Should I Drop Physics? Advice & Ideas

[Felix Gonzales]

I love physics. Well, modern physics mostly, still physics though. It's amazing seeing how much there is we don't know and how we got to understand what we do know today. I think the concepts are crazy, cool and fun. If I didn't know better, I'd say modern physics truly sounds like pure fiction because of the "absurdity", if you will, of some of the concepts in it. That's why I love it! It's like watching a movie in which the climactic scenes never end and only continue to rise. Okay, you get the idea, I really love physics. Though that doesn't mean I'm superb at it. I don't have an issue with the math as of right now (barely starting my third year). I'm currently taking analytical mechanics and intro to modern physics. I don't feel my imagination is up to par with others. I feel that this is and will continue to hold me back throughout college and possibly my career, depending on what I choose to do with my life. Does this become easier? Is it one of those things where the more you study and practice physics, the easier it will get? Because some mental exercises are kind of difficult for me and I don't know if that's a matter of lack of experience or lack of talent.

 

[Wastrophysicist]

It's easy to feel discouraged when things doesn't seem to work out, and yet at the end, they do. Many undergraduate students feel they won't do well on graduate courses just because they don't yet understand the Mathematics involved. If you do well on your undergraduate program, you probably won't do bad in further programs. Anyway, I don't know if the fact that you are in Physics because the ideas seem to you crazy or cool is a good basis. You should, in my very own opinion, go into Physics if you are passionate of unravelling the nature of matter, time... hence reality. 90% work, 10% talent (I don't know how to measure it, but maybe, and I just say maybe, with an IQ>110).

 

[Felix Gonzales]

I don't know if the fact that you are in Physics because the ideas seem to you crazy or cool is a good basis. You should, in my very own opinion, go into Physics if you are passionate of unraveling the nature of matter, time... hence reality

Oh yes! I constantly find myself asking questions about what I'm learning, either asking "what if..." style questions or questioning the material itself, and I am driven to find the answers. Most of the time, because of the level of my schooling, it's questions that have already been answered though which is a little bit of a buzz kill. I studied physics because I feel that once you strip away our possessions, like money, the only thing that matters is the universe. In my opinion, the universe is the only thing that matters and the only thing that will ever matter in the entirety of time. I know other things are important as well like art and politics, but I feel that what encompasses physics will push our world forward (alongside other STEM fields of course). I realize by this point I probably sound like a mega nerd so I'll end here but I would like to thank you for your reply. I appreciate the help!

 

[byzantine04]

You should hang out with other physics majors. My classmates and I often commiserate with each other over how we feel like idiots all of the time. You are not alone in your struggle.