Just Peachy

[SongDragon]

:mad:

*smashes head against the wall*

Yes, this is just a thread to write something and cheer myself up/get it all out before I head off to go do homework.

I thought I was doing alright in Calculus III... It wasn't so hard... We were even allowed to have a notecard. But I forgot a few crucial functions that I didn't know were crucial...

And I didn't really know vectors all that well, but I thought I would figure them out. Everyone else has had them for engineering or physics (as I'm the only freshman in the class). Usually I help explain things to others.

Yet suddenly I looked down and the whole test, not only the parts that were supposed to be (pi and theta), were in Greek. Or at least that's what it felt like. I panicked, and once I've panicked I never seem to calm down enough to figure it out. I knew it would all be over once I panicked, and yet I could not stop myself.

There goes thirty percent of my grade...

I'll keep trying, but I feel awful. Mostly embarassed. I've never had an experience like that before, when I didn't have an inkling of what to do on over half of the test. It was humiliating.

Sorry about my rant about school...

~SongDragon

[Rkitko]

You'll pick yourself up and dust off soon enough, Song. We all feel like that sometimes (ask me about my constitutional law class sometime... similar experience). Be proud that you're in such an advanced class as a freshman. And by all means, if you still don't understand it, go ask for help. If you're anything like me, that's the hardest thing to do ;)

As an aside, may I ask why you're taking Calc III? Are you majoring in engineering/physics/mathematics? I was only required to take Calc I for my biology degree and that's as far as I went! No more than I was required 'cause that's all I could stand. hehe.

Hope you're feelin' better tomorrow!

[Darlene]

Calm down Song, We all have had something like that happen to us, like Rkitko just ask me about a certain psychology class I had, and psychology was my major.

Just pick yourself up! And guess what something like it will probably happen again. Laugh! I know you are saying oh no not that again but "all" well most us survive. Close your eyes and breath in through you nose and out through your mouth several times. See, laugh, that makes it all better.

Hang in there Song!;)

Peace, Darlene

[SongDragon]

At the moment I have enough classes to dread that I didn't want Calc to become one of them...

Rkitko... I actually have no idea what I'm majoring in. There are too many directions I love. English, Art, Math... They're all wonderful, most of the time. The only thing I don't like are sciences (like Chemistry).

I am taking Calculus three because math is something I have control in (usually), and I like, because I understand it. It's strange, it's usually like I'm in a whole different atmosphere when doing math, and how hard it is doesn't matter, I just keep happily going through it. This time it was like that other level just didn't come, like I was a spectator looking in. Which is why I panicked.

I guess I'll just have to do better on my next test, and study harder, and definitely ask for help. It's just so hard to take that fall. The guys in the class tried to comfort me, but I couldn't even face them.

Thanks... I'm trying to laugh it off, because it shouldn't matter. It's calculus. It's not a required class for me (that I know, because of course I don't know).

It's just so difficult to laugh off getting things wrong that you love and breaking down about it. There's no way I can explain the panic to others in the class. They knew me as someone that always sort of shrugged it off and lazily did the work required, I suppose, easily following along with the teacher. Not after that fiasco...

I'll try, though.

~Song

[Darlene]

Sorry Song I didn't mean to make light of your feelings. I found nothing funny in blowing that psy class "that was my best class". The Prof was asking questions that no one knew the answers to. He was an English Prof besides Psy Prof. I was so mad I threw down that test down on his desk with a smack. I just knew I had just falled that class, especially because of the way I behaved. But I got an "A". Go figure? Hang in there Song!

Peace, Darlene

[Rkitko]

Oh, I know exactly the feeling. And it stings. You'll recover, though. Wounded pride can heal. You're still a very intelligent woman and this little oopsie doesn't diminish that one bit. Believe it! A bump in the road, maybe, but knowing how bright you must be, it'll pass.

I've had the experience in my past where I've been taught the same subject over and over and still didn't get it. Only when I returned to it later independently did I "figure it out", smack my forehead, and ask how I could have been so stupid. ;) One particular example was Phyiscal Chemistry. I absolutely loved Organic Chem and understood Inorganic, but "P-Chem" was beyond me for some reason. Personally, I blamed the lab equipment. And I don't think I'll be needed to know that much P-Chem in the future, so I'm ok with a small bump in my road.

And take your time figuring out what you want to do. Two things I always advise: 1) You'll never know how you'll apply your degree once you graduate and 2) You can always change your mind. Heck, the degree I'm obtaining right now serves as an "elimination" degree! I stood before a Y in the path--toward environmental studies or botany? I was accepted to the university master's program in enviro studies, so I went that direction only to discover I don't care for it beyond a hobby. That's always been my difficulty: what's a hobby and what's a career? Which can I do all day and come home still talking/thinking about it and not getting tired of it? I finally found it, but it took time. You'll find your true passion and you'll know it when you do :) The first two years of college are for exploration. The latter two are for focus. Buona fortuna!

[Eva]

Yep, it's a rotten feeling. Go cheer yourself up. Maybe that helps lifts your spirit. Icecream, sports, whatever makes you happy. Song, you are good at this math stuff. You slip sometimes. Sounds himan to me; one can't be perfect all the time. It's not a constant thing. You'll do better next time. You are still my math-hero.

Eva

[SongDragon]

You slip sometimes. Sounds himan to me;

May I just say that was perfect timing for a typo, Eva? You definitely made me laugh, and you made your point.

I feel much better after sleeping, though I woke up with a headache. I almost managed to sleep through my morning class (waking up forty-five minutes after turning off my alarm off). It definitely made me realize that no matter how much I dread certain classes, and no matter what mistakes I make, I still want to go. And as long as I've got that attitude, I can fix it.

Thanks everyone. It really did help, all your stories and your own experiences of bumps in the road. I'll be fine.

I just have to go back and actually do the vectors. I know I have all the notes, as the teacher is considerate enough to realize I don't write as fast as him and will ask if everyone has gotten it before erasing the board. So I'll go read those, try a few problems, set up a few problems, and I'll know it next time. I'll be happy as long as I get a B, and as long as it is over a D it will transfer.

What did you end up studying Rkitko? Everyone keeps asking me what I'm majoring in (and why in the world am I taking calc three), and I want to be able to say...

~Song

[hoops]

song, I congratulate you on what you DO know of this weird and foreign thing called math. it was in fact the only class in which i studied and did home work yet managed to only cover my eyes and guess my way thru. i had a theory about homework...while i was in school, i do school work ( except during lunch and study halls ) at home, i do anything but school work. the only reason i brought books home was because my locker was so full of crap they didn't fit anymore. btw what is it like to feel confident about a test?
peace
hoops

[Rkitko]

Song, tell the people that ask that you plan to be a "professional student" until you decide which of the things that fascinate you are a career and which are cursory interests. Above all, don't feel rushed and take your time.

I'm finishing up this degree in environmental studies, though in my thesis I'm setting myself up so that I can apply to PhD programs in botany without redoing another masters in botany. Botany is the passion, enviro studies is what I do in my spare time. I'm especially interested in taxonomy, systematics, phylogeny (how organisms are related to each other), and my pet projects all revolve around carnivorous plants. Yep, I'm a plant geek! But I wasn't always.

I started out my freshman year of college thinking I wanted to go into cancer research. Then I took my first cellular biology course and hated it. At the same time I was taking a Plant Diversity course, loved it and applied for summer internships. Once I began those, I was hooked. So that's another suggestion. Don't just take the classes, find an internship and do the work, see if it's a good fit for you. Paid ones are good, but take anything you can. It also helps fill out a nice resume :) You should have something like a career services office on campus that might help. Also talk to your profs--they might have connections. Mine were always receiving e-mails and passing internship opportunities along to their classes.

[SongDragon]

Hoops... I feel confident I failed that test. Actually there is only one type of test or quiz I feel confident on: take-home. The same day I took that miserable test I got a quiz back, 100%, as it was a take-home. I didn't really mean I felt confident, but I always acted confident, because that was what other people expected of me.

Rkitko, science?! I know I shouldn't be speaking, I know I am in a subject most people despise, but science kills me every time. Biology imparticular, because of the memorization required. I don't remember things well, hence why I like to have a notecard on the tests. I have a black thumb... Plants and I have had close encounters and they've been noted as national disasters. I only had one garden which I really liked. Other than that... Glad you found something you love, though!

Right now I like rock climbing, but I know it's just a hobby. I like horse back riding, too. I've realized I'll have to do something active, some sport, because I do love being active. Math is not really a passion, it can be fun, but it can also be a bore, and proofs still give me nightmares. So no PhD there... I like psychology, but it was my worst grade last semester, though the teacher was awesome and I specifically went and searched for any other classes taught by him.

Yeah... I should find an internship... or at the very least a job.

~Song

[Rkitko]

hehe, sorry to hear you've had such bad luck with plants. And yes, science. I've loved it since 6th or 7th grade. Took AP Biology in high school, which pretty much took me in the direction of biology in college. But mathematics is a science, too. Principles are the same, but you're right, there's a lot of memorization that comes with biology. Especially in botany! Ever wondered what endosaurochory means? Botanists have the time to make up these words for phenomena because they generally sit around and wait for their subjects to grow. Philosophy is another discipline famous for making up endless words to describe ideas and phenomena.

Just a further note: You don't have to love everything about the discipline you choose. Even though you dislike proofs, in a mathematical profession, how often will you have to do them? Depends on the focus. I don't think actuaries use too many proofs (but who wants to be an actuary?). I shudder at the thought of fungi classification, but it was a very real and very annoying part of my education in botany.

Oh, and in case you didn't google it already, endosaurochory is the term used to describe seed dispersal via a reptile's gastrointestinal tract. Plant dispersal done by dinosaurs! :D And if anything, I've thoroughly warned you to never let a botanist name something. Don't even ask what a cunabulum is.

[DaveM]

Do not feel bad, Song....I recently discovered that I no longer remember how to do long division by hand. And I went to school before there were calculators, too! I couldn't believe it.

Mind, when it came to "higher mathematics", I never managed to get through high school algebra. And you know what? I've never missed it.

[Eva]

(and why in the world am I taking calc three), and I want to be able to say...
How about: "Because I think it's fun." Granted, most people would look at you like you might be from another planet but so what? Fun is fun.

The typo... well, it's all in the timing... ;) I'm glad I made you laugh.

Eva