<p>Okay, I know I am hear to learn, and I'm a really hard worker. I just studied for a che test for 2 weeks, and I still ven realize it wasn't enough. However, I mean say I wanted to be a doctor and needed chem and just couldn't handle the chem, so I switched my major. Does that make me lazy, for giving up cause I couldn't get through the chem? I find that so many people switch their major cause they don't want to take this class or that class. It seems sad! I mean chem has a bit to do with bio, but it's like they are letting it kill their dreams. </p>
<p>I mean, we don't remember everything we learn, but we do learn so much in college for our major to prepare us. But I mean, say I was a chem major. I have to take Gen chem, then Gen chem 2, and then orgo and so many other chem classes. Each build on another, but each has so many different topics. If you don't learn Gen chem well, isn't all pretty much lost? What's the point of doing well in some aspects of chem but not others when you need it all? </p>
<p>I just don't get it. Are we expected to master everything to be able to do our future jobs? </p>
<p>Is the rest of my life just going to be studying and then work? It's just the way it is, I guess. It makes me sad. I want time to see my family and want time to myself. But all this studying and I'm afraid it will be for nothing cause I do well in some classes for my major but not others :(</p>
<p>It just seems sad that an hour a day is all I will ever have to myself even just 4 hours a day seems so little! But I guess I just need to accept it.</p>
<p>“I just don’t get it. Are we expected to master everything to be able to do our future jobs?”</p>
<p>You’re expected to be good at what you do. A doctor may not have to do any actual chemistry in his job, but why should someone who doesn’t understand how a certain drug or treatment works be allowed to prescribe it? And to properly understand biochemistry, you need to understand organic chemistry, for which you need to know general chemistry.</p>
<p>It seems that you might not be studying as effectively as you could. Instead of forcing yourself to study for a certain number of hours, you should instead set goals in terms of the material. It’s useless to simply read over a chemistry chapter over and over again, you need to give real thought to the concepts and try to make connections as you read. Do as much homework as you can. You might be assigned 20 problems a week, but spreading out every single problem of the chapter over a week’s time leaves you with a very reasonable daily workload as long as you can stick to a routine, and you will get much more comfortable with the material.</p>
<p>“Giving up” doesn’t always mean you’re lazy, sometimes it really IS the best decision for you. It means you know your limits. People shouldn’t stay in a major if they are doing poorly in the main subjects and their GPA is going down the toilet. Usually, if you can’t tackle the basic classes (like Gen Chem, if you’re a Chem major), it can be hard to handle the upper-level classes and medical school classes are just even MORE difficult. </p>
<p>Yeah, it sucks if people can’t achieve their initial dreams, but you have plenty of time to figure out what options are available to you, so don’t give up all hope. I agree that maybe you need to reevaluate how you study. Maybe find a group to study with, visit your teachers in office hours, or find a good tutor to help. You shouldn’t have to slave over a class until you feel like life is a meaningless black hole and you have no time to enjoy yourself. :(</p>
<p>To add on to what everyone else said, life is full of challenges and the fun part about life is figuring out what works for you. Personally, changing my major from biochem to journalism was a 360 but the best decision I’ve made this far. Money means a lot but it isn’t everything. </p>
<p>If you’re struggling in chem, trying getting a tutor. I was okay in it but hated the subject. I didn’t fail and did decent in my science classes but didn’t find it as interesting as some doctors-to-be. It was then, I knew, maybe this wasn’t for me and I’ve accepted that I will probably make less money as a non-STEM major but I can’t tell you how much happier I am overall.</p>
You don’t know you can’t make it thru chem. What you now understand is you can’t make it thru chem without putting in enough studying, which is something different.</p>
<p>Most students who do well in math/science classes find they spend around 6-10 hours per week outside of class studying for each class. That is reading the material, doing the homework, doing practice problems. That’s right, extra work. There is no rule preventing you from doing extra work, and to do well in these classes most people need to.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that at the time of the test you had been in that class around 10 weeks. That could have meant 100 hours outside of class preparing. If you put in those hours, seriously trying to learn, and bombed the test then chem isn’t for you. Studying for 2 weeks is nowhere near the same. </p>
<p>For many subjects there are workbooks such as the “Chemistry Problem Solver”. These are incredible tools and I don’t know why schools don’t pass them out along with the textbook. In the chem ones you’ll find chapters that correspond to the topics covered in a chemistry textbook. The chapters have worked problems, hundreds of them. The way to use the book is to try the 1st problem with the answer covered, then check your answer. If you don’t get it right or are completely lost, then look at their detailed explanation of how to solve it. Repeat until you get the hang of that type of problem, then go on to the next. There are similar books for subjects such as math, physics, stats, econ, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not going to say it is magical or quick, but I will say it is effective. Time spent becomes time spent productively, and then if the student goes back and reviews the text after learning to solve the problems they often will say, like I did, "so that’s what this is about!</p>
<p>I know what you mean, I was thinking of changing my major since I’ll have to take a lot of difficult classes. Most are 5 units!!</p>
<p>I say if you really love what you want to become Nothing should stand in your way. Its not impossible to do chem, there’s plenty of doctors that have done that. </p>
<p>But think to yourself, are you trying to become a doctor because its something you’d love to do- helping people with their health Or is it the paycheck!? Once you figure that out, you’ll know if going chem is really worth the struggle.</p>
<p>I just don’t get it. Are we expected to master everything to be able to do our future jobs? </p>
<p>Is the rest of my life just going to be studying and then work? It’s just the way it is, I guess. It makes me sad. I want time to see my family and want time to myself. But all this studying and I’m afraid it will be for nothing cause I do well in some classes for my major but not others </p>
<p>It just seems sad that an hour a day is all I will ever have to myself…even just 4 hours a day seems so little! But I guess I just need to accept it.</p>
<p>I really wanna know how people feel about this?</p>
<p>Study for 2weeks?
I heard in DS’s class, to prepare for some test, the average students study like 11 to 13 hours everyday for 2 months.</p>
<p>DS thought he was more like a slacker as compared to some other students as he put in ONLY 10 to 11 hours everyday in the two months prior to that test.</p>
<p>A CCer, eadad, once said his child (who was in UTSW when he said this, and is now in residency in northeast region doing a 6 year residency program) told him that most college kids do not know what the study is until they are in med school.</p>
<p>DS himself was saying at one time he’s tired of always studying when he’s senior. That is the reason why he selects a med school with P/NP grades in the preclinical years. Still, his classmates are mostly very intense. He said at one time that all of those classmates in college who ended up going to H, or JHU med (like 15+ of them from his college each year, I think) are those who constantly put in 200% of EVERYTHING (not only studying.)</p>
<p>Halfrican, it probably does depend on your job, but a LOT of people have to keep studying. Especially in the 21st century, since everything is changing SO fast. As a structural engineer, I have to study a lot because the building and design codes change every couple of years. Computer software also keeps getting updated, and that’s another challenge to keep up with.</p>
<p>I know it may seem daunting, but I think studying and learning new things are just part of life. If you were to stop studying and learning, that would mean you knew everything. But you can’t possibly know everything, so you’ve got to keep learning. </p>
<p>This reminds me of the German classic Faust. In the novel, one of the major themes are along the lines of “the more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know,” and I think that might tie into how you’re feeling now. </p>
<p>Yes, especially in the medical field, there’s a lot you need to know. And as you keep plugging on, you realize how far away you are; you realize how you’ll constantly have to keep up. </p>
<p>However, that’s the beauty of it. You can never learn enough. Also featured in Faust, there’s the saying of “man is doomed to err as long as he is striving.” you’re never going to learn it all; you’re never going to be perfect. As long as you keep trying, you’re going to make some mistakes, but that’s okay. Your mistake was perhaps not studying for chem in the proper way. You can learn from this, though, and keep striving to learn as much as you can, though of course you’ll never be a complete expert at everything. </p>
<p>In my opinion, one can just learn as much as they can and hope that it’s enough. What’s classified as “enough” depends on the circumstances and the person, but it’s all we can do.</p>