than others too.
You can spend a lot of time analyzing how you don’t live up to other people or how people have it easier. Not doubt about that. But what’s the use? Focus that brain of yours on YOUR situation and how to improve yourself. Forget about everyone else because dwelling on it won’t chnage it.
[quote]jimmyjames66 wrote:
For me, I am doing what I want to do. And because I have to go through hell to get what I want, while you not so much, does not mean I will not love what I do. I was not judging what type of people you were, I was simply saying how much easier your path was.[/quote]
You’re just a freshman, how stressing are freshman classes?
Wait until your 3rd and 4th year. You’ll have funny marks on your wrists if you let freshman classes stress you out.
Hit the iron and take out your stress on the weights.
Professor X makes some great points. I never had a great study ethic, so I made sure to schedule my courseload with only a couple of “hard” classes per semester.
Something else that might help is finding a tutor who conveys the material well. I say that from experience, because I’ve had teachers who can illuminate a subject in a way no others have, and I have also, hopefully, done that for some of my students.
Sounds like your not college material. Do you enjoy what your studying, if not, then study something you get REAL excited about! Your not retaining the material because you simply don’t like it. It’s that simple!
Try some supps. that help with memory or just do what you can to get by. You also need to learn how to relax, go hang with some friends & throw back some cold ones.
OR, screw college, get into the real world & get a job in a field your interested in. Do an internship.
Good luck & try to relax, go to some parties. Meet some girls, that should totally relax you.
I’m one of those guys who is dumb as shit and lacks work eithic, so I joined the Marines where I fit in real good…bwahahahaha, alright I was just taking a shot at the Marines on this board, not true, not true.
If you need help in a subject you’re struggling in, make use of the teachers and TAs. Too few people ask for help when they need it, and an hour or two a week of office time can really clear up some things you might take four or five times as long to learn on your own. You wouldn’t believe how few people actually go in during office hours, and they are usually the ones in the top 5% of that class anyway.
Also, evaluate the way you are studying, I’m a chem major and I party my ass off every week…sometimes two or three nights depending on girlfriend status. My main focus is going to class everyday, and then spending around 30-45 minutes per class later on going over the material we covered and doing any homework we were assigned…it equates to around 2 hrs a day, and I spread it out so it usually isn’t longer than an hour at a shot.
And no, I’m not taking 8 credits…I have a full course load of 17…and no, they aren’t Social Science courses…they are Differential Eqns, Calc III, Physics, O-Chem, Lab, and a bullshit business-computer class cause I wanted to learn how to make webpages.
When it’s test time, I usually take about two hours the night prior to go over my notes and all that, but it is basically just a refresher for me and I don’t cram, because I really like to sleep.
Don’t be bitching too much, one of my friends really has no time because he has to have a job to pay for school and living expenses…that dude works 30-40 hrs a week in addition to school. I don’t know how the hell he does it, except I know he never goes out ever, even if he could afford the time, he couldn’t afford the beers.
[quote]slimjim wrote:
I’m one of those guys who is dumb as shit and lacks work eithic, so I joined the Marines where I fit in real good…bwahahahaha, alright I was just taking a shot at the Marines on this board, not true, not true.
If you need help in a subject you’re struggling in, make use of the teachers and TAs. Too few people ask for help when they need it, and an hour or two a week of office time can really clear up some things you might take four or five times as long to learn on your own. You wouldn’t believe how few people actually go in during office hours, and they are usually the ones in the top 5% of that class anyway.
Also, evaluate the way you are studying, I’m a chem major and I party my ass off every week…sometimes two or three nights depending on girlfriend status. My main focus is going to class everyday, and then spending around 30-45 minutes per class later on going over the material we covered and doing any homework we were assigned…it equates to around 2 hrs a day, and I spread it out so it usually isn’t longer than an hour at a shot.
And no, I’m not taking 8 credits…I have a full course load of 17…and no, they aren’t Social Science courses…they are Differential Eqns, Calc III, Physics, O-Chem, Lab, and a bullshit business-computer class cause I wanted to learn how to make webpages.
When it’s test time, I usually take about two hours the night prior to go over my notes and all that, but it is basically just a refresher for me and I don’t cram, because I really like to sleep.
Don’t be bitching too much, one of my friends really has no time because he has to have a job to pay for school and living expenses…that dude works 30-40 hrs a week in addition to school. I don’t know how the hell he does it, except I know he never goes out ever, even if he could afford the time, he couldn’t afford the beers.[/quote]
See that’s the thing right there. I plan my time out like you do, study after class, do homework right away and stuff. However, when it comes test time I still feel like I don’t know enough of the material and am forced to cram anyways, despite studying weeks beforehand. Basically my memory is not that strong and I constantly need to study to drill that shit in.
I don’t understand, it not like I get distracted or anything, things just dont sink. That’s when those couple of 4 hour sleep nighters comes in during the week.
As far as lightening up my load, well I really have no choice. I have a set amount of credits and classes I need to complete before third year to stay in PT/AT. Even with taking two classes this summer (they have to be psych, school wont transfer math and science credits) I still end up with 18 credits next semester.
Go to amazon.com, type in Lorayne Super Memory Super Student.
Order the book and read it, or download it on p2p… really anything by him would be fine, he just writes the same book over and over again. Good stuff.
[quote]BRUCELEEWANNABE wrote:
Sounds like your not college material. [/quote]
This is the most bullshit cop out statement I have ever heard and it sounds dumber every time I hear it.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
BRUCELEEWANNABE wrote:
Sounds like your not college material.
This is the most bullshit cop out statement I have ever heard and it sounds dumber every time I hear it.[/quote]
Especially when he uses “your” instead of “you’re.”