I’ve always been used to being a good student and for the first time in the last quarter of my freshman year in college I am going to fail my computer science class. I already changed majors to computer information systems because programming clearly is too difficult and just my experience with the professor was terrible. Now I feel like a complete failure and feel really bad about myself and my future. I know it’s only one class but I can’t help feeling this way. Does anyone have any advice on how to think? I am very disappointed.
Okay, first take a deep breath and smile. From what I’ve read, you’ve always been a good student and that’s something to be proud about.
You’re gonna fail a class. I know that might have you down, but the bright side is that you’ll have a headstart when it comes to doing it the next time.
I failed one of my courses (navigation) and I had to do it over. The first time I did it I was completely lost. It had 3 exams, and I failed 2. I got an average of 47% but I needed 50. I was interested but I couldn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together.
The second time I did the course it was a lot more fun. It was hard but the reading and stuff made sense this time. I was able to help a lot of people and I passed (even though I messed up one of the papers).
What I’m trying to say is, don’t let it get to you. Your gonna have to do it over, but it would work out for you bennifit. Courses later on, that are connected to it, would be much easier.
Students should work on finding what they are good at rather than dwelling on things they aren’t good at.
The second step is to develop what you are good at.
Nobody’s good at everything. Programming in particular takes a specific mindset which not everyone has. As others have said, figure out what you’re good at, think about what you like, take the intersection of those two things, and work from there.
It’s always tough when the “good students” hit a wall.
The poorer students hit that wall when they were very young, before their self image had a chance to get tied into grades… and probably enjoy better mental health as a result. They realize that failing a course isn’t the same thing as failing at life; it simply means that you’ve hit material that you found difficult.
You’re not a “complete failure.” You’re a human being who found that it’s not possible to be good at all things.
EVERYONE is bad at any number of things. I’m a very good math teacher, but an awful artist (seriously, you should see the “circles” I try to palm off in geometry class!), a pretty bad cook and an abysmal athlete.
The trick is to find the things you’re good at and enjoy, and to find a way to get someone to pay you to do them.
OK, so we can take one or two things off your list. That’s not a big deal; I’m sure there are lots of other things on it.
Of course, that probably doesn’t help. Give yourself a day or two for a pity party-- chocolate always helps-- then decide what you’re going to do.
You are not a failure. That’s first of all. Next, realize you CAN combine subjects you are good at with subjects you are interested in to maximize both the outcome and the enjoyment of your studies. Figure that out over the summer, and build on it throughout the rest of your college experience. May I ask, was the professor just ridiculously hard, or did you feel you truly struggled with the material? This matters, as the problem may just be with choosing the right professors through word of mouth and online sites. If you found the material difficult, realize your academic performance does not define who you are, as much as you may think it does. You have qualities which allow you to succeed academically, but you do not have to fit into a specific category of excelling in college in order to feel good about who you are as both a person and a student. Everyone, even the best, are bound to experience some type of failure, but that does not define the person at all.