Droppin a class, or 3.

[Ds]

well as long as i re take the class. that sucks panda, my fuckn teacher was there jus tryn th get her masters degree dats all, dint teach worth shit. (this is my english 0101 lab) my REAL class was pimp shit, the teacher was cool as fuck.

 

[Heuristic]

D's, the Ws don't look great, but as Amor pointed out, they're better than Fs.

It's your first semester, so I wouldn't beat yourself about it. College is a transition, and you're going to learn some new skills to be successful there.

But I would take the fact that you let circumstances come to this point very seriously. Determine what happened this semester, and take steps to keep it from happening again. And do this before next semester starts. Losing even a couple of weeks in a semester can be very hard to overcome.

If it comes down to it, take fewer classes next semester, just to be sure you're in the right mindset.

Start practicing habits now that will be essential. Make going to a study-place a daily thing; make reading a certain number of pages each day a daily thing. Don't get intense about it; don't worry about it a lot; just get into the habit of doing it, as you would get a cup of coffee every morning.

Daily study is a part of life. If you can begin to see it just as an expected part of your day--not something that can be avoided, or rushed through, or an annoying thing that doesn't belong there--then you're on your way. At that point you've stopped fighting yourself.

My biggest challenge was learning to view studying as ordinary, normal, and just something that needed to be done every day. It's not a superhuman task, and it doesn't require superhuman discipline. Once that clicks... you have no idea how much easier a semester is when you keep up with the work.

 

[Ds]

Thanks ya'l
College is hard for me right now, I've got so so many internal and external distractions.
A. I live on campus
B. I have friends that want to party 24/7
C. My parents live 2 hours from me

Those are just to name a few.
Things can be a lot worse for me right now, I'm glad that I just relised that now.

Does anyone have ideas how to cut back on the external and internal distractions?

 

[satricion]

I think Heuristic hit the nail on the head. If you follow that advice you'll probably wind up doing quite well.

Living on campus is the most distracting thing. I would move out of there into your own place if you can. If not, just try to be a bit careful about how you manage your time. Study in the library instead of in your room to avoid distractions from your friends bearing beer and weed. Only get wasted if you can afford the time off. Never, ever use partying to distract you from work that you don't want to do, or to distract you from feeling stressed about being behind on your work (the best way to avoid stress is to get stuff done).

 

[RedLeader]

Too add -- It is important for a young person to experience partying, rebelling, experimenting and all of that stuff. But at the same time, you have to keep it in check. Can you think of semester breaks, summer vacation, the occasional weekend and the like as the times to party (and trust me, that still gives you PLENTY of party time), and the other times as such for serious business? I'm not saying that temptation isn't incredibly hard to overcome, but in the end those who do find success in school (and in life) are largely those who do fine ways to overcome it. At at least keep it in serious check. YOU have to put YOUR foot down and decide that YOU are at college to improve YOUR future. College isn't exactly how it's portrayed in National Lampoon movies

 

[satricion]

Also, keep in mind that consistent effort over the semester gives better results than doing nothing, then cramming right at the end. You'll be less anxious, you'll understand the material better, you'll get better grades, and ultimately you'll be happier and have a better lifestyle.

 

[Cyc]

That's sort of depressing. I tried to blow through 100 level Chemistry (very difficult at my school) through a 6-week accelerated intersession course. I didn't even bother going to the final exam, but I'm retaking it this fall.

I wonder if the "F" will follow me when I get a better mark in the course.

I could just take language courses and ace them all, but I have a grudging love for the Sciences, despite being a global thinker and learner.

 

[epiks]

I've dropped a full quarters worth at one CC, started the next quarter at a new CC, dropped that full quarter too. My addiction keeps catching up with me. I'm trying really hard to get back into school and a good job but its going to take longer than i thought.

 

[Heuristic]

That's sort of depressing. I tried to blow through 100 level Chemistry (very difficult at my school) through a 6-week accelerated intersession course. I didn't even bother going to the final exam, but I'm retaking it this fall.

I wonder if the "F" will follow me when I get a better mark in the course.

I could just take language courses and ace them all, but I have a grudging love for the Sciences, despite being a global thinker and learner.

I think a 6 week course would be viewed as mattering less, and one F on the transcript, while not pretty, will be viewed in context. So if your other grades are good, and there's that one outlier for a 6 week course, I don't think the effect would be substantial.

Just be careful to take things one step at a time. Nontraditional students can feel a lot of pressure to push through early classes very quickly, but those may be the classes where it's most important to slow down and absorb. It's far more important to get the course right than it is to finish it quickly. Students coming straight from high school are going to have more recent experience with science and math, whereas a nontraditional might have to start by refreshing certain concepts and ways of thinking, or may simply find himself refreshing concepts and ways of thinking throughout the course. I think that's especially true as you get into the creative problem-solving aspects.

The good news is that your mind will recover or learn that early knowledge very quickly, and by having to devote more thought and analysis to the material, you'll likely learn it at a deeper level than other students might.

But it may take a little time, especially for the first courses in a subject.

 

[Cyc]

Thanks.