Finals Stress

[tearsina]

Hey, so I'm new here, and I'm a 2nd year college student, and I just finished my finals. I found out that I failed two of my classes. This isn't the first class I've failed. Both my parents and I have poured a lot of money into college, and I enjoy going to the college I go to. I just feel really lost and feel like I've let down both myself and my parents. I don't really know what to do. Should I drop college? Should I switch majors? I can't really think of a major I would enjoy more than the one I'm currently in. I don't know why I'm failing. It could be my lack of motivation at times. Anyway, I'm not really sure what to do, and I feel really stressed and lost. Any guidance would be appreciated.

[Vonus5591]

have you used YouTube to help you study. It has educational subjects on it. Google

[LadyZen]

My son had trouble in some of his classes. There are always going to be ones you do well in and some that you won't. My advice to my son, and the strategy that worked for me, was to mark the drop dates on your planner. If you're not doing well, it may be better to drop with a W than to fail the class. If you enjoy your major, stay in it, and re-take the classes. If you want to change majors that's okay too. You're learning about yourself and exploring right now.

No one I knew left college exactly in 4 years. So don't feel like a failure. You can do this. Don't worry about the money. It's expensive, but let your parents figure that part out. It's okay to be appreciative of their financial help, just don't be stressed about that piece for right now.

[Hidden]

Earlier this year, I failed out of a certification program at my local community college, so please be aware that I haven't had the mental strength or discipline to follow my own advice. In a prior life, I did manage somehow to get through law school in part because after I nearly failed a class (D-), I was put in a special class section where the professor gave a small group of students extra sessions on how to take notes and how to study. Learning how to study and how to most effectively prepare for exams are skills that aren't often taught and are critical to doing well in the academic game. Although there are a number of pseudoexperts hawking their magic study programs in this space, I do really like a lot of the free (and paid, yes, I actually paid several hundred dollars for one of his courses) content put out by Jim Kwik. I encourage you to check out his free content to help decide whether it may be benefical for you. kwiklearningonline.com/ He has a 3-part brain training series that is solid, and a lot of good free short podcasts. His book limitless is also helpful. Jim Kwik uses a lot of acronyms and one of his favorite it how to learn FAST. 1) Forget your limitations and what you know or don't know or don't 2) be Active in your learning; 3) learning is State dependent, and to really learn something you need to 4) teach it to someone else. Something you could consider doing after failing some classes is to take a break, perhaps a semester or year, so that you could come back to college excited and eager to put your new study skills to work. Ideally, you should try to find a job in the field that you want to go into after graduation, and try to figure out if you can get an entry level position in that field to help build motivation for finishing your major and graduating.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

One additional thought that I should have include first: !) Get assistance in addressing your mental health challenges. Hopefully your school has support services, including counselors and academic support. The Americans with Disabilities Act "defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities." Schools are legally required to provide reasonable accommodations in many instances. Also, speaking from personal experience, depression and ADHD without proper treatment has made it impossible for me to function as a student or employee. Again, your school should have resources and support. Lastly, I encourage you to be as self-compassionate as possible. Please don't blame yourself and criticize yourself for your struggles. I have been such a brutal critic of myself for so long - I still struggle with my hatred and embarrassment at myself for my shortcomings and failures - I can assure you that for me it has had absolutely no benefit and made things much, much worse. Please try to look at the failing of classes as an opportunity, as a positive.

[LoveforAll41]

I would say stick with college, but that is me from the outside. I imagine you could take some time away and work and save some funds if that is necessary. I would take advantage of the schools study classes and learning methods classes. I imagine you would be a real savant when you graduate if you have had to work harder than most to pass. If it is something that you enjoy I am all for it. Take the time to learn about yourself and DONT beat yourself up. Keeping at it would just show how much you value this, and if you decide that you don't that much then that is fine too. I imagine they have some counseling for careers and school that would be useful too. I wish you peace, hope, and strength☮️