Venting.

[ed_ification]

I doubt they would do much.

About 30 math problems each day, along with two full pages each day from the Japanese workbook, and also constant work on research essays. Math is my weakest subject, and I can solve the problems if I'm given enough time, but I'm absolutely horrible at it. For example, I just now finished my math homework for the day. Guess how long it took me? From 1 PM all the way to 9:20 PM, only stopping to watch a 30-minute long TV episode, to eat, and to rant on the forum. I'm not even kidding. I haven't even gotten started on my Japanese or English for the day, but I can't do those because my head is throbbing from the math, and I'm way too tired, both physically and mentally. So I'll have to do them tomorrow... along with all the other crap I have scheduled for tomorrow.

I have a thesis w/ subtopic statements due for English on Tuesday, which I doubt I'll be able to complete. I have to study for a Japanese quiz for Monday, which I still haven't done yet, and I also need to turn in several pages from the workbook. For math, I am actually a little behind on the homework, and I still have two more sub-sections to do from the chapter. They are also due on Tuesday.

Yeah.

OH, and that math that I finished today? Yeah, I started it yesterday and it took me the whole day just to finish less than half of it. At least I was able to get my Japanese done. Had no time for English, though.

OK, you need a tutor, stat.  Take advantage of the resources for which your tuition is paying if you're having that much of an issue.  There are, I would guess, student resource centers and the like - USE THEM.  Did you explain just how long you're working on these things in your mathematics course to the professor?  If you're struggling that much - maybe you should get yourself tested, find out if you have some sort of learning disability that's increasing your time to that degree.  Other people have struggled before - that's the reason all those resources exist in the first place.

What level of math are we talking about, here?  Calc, pre-cal, algebra, multi-particle physics?

And while you can doubt that they would do much, without you saying something, there's no way you can know for sure.  NEVER assume - assumption is the mother of all f***ups, to quote Under Siege 2.  I had a professor (History) who, on the first day of class, walked in and said, "Some of you may have heard a rumour (Extra u added because he was Welsh) that I am a misogynist, that I hate women.  This is false.  I am a misanthrope - I hate you all."  Now, that might terrify a lot of folks, but as it turned out, I found the guy hilarious.  I frequently saw him outside of class, because I had another history course that year that I usually arrived early for, thanks to the bus schedule, and the professor and I ended up talking about various sci-fi books when he saw that I was reading Dune.

[Master Bluespike74]

I really hate looking for a job! I had an interview recently, the guy was an ass. He asked me the basic questions, "Why do you want this job?" etc. But then he basically just gave me excuses as to why he didn't want to hire me, and I do mean EXCUSES, not legitimate reasons. His main excuse:

"You live 45 minutes away."

He kept harping on this one too. He must have mentioned it like every 2 minutes. I wanted to just be like, "Well you're not the one who has to make the drive, so why the hell do you care!" I kept telling him that I don't mind a commute, and even enjoy it in a way. And that I was planning on moving if I got the job, and would happily move closer, but no. He said he'd call me with his decision(implying he'd  call either way) in the next week. It's been 3 weeks, and still nothing. So basically I lost out on a good job just because I live 45 minutes away.

That guy needs to watch that type of interviewing.  It could be akin to profiling (I am not going to hire you because you live in X part of town.)  If sued, he better have a great reason why he asked that.  Did the job require you to take call because most employers that require you to take call ask that you live within 30 minutes of your job? 

[TheHobbitofDune]

OK, you need a tutor, stat.  Take advantage of the resources for which your tuition is paying if you're having that much of an issue.  There are, I would guess, student resource centers and the like - USE THEM.  Did you explain just how long you're working on these things in your mathematics course to the professor?  If you're struggling that much - maybe you should get yourself tested, find out if you have some sort of learning disability that's increasing your time to that degree.  Other people have struggled before - that's the reason all those resources exist in the first place.

What level of math are we talking about, here?  Calc, pre-cal, algebra, multi-particle physics?

And while you can doubt that they would do much, without you saying something, there's no way you can know for sure.  NEVER assume - assumption is the mother of all f***ups, to quote Under Siege 2.  I had a professor (History) who, on the first day of class, walked in and said, "Some of you may have heard a rumour (Extra u added because he was Welsh) that I am a misogynist, that I hate women.  This is false.  I am a misanthrope - I hate you all."  Now, that might terrify a lot of folks, but as it turned out, I found the guy hilarious.  I frequently saw him outside of class, because I had another history course that year that I usually arrived early for, thanks to the bus schedule, and the professor and I ended up talking about various sci-fi books when he saw that I was reading Dune.

Yeah, I'll see a tutor now. Definitely. I have talked to my math professor about it, but she said that I just need to time myself and work faster. Also, I was diagnosed with aspergers at a very early age. I didn't want to go through college and get special treatment, though. I wanted, for once in my life, to do things the hard way.

But really, it's tough for me. All my life, I've been put into "special education" classrooms. By the way, I absolutely hate that wretched term. I'm not special at all. But anyway, I always knew I could do better. I do know that asking for help and getting special treatment are two totally different things, so that has never been my issue. My issue is that I'm completely socially awkward, which is the main disability that aspergers has left me with. I have barely any social skills. I feel like I'll end up being too distracted by my awkwardness to actually focus on the math.

[TheHobbitofDune]

I unfortunately hear this too often from current college students:  high school is not preparing for college anymore.  Honestly, you may have to repeat a course or two.  

Here were my survival tips:  

1.  Get organized as fast as possible.  What is the most important task on the table at the moment?  Identify it and place top priority on it.

2.  If you made straight A's in high school, don't expect to do so in college.  Shoot for the passing grade.  Calculate which assignments have the highest weight assigned to them and complete them.  Others can fall by the way side.

3.  Caffeine is your friend.  You can no longer find the concentrated caffeine capsules I had in college but you can find stronger coffees.  

4.  For every one hour you spend in hard concentration and work on your assignments, take a 15 minute break.  

5.  During the week, sleep around 6 hours and catch up on your sleep on Friday and Saturday nights.

6.  If you have to sacrifice a subject and repeat it, let it be a basic and not a major course.  Repeating something in your major just means you'll have professors trying to turn up the heat even more.

7.  When reading new material, use a highlighter.  Usually you have a sentence that really stick out in a paragraph, highlight that sucker as soon as you find it and move to the next paragraph.  That way when you need to do some harder digging later, you can find the paragraph you want faster.  

8.  If the professor says something more than once, write it down and memorize it.  It is good sign that the professor cares deeply about what he has said.  Like when I write on the forums, I have said one thing consistently throughout this entire forum and without me mentioning it here, anyone with greater than 50 posts should know what I love most in a lightsaber.

9.  Running a marathon after one day of training is not about winning, it is about surviving and also about learning.  Failure can be just as great a teacher as winning.  I don't count my successes, I count my failures.  If I am learning why I fail, then the successes will simply come more naturally as I am removing the causes of my failures.  Don't be afraid to fail.  Luke went from not believing the Force could move an X-wing in the swamp to creating a New Jedi Order.  

10.  Learn to think through things.  Memorization is fine but if you are able to look at a problem and think about it you will find that your thinking skills will translate to subjects faster than your memorization skills.  Don't just know that 2+2=4 or that Red and Blue make Purple, think about why 2+2 = 4 and why Red and Blue make purple.  The answer will shock you and the skills you develop is like learning Basic in the Star Wars universe.  No matter what species (or college subject) you encounter, once you have master Star Wars Basic you can speak with any species (and work though any college subject problem) with ease.

Hope this is a huge starting point for you.  Most important thing to take away from here:  Never be afraid to fail and don't ignore the lessons you can learn from failing.  Thomas Edison paraphrased: "I learned one way to make a light bulb but more importantly, I learned 1000 ways not to make a light bulb."

Blue, I can't thank you enough for these tips. #4 was especially helpful. I used to not have a set schedule, so I would end up taking breaks constantly, and could never get myself into the mindset needed to do my work for long periods of time (well, I could, but then I would just give up). #4 really helped me get more work done, while still being able to recharge my batteries a bit. Also, tip #5 will surely help, as well. I'll try and use the rest when I go to class today. Oh, and #1 was also really helpful. Helped me pry myself away from math long enough to finish my Japanese, which is due today. Yikes.

Also, as per usual, I had several very motivational songs looping throughout the day. It's pretty much always the same songs each day, but it helps me so much. I actually had this one song on loop the whole day, yesterday

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZeglDY3aHg" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZeglDY3aHg</a>

But thanks Thanks to Ed, as well. I'll try talking to my Japanese professor today.

[ThreadJack]

That guy needs to watch that type of interviewing.  It could be akin to profiling (I am not going to hire you because you live in X part of town.)  If sued, he better have a great reason why he asked that.  Did the job require you to take call because most employers that require you to take call ask that you live within 30 minutes of your job? 

Nothing was ever mentioned about taking calls, so I assume no. It was a car salesman position, so I highly doubt it would have too many emergent calls if it did.

[Adak Cyrnoc]

My weekend consists of Sunday and Monday... normal
people hate returning to work... I'm excited, I work at Fedex
and I have a pkg filled with sabers due in tomorrow. I cant
wait...

[MolecularAuto80]

So a few months ago I learned why some things about me are the way they are. It makes me REALLY FREAKING MAD at life, but something like that is expected. I learned I had klinefelter's syndrome. I HIGHLY recommend you don't look it up on the internet unless you're really curios. It's not something I want to tell everybody, but here we can vent things and I just HAVE to tell someone. Oh, I also have asthma, but I've got that pretty much under control. So that's what I'm venting about.

[Master Bluespike74]

So a few months ago I learned why some things about me are the way they are. It makes me REALLY FREAKING MAD at life, but something like that is expected. I learned I had klinefelter's syndrome. I HIGHLY recommend you don't look it up on the internet unless you're really curios. It's not something I want to tell everybody, but here we can vent things and I just HAVE to tell someone. Oh, I also have asthma, but I've got that pretty much under control. So that's what I'm venting about.

I work in the medical field so I know exactly what this is.  I honestly look at life like a game of Texas Hold 'Em.  You have no control over what cards are dealt to you.  You can only control play the situation and with enough confidence and a little strategy, you can turn any bad hand into a huge amount of money. 

Sorry to hear about the asthma though.  Breathing problems really do suck.

Blue

[TheHobbitofDune]

Wow, my professor is harsh. The grade he gave me for my essay? "D/C (Borderline)" Apparently, all of my English teachers, as well as my counselors, and my sister, have been lying to me all these years every time they told me I'm a very good writer with lots of natural talent. I'm never going to recover from this semester. I just want to give up. The term is halfway over and my grades are absolutely -insert expletive here-.

[Luna]

Wow, my professor is harsh. The grade he gave me for my essay? "D/C (Borderline)" Apparently, all of my English teachers, as well as my counselors, and my sister, have been lying to me all these years every time they told me I'm a very good writer with lots of natural talent. I'm never going to recover from this semester. I just want to give up. The term is halfway over and my grades are absolutely -insert expletive here-.

Did he give any specific problems with it? I didn't see anything. Then again, I haven't been through college so I have no idea what professors like to see....

[TheHobbitofDune]

Did he give any specific problems with it? I didn't see anything. Then again, I haven't been through college so I have no idea what professors like to see....

A lot of problems. His handwriting is barely legible, but you might be able to read it. I can take pictures and send it to you, I guess. I don't actually blame you though, I was joking before.

Actually I blame myself. I should have asked you to read the rest of it when I finished writing it all.

[Luna]

A lot of problems. His handwriting is barely legible, but you might be able to read it. I can take pictures and send it to you, I guess. I don't actually blame you though, I was joking before.

Actually I blame myself. I should have asked you to read the rest of it when I finished writing it all.

I know you don't blame me, but I can at least help figure out what went wrong. If you could send me his critiques that would be great.

[TheHobbitofDune]

I know you don't blame me, but I can at least help figure out what went wrong. If you could send me his critiques that would be great.

I'll have to send it to you later, unfortunately.

[ed_ification]

Wow, my professor is harsh. The grade he gave me for my essay? "D/C (Borderline)" Apparently, all of my English teachers, as well as my counselors, and my sister, have been lying to me all these years every time they told me I'm a very good writer with lots of natural talent. I'm never going to recover from this semester. I just want to give up. The term is halfway over and my grades are absolutely -insert expletive here-.

Your college should have a writing center - they can help by showing you what professors expect in writing.

Unfortunately, raw talent =/= what people want to see.

Does he have office hours for you to go over the material so you can learn what you did incorrectly and improve?

[TheHobbitofDune]

Your college should have a writing center - they can help by showing you what professors expect in writing.

Unfortunately, raw talent =/= what people want to see.

Does he have office hours for you to go over the material so you can learn what you did incorrectly and improve?

They do have a writing center, but I'm pretty busy. I have a lot on my plate already.

He does, but he left before I could ask.

Thankfully, my dad just told me that he agrees that I've been completely overworked this semester. He says I should take two classes next semester and take it easy for a while.