Back to the Drawing Board.
I previewed my midterm grades this past Friday and I was not impressed at all. In fact, I was downright pissed at what I saw. Out of my four classes, I’m only passing one. That’s right, only one.
In addition to all of that studying I did for my Differential Equations exam last Wednesday, I failed that as well.
I wondered, with all the time I put into studying, staying on campus til 1-2 am most nights, why the hell are my grades looking as bad as they do? When it comes down to it, I think the problem lies in my study habits.
When I study (and its usually with a group, because I get distracted easily when I study alone), we go over problems until we all have a grasp of the concept. When it comes to Calc 3 and Differential Equations, I complete my online assignments and end up with a firm grasp on the subject matter. However, when test day comes, I panic, freeze up, and forget how to solve the problems OR I end up making small mistakes that cause me to get the entire problem wrong.
What frustrates me about all of this is, I know how to do these problems.
Engineering Mechanics (or Applied Mechanics) is a completely different story. Not only am I confused with solving the problems for that class, the majority of the people in my study group are confused as well. We help each other out with what we know, but more times than not, we never end up finishing a problem. I believe that out of the eleven people that are in my class (including me), maybe three of my classmates are passing. I’ve gone to the professor a couple times to get help with the homework assignments, but it seems as if I end up even more confused than I was before. I’ve spoken with other Engineering majors, and their advice was “Take the class during the summer session”. That would be a good idea if I had the $1100 to pay for the summer course (since Financial Aid doesn’t cover it).
Another thing that bothers me about this situation is the fact that as CE’s (Civil Engineering Majors), we need this class to get to the rest of our other Civil classes, while EE’s (Electrical Engineering Majors) and IE’s (Industrial Engineering Majors) can wait until the semester before they graduate to take this class.
Because of my poor performance at midterm, I’ll be resigning as Yearbook Section Editor after my deadlines at the end of this week. I’ll at least finish the assignments I’m on now, but with my grades looking the way they do, I need to eliminate some unnecessary work.
I thought about leaving ASCE and ITE as well, but I ultimately decided against it becuase those orgs only have bi-monthly meetings, and on top of that, I’ll be able to interact with fellow Engineering majors and get heads up on internships and other professional/networking opportunities.
So I’m here asking for advice. How should I go about changing my study habits, better yet, how does one actually study? I know I’m capable of pulling in A’s and B’s (as I have in previous semesters), but with these grades I have in front of me now, I think I need to change my M.O. as far as studying is concerned.
I’ve already revamped my study schedule to include more study time per class, but if anyone knows of any tricks I could use for studying and/or retention, that would help alot.
Random Thought of the Moment:
“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”
-Herbert Spencer
Song of the Moment: “All That I Got Is You” by Ghostface Killah
