Venting.

[TheHobbitofDune]

The education system is broken. I'm constantly swamped with homework. I have no time to study. I'm constantly tired, depressed, and angry. I don't care if I flunk my classes, because, honestly, I'm not even being given a fair chance here. I can't wait until I get some competent professors. I just want to scream, and I probably will. End of rant.

[ed_ification]

The education system is broken. I'm constantly swamped with homework. I have no time to study. I'm constantly tired, depressed, and angry. I don't care if I flunk my classes, because, honestly, I'm not even being given a fair chance here. I can't wait until I get some competent professors. I just want to scream, and I probably will. End of rant.

You're in college?  Not asking to sound incredulous, more asking to ensure I have things correct.

If I may - what is your major, and how many hours of classes are you taking?  Do you have scholarships that you have to take a certain number of hours to maintain?

I highly advise you speak with an advisor in your school - they might be able to help.

[TheHobbitofDune]

You're in college?  Not asking to sound incredulous, more asking to ensure I have things correct.

If I may - what is your major, and how many hours of classes are you taking?  Do you have scholarships that you have to take a certain number of hours to maintain?

I highly advise you speak with an advisor in your school - they might be able to help.

Ugh, I'm so sorry. I'm still trying to get into the habit of writing these things out in private whenever I get upset. I could really use a punching bag, too. That would definitely help.

Yes. This is just my second term, though.

Computer Science is the major that I'm going for, but I'm not even sure if that's what I really want or not. I'm taking 11 hours of classes each week. No, I don't have any scholarships.

I've spoken with an advisor before. My main issue is just having professors whose teaching methods don't click with me, at all.

[Master Bluespike74]

Hey Hobbit.  Here is what I learned from my 4 years in undergrad and my 6 years in grad school:  Undergraduate always sucks.  I think the professors, especially during your freshman and sophomore years, are trying to weed out non-hackers so that only the truly dedicated will survive.  Some would argue that the school would want to keep people around longer for more tuition funding but in all honesty, the professors I have encountered had too much ego to just take money and send you on your way.  They are testing you to see if you can adapt and overcome challenges that await you after undergrad has ended.  To me, it is just a sick form of hazing where you are paying money to be tortured.

Once I entered grad school, even the most difficult of my professors were way more chilled.  I had cleared all the hurdles and then they were ready to make sure they were more mentors that worked hard to see me succeed.  As you progress, you will see that things will get a little easier especially when people begin to change majors and drop out of college all together.  Just hang in there and you will make it.  Listen to some of our military guys on the forum that have survived boot camp.  They should be able to give you some pointers for succeeding because what I have described under grad is what boot camp is except college is mental torture and boot camp is physical torture.  Torture is torture and survival tips can always be modified to help you overcome and adapt. 

Also, everyone on the forums knows that you have the talent as long as you continue to believe in yourself.  Also, that punching bag never hurts.   

[TheHobbitofDune]

Thank you, Blue.

I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to make it. I never have time to study, because my homework is always getting in the way, and I never have time to finish all of my homework because there is always too much to do. I'm getting horrible grades too. You're right, it's torture. I could definitely use some pointers. I just want to give up at this point. High School never prepared me for this. It's like trying to run a marathon after only one day of training.

[Master Bluespike74]

Thank you, Blue.

I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to make it. I never have time to study, because my homework is always getting in the way, and I never have time to finish all of my homework because there is always too much to do. I'm getting horrible grades too. You're right, it's torture. I could definitely use some pointers. I just want to give up at this point. High School never prepared me for this. It's like trying to run a marathon after only one day of training.

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."

[ed_ification]

Hm.  I can't say I relate much to comp sci as a course, as I'm not sure what goes into it.

Are your classes all core classes?  Things to do with your major?  Or do you have some electives in there as well?

Have you gone to office hours with your professors, or the TAs?  You might be able to ask them if they have a tutor they could recommend, if the interaction in office hours can't/doesn't work for you.

As much as Blue may be correct about some Professors being tormentors, it's not universally so.  Part of being in the adult world is being able to admit when you're approaching your tapped status - and in college, if you go to your professors and tell them you WANT to succeed, but can't seem to find the balance, they may be able to help.  It doesn't look good for their records to have a lot of failures in a class - and while you may not do well in their class, most teachers don't want someone to fail utterly.

What, exactly, is "too much to do"?  Too much class?  Too much class + other stuff?  Friends demanding an unreasonable amount of time?

Again, I ask because of experience.  I had friends from high school who wanted to "hang out" and decided that the best time to announce such to me was Wednesday at 2 a.m., when I had an 8 a.m. class (which one should never take if possible.  Really, nothing before 10.).  I had to make a hard choice there - these were dear friends, but high school was over.  I was in college, and that was my job.

[Master Bluespike74]

Point for Ed.  He is right.  Never take a college course prior to 10 AM if at all possible. 

[TheHobbitofDune]

That's what I kept telling my dad! He didn't listen though. He kept telling me that a 9 AM class won't kill me. Well, it did screw up my sleeping schedule, for sure. I'm never fully awake during that class. I'm always about to fall asleep.

Also, thanks for the tips, Blue. I need to read through them again later, when my brain isn't so fuzzy.

Ed, two of my classes are core classes. The other one is Japanese.

I've gone to my math teacher (she doesn't like to be called professor, but I guess it doesn't really matter) for help. That's it, though. I've always had a very bad issue with not being able to ask for help, though. I'm extremely stubborn, more than most I would guess. I pretty much refuse to ask for help. It's stupid, I know, but it takes a lot for me to be able to actually ask someone to help me with something. I can admit to myself that I need help, but that's as far as I get. Well, of course, that doesn't apply to my friends, since I ask you guys for help all the time (probably a little too much).

Too much homework. I get buried in it. Three classes are fine by me, but the homework I get from those classes is just too much to deal with. I have no social life, though. I'm a fat geek (nothing wrong with being a geek, I'm just saying that's who I am) who sits in his room all day. Though, to be fair, I wouldn't have time for a social life anyway, because of college.

I've also never had good friends in High School, either. Was always the loner.

[Master Bluespike74]

I became the largest that I have ever been in my life during undergrad.  I topped 300 lbs.  Social life did not occur until I was a Junior honestly.  Once you have that degree in hand, you can work on your size and social life.  Those that stand by your side during college will honestly be the people you can count upon for the rest of your life. 

[ed_ification]

That's what I kept telling my dad! He didn't listen though. He kept telling me that a 9 AM class won't kill me. Well, it did screw up my sleeping schedule, for sure. I'm never fully awake during that class. I'm always about to fall asleep.

Also, thanks for the tips, Blue. I need to read through them again later, when my brain isn't so fuzzy.

Ed, two of my classes are core classes. The other one is Japanese.

I've gone to my math teacher (she doesn't like to be called professor, but I guess it doesn't really matter) for help. That's it, though. I've always had a very bad issue with not being able to ask for help, though. I'm extremely stubborn, more than most I would guess. I pretty much refuse to ask for help. It's stupid, I know, but it takes a lot for me to be able to actually ask someone to help me with something. I can admit to myself that I need help, but that's as far as I get. Well, of course, that doesn't apply to my friends, since I ask you guys for help all the time (probably a little too much).

Too much homework. I get buried in it. Three classes are fine by me, but the homework I get from those classes is just too much to deal with. I have no social life, though. I'm a fat geek (nothing wrong with being a geek, I'm just saying that's who I am) who sits in his room all day. Though, to be fair, I wouldn't have time for a social life anyway, because of college.

I've also never had good friends in High School, either. Was always the loner.

OK.

Well - you need to be able to say when you're feeling buried to your professors, at least.  If you say nothing, they have no indication that you need anything, and no impetus to assist you at all.  If electronic media are a place you're comfortable, see if there's a forum or the equivalent for your class or student resources.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with needing help.  It's not weakness to be able to say you need more - it's a strength.

How much homework are we talking about?

[ThreadJack]

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.

[ed_ification]

That's kind of ridiculous.

Reminds me of a boss who got upset when I didn't have a car, because other people had to go fetch stuff for the office.

My thought process was, "Gee, I don't recall a car being a part of my job description..."

I was quite non-plussed.

[TheHobbitofDune]

OK.

Well - you need to be able to say when you're feeling buried to your professors, at least.  If you say nothing, they have no indication that you need anything, and no impetus to assist you at all.  If electronic media are a place you're comfortable, see if there's a forum or the equivalent for your class or student resources.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with needing help.  It's not weakness to be able to say you need more - it's a strength.

How much homework are we talking about?

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.

[ThreadJack]

That's kind of ridiculous.

Reminds me of a boss who got upset when I didn't have a car, because other people had to go fetch stuff for the office.

My thought process was, "Gee, I don't recall a car being a part of my job description..."

I was quite non-plussed.

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. People keep telling me to call him, but after thinking about, I don't think I even want the job anymore. He seems kinda like that boss you mentioned above. Not the type of person I want to work under.