Surviving 5 Physics Classes: Tips to Avoid Death from Exhaustion

[franznietzsche]

I now understand why most people will never take more than three major classes per quarter. I have five physics classes this quarter. I have one midterm tomorrow and 3 on monday. I've studying everynight until about 2 or 3. I was doing lab work and studying till 3 yesterday.

On a side note, electronics is insane. If your physics program tries to make you take a single electronics course, apparently they'll cram a whole year of EE into one term (which for us is just ten weeks, not a semester). I've never worked like this for a class. I almost live more in the physics major lounge than I do at home this quarter. 15+ hours a day, I'm either in class or that room. seven days a week.

On the other hand, I love these classes. They're all fascinating. But so much work. So much exhaustion. I need another triple espresso, haven't had one since midnight.

Oh and its Mardi Gras weekend. Weekend? What weekend? I have a single 70 day week this quarter. No silly 5 day weeks for me. Espresso, right. Now. I'm a little tired.

 

[BobG]

No one ever died from having to get up early and no one ever died from too much schoolwork.

Well, except for Rene DesCartes. Queen Christina of Sweden hired him to teach her math and wanted trigonometry lessons at 4:30 in the morning. A few months of that schedule and he died of exhaustion (pneumonia, actually, but exhaustion certainly contributed).

 

[Evo]

No one ever died from having to get up early

Speak for yourself. Waking up early makes me vomit, and people have been known to choke to death on their own vomit, therefore, waking up early can be fatal.

 

[BobG]

Speak for yourself. Waking up early makes me vomit, and people have been known to choke to death on their own vomit, therefore, waking up early can be fatal.

A common mistake among early birds is that they overlook that "the early bird gets the silkworm (not the caterpillar stage of a monarch butterfly's life)"

Worms are harmless while caterpillars are toxic (http://kingstonobserver.com/moxie/columnists/naturally/caterpillars-silk-worms.shtml

Kids learn that these bright markings are a warning to would-be predators that they are too toxic to eat. The poison passes on to the adult, and an adult monarch again is brightly marked for warning. Any bird that tries to eat it will actually vomit, and never eat another one.

Silk worms, as they are also called, are easy to raise, and make a wonderful classroom or nature center project, if you have a nearby mulberry. The caterpillars large and fat and white, and are actually edible.

 

[franznietzsche]

No one ever died from having to get up early and no one ever died from too much schoolwork.

Well, except for Rene DesCartes. Queen Christina of Sweden hired him to teach her math and wanted trigonometry lessons at 4:30 in the morning. A few months of that schedule and he died of exhaustion (pneumonia, actually, but exhaustion certainly contributed).

I laughed a little.

No really though, I'm either studying or in class about 15 hours per day seven days a week. Thats a bit much. I definitely bit off one heck of a course load.

 

[honestrosewater]

Haha, poor franz. I did the working 80+ hours, 6-7 days a week thing for like 6 months when I was 19. Only I was managing a Subway, which, in case you were wondering, is not my dream job. In fact, I loathed it completely. I remember when coming home, setting the alarm for like 17 minutes later, sleeping for 17 mintues, showering, changing, and going back to work almost felt normal. I actually ended up quitting because I wanted to go back to school and the owners were [expletive deleted].

 

[chroot]

I'm holding down a full-time job as a senior IC designer at a Nasdaq 100 company, while also going to grad school part-time at Stanford. I'm only taking one class right now, which sounds innocuous, right? But the average student in the class is spending 15 hours a week on homework, and I'm a little on the underprepared side. As a result, I'm taking more like 30 hours a week to complete the homework. This week's homework, alone, was 23 pages of handwritten math!

So, I'm up till 2 or 3 many nights studying, plus holding down a demanding 50+ hour job, and it's taking its toll on everything from my libido to my appetite to my relationship with my girlfriend...

- Warren

 

[JasonRox]

I'm holding down a full-time job as a senior IC designer at a Nasdaq 100 company, while also going to grad school part-time at Stanford. I'm only taking one class right now, which sounds innocuous, right? But the average student in the class is spending 15 hours a week on homework, and I'm a little on the underprepared side. As a result, I'm taking more like 30 hours a week to complete the homework. This week's homework, alone, was 23 pages of handwritten math!

So, I'm up till 2 or 3 many nights studying, plus holding down a demanding 50+ hour job, and it's taking its toll on everything from my libido to my appetite to my relationship with my girlfriend...

- Warren

Damn! The second I thought it couldn't get any worse, you said you had a girlfriend. Nothing against girls or anything, but having a significant other takes time too, boy or girl.

 

[zoobyshoe]

A friend I have, who works in the TV/film industry as a makeup artist, once ended up in the hospital from general exhaustion after he got work on a TV series that required he develop at least one new full blown monster makeup every week plus get up at 4 AM to apply it to the actors (that process usually takes hours). I don't remember how he got wrangled into this, but normally that much work would be spread among three or four people.