Ouch!
11-14-2007, 08:37 PM
Perhaps the problem is a lack of interest in a majority of my classes. Usually I manage to do well in the class regardless of whether or not I enjoy it, but this first semester of college has done away with such a track record.
Entering college, I was determined to have better study habits. I'd get straight A's, damn it, and nothing would stop me. Apparently I didn't foresee a severe disinterest and (in some cases) dislike in my classes.
I'm trying to eliminate as many general education requirements as I can. I'm taking the last math class I'll ever have to take in my life. Unfortunately, its subject material is stuff I did back in the early years of high school, which just about kills motivation. I've not done a single homework assignment in the class, and given that I've got a solid B+ in the class and easy-as-pie extra credit opportunities worth up to 50 points (almost as much as a single test), I can't really be bothered to work.
German and Economics are much the same. I don't put in enough effort to either class to manage more than a B, mostly because I really, truly don't care about either class in the slightest.
I had set myself up for two classes I expected to enjoy. I love my English course, and I'm doing very well in there. The other course, Greek and Roman Mythology, has turned out to be a terrible disappointment. It originally had a cap of 30 students, but somehow it's turned into a lecture hall for 150 students, an environment totally adverse of meaningful discussions about the texts we read. As such, I've missed multiple classes and haven't bothered to read anything. Given that I read sparknotes summaries for the first exam and managed a 97%, I can't really bring myself to do anything different for tomorrow's exam (the catalyst to this little rant). Even more unhelpful is the results I got from calculating the grades I need on the next two assignments (a final project I expect to be almost unbearably easy and tomorrow's exam). To get an A-, I only need an average of 89%, easily obtainable given that the final project is likely to boost my grade ridiculously.
Anyway, long story short, it looks like I've not quite lived up to my own expectations (not at all a foreign concept to me). If I get the grades I expect in each class, I'll land myself a GPA of 3.46, which is, by all accounts, respectable. However, it's not enough to get me into the honors program (by a measly .04 points), which, in the end, isn't particularly important to me.
So, thread topic to make this other than a rant. How many of you suffer from lack of motivation like this? What do you do to motivate yourself to try harder? I set myself up with a (hopefully) better schedule next semester so that I'm taking less classes I know I will hate (economics, math, and German) in favor of subjects that at least hold some interest for me. I'm not sure how well it'll work out, though.
Entering college, I was determined to have better study habits. I'd get straight A's, damn it, and nothing would stop me. Apparently I didn't foresee a severe disinterest and (in some cases) dislike in my classes.
I'm trying to eliminate as many general education requirements as I can. I'm taking the last math class I'll ever have to take in my life. Unfortunately, its subject material is stuff I did back in the early years of high school, which just about kills motivation. I've not done a single homework assignment in the class, and given that I've got a solid B+ in the class and easy-as-pie extra credit opportunities worth up to 50 points (almost as much as a single test), I can't really be bothered to work.
German and Economics are much the same. I don't put in enough effort to either class to manage more than a B, mostly because I really, truly don't care about either class in the slightest.
I had set myself up for two classes I expected to enjoy. I love my English course, and I'm doing very well in there. The other course, Greek and Roman Mythology, has turned out to be a terrible disappointment. It originally had a cap of 30 students, but somehow it's turned into a lecture hall for 150 students, an environment totally adverse of meaningful discussions about the texts we read. As such, I've missed multiple classes and haven't bothered to read anything. Given that I read sparknotes summaries for the first exam and managed a 97%, I can't really bring myself to do anything different for tomorrow's exam (the catalyst to this little rant). Even more unhelpful is the results I got from calculating the grades I need on the next two assignments (a final project I expect to be almost unbearably easy and tomorrow's exam). To get an A-, I only need an average of 89%, easily obtainable given that the final project is likely to boost my grade ridiculously.
Anyway, long story short, it looks like I've not quite lived up to my own expectations (not at all a foreign concept to me). If I get the grades I expect in each class, I'll land myself a GPA of 3.46, which is, by all accounts, respectable. However, it's not enough to get me into the honors program (by a measly .04 points), which, in the end, isn't particularly important to me.
So, thread topic to make this other than a rant. How many of you suffer from lack of motivation like this? What do you do to motivate yourself to try harder? I set myself up with a (hopefully) better schedule next semester so that I'm taking less classes I know I will hate (economics, math, and German) in favor of subjects that at least hold some interest for me. I'm not sure how well it'll work out, though.