Topic: Studyin is tuff

[poomcgoo]

I've been a master procrastinator since 9th grade.  Over the course of those past 6 years, I've gotten away with doing next to nothing.  I don't go to class, I don't study, I rarely do homework and I can't even remember the last book I opened.  This six year stint -- this fucking legacy I built out of sheer laziness -- all came to an abrupt halt today.  Spring break is next week and there are two classes that I haven't even showed up to yet.  I'm doing poorly in three of my classes total (mostly due to my attendance grades), and tomorrow I have two huge exams in two difficult subjects, both of which I know absolutely nothing about.

So, for the first time in ages, I decided it was time to hit the books.  I literally just tore the cellophane off of my pathophysiology and biochem books, and that new book smell hit me like an unflushed shit.  I was so repulsed I had to take a cigarette break.  I got back, cracked into chapter 10 (the chapter we're on, apparently) and started reading.

Then I realized something...  I think I fucked myself up for good here.  I can NOT read this.  I can't sit here for more than 3 sentences without throwing the book down and procrastinating to the maximum.  I think I turned stupid.  This is the most horrific and torturous thing I've had to endure in recent memory, and I just don't think I can do it.  Fuck!

I'm sitting here blowing through Adderalls left and right, trying to keep myself sane.  I'm definitely functioning now, but it feels so foreign to me after all this time.  I need a prescription for these ASAP.

We're all procrastinators to some degree.  Anybody have a funny story that goes with this?  Or even a school/studying woes story to help soothe my now-illiterate self?  This is gonna be a looong fucking night.

[Quemaqua]

I suck at school.  I'm a relatively intelligent guy and I always got good grades (As and Bs) in school, but studying was always hard for me and homework was impossible.  It was a huge problem.  Not so much for grades, but definitely for frustrations caused by trying to do it all right.  I fucking hated school pretty much every moment until I got out, and now I feel rather bad about it because I never went to college and missed out not only on that part of life but on the self-satisfaction that comes from finishing it.  I've always regretted it, though I still wonder whether or not it would have driven me crazy.  School's always been a sore spot for me.  I love learning and I retain knowledge decently, but the whole organized teach-here-learn-this-go-home-work-more-stupid-bastard thing just never did it for me.

[NatchDan]

Que, you sound exactly the same as me. I'm currently toying with the idea of university but leaning way towards "no".

[iPPi]

I know what you mean.  I generally work quite hard in school though since I'm in Engineering.  Can't do well in that if you don't actually do the work... and the work just piles on.

Gotta say though, this semester (last one before I graduate) has been the easiest one, and the workload has been very manageable.  I only have 2 midterms this week, 2 labs, 1 assignment, 1 midterm next week, and a quiz, for these two weeks, and it's been the busiest week yet, so fairly easy.

[Quemaqua]

I managed okay, Dan.  Graduated high school 2 years early, did some community college crap for a year or so, then my dad died and I started working, got married... aaaand... yeah.  That's about where I am now.  I'm happy in pretty much every respect other than that I fucking hate my job, and if school could have gotten me out of this horrid work slump, not doing it was probably a mistake.  But then again, I doubt it would have, as my job is *technically* a "good" one and my pay is pretty great (which it has to be since my wife can't work).  If only people would throw money at me for making music or writing poetry.

The other thing is school is pricey.  My family had too much money for me to qualify for aid really, but didn't have enough money to actually send me to school.  Kind of blew.

[NatchDan]

Same here, re: the money. I went to a music college (UK style, so more like a specialised high school to you) for a while but dropped out when I realised they didn't teach things like the power slide and windmilling.

[poomcgoo]

The other thing is school is pricey.  My family had too much money for me to qualify for aid really, but didn't have enough money to actually send me to school.  Kind of blew.

My best friend didn't go to school for this reason, and now he's doing shit with his life.  Nearly everybody in the world qualifies for student loans, and can get enough to go to school.  Money should never be anybody's excuse for not getting an education.

I feel like I'm pretty smart myself, which is probably the only reason why I haven't flunked out of school yet.  Que, you're still a young guy, and from what I can tell you're pretty smart, or at the least, articulate, and honestly, that's saying a lot more than most college students can say.  It's never too late to get into the game, ESPECIALLY if you're under 30.  If you really want a degree then go get it, it's way too early in the game to pass on the opportunity if it interests you.

Student loans are meant to cover every expense you have as a student -- that means food, clothes, rent checks and tuition.  I applied for an extra $2,000 a year for spending money, and you can bet I buy lots of booze and other non-school related items with it.  I'm not specifically saying to do that, because you still have to pay it later in life, but I'm only trying to illustrate that money is the last thing you need to worry about.

Right now, I dread school.  I wish I had taken a year or two off between high school and now, but when I'm out I'll be so much happier than I ever would have been without a degree.  That's just the best way to put it.

Edit: You too, NatchDan!

[JacksRag(e)]

Let's face it, who are we really fooling?  It's not that we turned stupid or anything.  We're intelligent.  We know that.  Most of the time, we're just lazy.  We've gotten used to taking it easy for this sort of stuff and when it gets harder we just find it easier to say something happened to us.  We've just become lazy and undisciplined in these studies.  If we really wanted to, we could totally get everything.  It's just this block that has taken over us and made us complacent.  I've been like that for a long time, but lately I've been pulling myself back into gear and it's scary how much easier I can understand everything.  I've spent about 7 hours studying every day the past week or so and it's killing me and it's taking away from everything, but after this semester, it'll pretty much be over. 

But yea, by no means, am I pigeonholing everyone.  I'm not saying everyone's like that, just that the majority of people seem to be that way.  I mean, it's just about the discipline we have to keep, you know?  We still remember stupid shit from back in the day that doesn't mean anything, or songs from ten years ago and little moments from our entire lives, how different is it from learning things in class or from a book?  We read the papers, and books and understand these concepts and ideas, but throw a textbook at us and it's like another language.  What's so different, you know? 

Maybe I'm wrong or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but it just seems like that to me.  Anyway, I don't mean to step on anyone's toes with this.  But 20 hours of biochem in 2 days is just not conducive to life.  I swear, why does biology need so much chemistry anyway?  It's not like chem majors have to take that much bio.  Bastards.

[poomcgoo]

You're taking/took biochem, too?  It sucks donut...  Shit, even my vernacular is still in High School.

You're absolutely right about all of that, though.  At least in my case.  I know for a goddamned fact that I could make all A's every semester.  These classes are hard, but they're not THAT hard.  I could so fucking do it, but I just hate it all way too much.

edit: These Adderalls are fucking miracles wrapped inside a tasty microcrystalline cellulose.  I've never used them to study, only recreation  , but wow, I'm a study machine right now, not to mention the fact that sleep is no longer part of my vocabulary.

[JacksRag(e)]

Yea, this is supposed to be one of my last semesters, but it turns out I'm taking all science classes.  I've put off taking Biochem, but I guess I shouldn't have.  This stuff is a bitch.  But at least, I know my stuff now.

I thought your last semester should be easy street.  Biochem, Plant Phys, Human Biochem Genetics and Microbiology.  I just want to sleep, man.

I find the best thing to do is to take one day for yourself, at least.  Like every Wednesday me and my friend have a huge gap between classes, so we instituted a Weekly Wii Wednesday, a WWW, if you will.  Just to untense ourselves.  Mucho fun.

And what are Adderalls?

[Pugnate]

Then I realized something...  I think I fucked myself up for good here.  I can NOT read this.  I can't sit here for more than 3 sentences without throwing the book down and procrastinating to the maximum.  I think I turned stupid.  This is the most horrific and torturous thing I've had to endure in recent memory, and I just don't think I can do it.  Fuck!

I can relate to that. Once you aren't used to studying and try to go back to it, it is near impossible.

So we are all like this, and we are all gamers. Could gaming actually be teh evil? 

[poomcgoo]

ADHD meds.  It's a combo of 4 amphetamines (aka speed) that make you focus like a bastard and keep you wide awake. 

Those are some rough classes, though.  Of those, I've only taken microbio before, which was pretty easy, but from the looks of it, microbio is the last of your worries.  It's sweet that you only have four classes though; I have six classes and a lab that meets once a week in addition to that.  I wanted to take less, but I wouldn't graduate on time unless I take 18 credits every semester.

[iPPi]

Wow you have to take six classes?  I haven't done that in about a year.  The workload is fucking crazy.  The most courses you can take per semester here is 5 except for engineering where they allow 6.  For me, after about a year of 6 courses per semester, I started taking one or two spring and summer classes so that the fall and winter semesters were more reasonable.

I'm currently taking 5 classes right now myself.

[Ghandi]

I've always been horrible at studying, but generally smart enough that I don't have to do much so that's good I guess. Usually I get some coffee and go to the library an hour before the test and study. Having people around you to study helps, although studying with people can sometimes be counterproductive. I also need lots of sleep, so morning classes aren't my thing. This ----

Oh shit. In the middle of typing this I just realized that I have my first tennis class in a few hours. I have class from 2-5 m-th but this is at 10:30 in the morning, a few  hours from now. fuuuuuck. ah man this sucks. I gotta get to bed.

Edit: False alarm. The second half of the semester starts wed but the class is tues thurs, so it's not until a day from now. Man. That was scary.

Anyways, Adderall is the devil. I tried to take it once but I felt all cracked out, for lack of a better term. So many people take it at college and say they can't study without it, but that's bullshit. Also going to class brought up my gpa by 2 points (2.0 points) in a year and a half. Didn't change my study habits, just went to class.

[poomcgoo]

Just got back from my first exam, and I'm feeling great.  I ended up not even sleeping last night and going right to school.  My next exam's at 1:00, so its time to hit the books a little more.

[poomcgoo]

Wow.  That second test was bullshit.  Oh well, at least I can pass out now -- or when this fuckin speed wears off, rather.

[Cobra951]

I think the big problem is that we're too smart for high school.  We learn that we can get by with very little work.  Then we get hit in the face with the scary fact that any worthwhile college curriculum is real work.  We can't handle it.  I tried for part of a year, failed, worked for 3 years, then went back.  That time I made it, but it still was more of an ordeal than it should have been.

The only drug I ever took for cramming was caffeine.  Steaming pots full of it.  I remember putting the finishing touches on a final paper minutes before time for the class, after working on it all night.  I literally stumbled into class.  The prof read through it quickly, and said he thought it deserved an A minus, but that he'd promote it to an A if I did some extra work on some specific thing.  (I forget what that was now.)  I was so out of it that I could not conceive of doing one more thing for this class, so I declined.  He looked disappointed, but still gave me my A minus. 

There's no way a responsible, disciplined person with nothing but time on his hands gets himself in this predicament.  I agree with JacksRage.  We lose our discipline through the years of loafing, not our innate intelligence.  We get incurably lazy, not stupid.  I don't know the answer.  I will contribute this as the senior guy here: the more you let it go unchecked, the harder it becomes to change.  It gets increasingly set in stone.  I feel like a lost cause now.  I couldn't rebuild myself, learn a whole new approach to life, if my life depended on it, and I have a feeling that it does.

[ren]

I think the big problem is that we're too smart for high school.  We learn that we can get by with very little work.  Then we get hit in the face with the scary fact that any worthwhile college curriculum is real work.  We can't handle it.  I tried for part of a year, failed, worked for 3 years, then went back.  That time I made it, but it still was more of an ordeal than it should have been.

I can relate to that and am trying to use you guys as an example. Some of my friends do a few hours of work a day, whereas I would do less than an hour a month and have higher marks than them. It's just a matter of discipline. I've been attempting to actually stop and study for tests and such this year. At first I was like you, got nowhere, but now I can easily sit down for a few hours and just read and take notes. It's not school related, but I'm learning and am hopefully setting myself up to not screwing around in university.

[poomcgoo]

I can relate to that and am trying to use you guys as an example. Some of my friends do a few hours of work a day, whereas I would do less than an hour a month and have higher marks than them. It's just a matter of discipline. I've been attempting to actually stop and study for tests and such this year. At first I was like you, got nowhere, but now I can easily sit down for a few hours and just read and take notes. It's not school related, but I'm learning and am hopefully setting myself up to not screwing around in university.

I think this, more than anything else, is what causes the laziness.  If you have a little bit of smarts, and you can get by your entire K-12 by doing minimal work, then you're gonna carry it over into college.  I can at least say this for myself, as I got awesome grades in high school and did jack shit the whole time.  I've got myself in this stupid mindset that I don't need to study now, either.

[shock]

Everything everyone has said here rings true.

My problem is that I just started college last semester, and I did slack off a LOT.  I did readings, because I actually enjoying reading just about anything.  However, beyond that, I wouldn't do work.  Wouldn't study for tests, etc.  I managed to pull a 3.7 first semester.

That is horrible news for me this semester, because now I am even less motivated.  It seems that every time I procrastinate or don't do work, everything ends up just fine.  I am just waiting for a slap in the face to wake me up.

*has two midterms tomorrow that he probably isn't going to look at*

Meh.

[Quemaqua]

There's no way a responsible, disciplined person with nothing but time on his hands gets himself in this predicament.  I agree with JacksRage.  We lose our discipline through the years of loafing, not our innate intelligence.  We get incurably lazy, not stupid.  I don't know the answer.  I will contribute this as the senior guy here: the more you let it go unchecked, the harder it becomes to change.  It gets increasingly set in stone.  I feel like a lost cause now.  I couldn't rebuild myself, learn a whole new approach to life, if my life depended on it, and I have a feeling that it does.

I understand how you feel, but don't believe that.  I don't think that's true.  You're a really intelligent person and you just have to find good outlets that help you keep yourself working.  Don't let yourself give up!  Read, keep your mind active, participate in intelligent discussion when you can.  And if you've got some kind of project you can work at, do it!  Working on my novel, poetry, and music really keeps me from falling into so much of a slump that I can't get out again.  If I didn't have that stuff... I don't know what I'd do, honestly.  I think it would be pretty bad.

[Pugnate]

This is a depressing yet eye opening thread. Just about everything said here is true. Except for what Cobra said... I don't think anything is a lost cause. It just gets a touch harder the longer you let things slide.

[sirean_syan]

Heh. You all just told my story. High school was easy, got into a good college, managed to last a couple years (with good marks until the last year), and then hit that wall. Now, here I am, a few years later of dinking around attempting to rebuild myself to my former glory. I still worry I'm going to fall right back into the trap because school hasn't been hard since I got back. I started out good until I realized I was well above the curve at my current school.

I really need to just force myself to do more school work, not for the sake of getting a better grade (because it won't help my current grades, they're already good enough), but to actually learn how to study so when I have to I can manage.

[poomcgoo]

One more midterm tomorrow.  Pharmacokinetics.  Haven't been to class one time.  No more adderall.

I'm fuckin' screwed here.

[iPPi]

I got a midterm tomorrow and another one next Thursday as well.

[Cool_Gamer1]

I managed okay, Dan.  Graduated high school 2 years early, did some community college crap for a year or so, then my dad died and I started working, got married... aaaand... yeah.  That's about where I am now.  I'm happy in pretty much every respect other than that I fucking hate my job, and if school could have gotten me out of this horrid work slump, not doing it was probably a mistake.  But then again, I doubt it would have, as my job is *technically* a "good" one and my pay is pretty great (which it has to be since my wife can't work).  If only people would throw money at me for making music or writing poetry.

The other thing is school is pricey.  My family had too much money for me to qualify for aid really, but didn't have enough money to actually send me to school.  Kind of blew.

i totally understand. the way fafsa is setup is pretty messed up (basically it helps out the dirt dirt poor, most of whom probably wont end up going to college) and ends up screwing over the lower middle class who have the oppurtunity to go to college but dont have the finances.

[shock]

3 midterms on Thursday.  But then I am getting shitfaced and going home, where I can finally ride my motorcycle.  That is the only thing that keeps me going.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, CG.  Sucks to be us, I guess.

And shock... just don't get shitfaced and ride your hog at the same time.   

[iPPi]

My last midterm is this Thursday!

... Last midterm before graduation.  Hurrah.