- #1
Nickie
- 1,822
- 0
I seem to have a destructive cycle of wanting to do one thing one day (like physics) and something different the next (like math or computer science). I'm really anxious right now and I have a feeling of impending doom unless I can smarten the hell up. I'm not sure what's going on because I can't seem to focus on anything in my life.
I'm in my second year of physics and I'm really beginning to lose motivation and fall behind. Actually, that's an understatement, because unless I make a complete 180 right this instant I'm going to fail completely. I've had bad study habits since high school (that's a bit of an understatement) and the material that I really don't understand is beginning to catch up to me.
As a result of trying to get caught up, I failed a test on special relativity. To be fair, the whole class didn't do very well, but that's not an excuse. The questions on it were perfectly valid and I should have been able to do them and I couldn't. I did study, but probably not to the extent that I should have.
I also find it disappointing when, for example, some problem I'm working on requires knowledge of trigonometric identities and I've completely forgotten them, or even worse, I'm presented with what should be a simple problem and I don't even know where to begin.
I realize it takes work to gain the understanding I want. The problem is, I guess, that I have no idea where to start my review - or if I should review at all. I can't even solve simple problems. I feel far too dependant on the teacher and the textbook. I want to be able to break through and lose the dependancy; to be able to solve interesting problems on my own and then to keep going. That's how I will succeed. There isn't going to be a textbook or a teacher telling me how to make a discovery or to be innovative.
I have several forces pulling at me. I really like math. Recently, I've developed an obscene interest in social and psychological processes and the possibility of applying math to them. I also like applied computer science. Then there's physics. The real deciding factor to me when choosing to major in physics was that the other two things I can do as hobbies, but unless I want to 'do physics' I need a degree and I need a lab. Is that reasoning OK? You're probably the first people I've asked that to besides myself.
I don't want any magic fix. I just want advice as to what to do at this point. Should I take this year off to decide what it is I really want to do or to review some things? Would it be more rewarding to persevere?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. ♥
I'm in my second year of physics and I'm really beginning to lose motivation and fall behind. Actually, that's an understatement, because unless I make a complete 180 right this instant I'm going to fail completely. I've had bad study habits since high school (that's a bit of an understatement) and the material that I really don't understand is beginning to catch up to me.
As a result of trying to get caught up, I failed a test on special relativity. To be fair, the whole class didn't do very well, but that's not an excuse. The questions on it were perfectly valid and I should have been able to do them and I couldn't. I did study, but probably not to the extent that I should have.
I also find it disappointing when, for example, some problem I'm working on requires knowledge of trigonometric identities and I've completely forgotten them, or even worse, I'm presented with what should be a simple problem and I don't even know where to begin.
I realize it takes work to gain the understanding I want. The problem is, I guess, that I have no idea where to start my review - or if I should review at all. I can't even solve simple problems. I feel far too dependant on the teacher and the textbook. I want to be able to break through and lose the dependancy; to be able to solve interesting problems on my own and then to keep going. That's how I will succeed. There isn't going to be a textbook or a teacher telling me how to make a discovery or to be innovative.
I have several forces pulling at me. I really like math. Recently, I've developed an obscene interest in social and psychological processes and the possibility of applying math to them. I also like applied computer science. Then there's physics. The real deciding factor to me when choosing to major in physics was that the other two things I can do as hobbies, but unless I want to 'do physics' I need a degree and I need a lab. Is that reasoning OK? You're probably the first people I've asked that to besides myself.
I don't want any magic fix. I just want advice as to what to do at this point. Should I take this year off to decide what it is I really want to do or to review some things? Would it be more rewarding to persevere?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. ♥