Hi, my first year of college was a disaster. I studied a lot and I always went to the tutoring center for math(college algebra) but I just never did well. In physiology one of my more important classes I did horrible I studied and studied but I was just staring at a piece of paper for hours and I barley remembered a thing. I always watched videos and such online for help. Is college not for me or am I just studying wrong?
You could be. Have you been to professor office hours? If not, do so early on, to be sure you are hitting key concepts. Do you have distractions around you? Are you too tired or hungry? Are you choosing a place you feel comfortable in to study? You might be benefit from watching some tutorials on how to study effectively. Go to your tutoring center even if you don’t think you need help. Join or set up a study group.
Everyone is different, but people have individual learning styles. My daughter studies by taking notes, making flash cards for herself, and occasionally watching videos. My son has to read things aloud and think them over to remember. He watches a lot of videos. He needs to hear things. You must have successfully studied for something, so remember what works for you and try it again.
Are you just watching the videos, or taking notes? Many people find that actually writing things down yourself helps it to sink in - and writing by hand does so more effectively than typing.
There wasn’t much info to go on here so I looked back at your other posts and saw you were suspended for a 1.98 GPA and posted an appeal letter saying you went to parties knowing you had exams coming up, let your social life take over, and are not proud of the choices you made. In another you mentioned possibly saying your mother had mental issues and you had nothing other than that to blame it on other than your laziness. In another you talk about going to tutoring all the time, so I’m not sure what the truth is, but it looks like you actually brought your GPA up from a 1.7 first semester by repeating a class you failed while taking a full load on top of that to keep your unit total at a full time level, making the 2nd semester much harder than it would have been if you weren’t repeating a class. But for having to repeat that class, you might have gotten a 2.0.
I suspect you’d be OK if you just tried harder and employed better study habits. You may think you tried hard and studied a lot, but this isn’t high school anymore. It’s difficult to concentrate and do your best when you’re going to parties and staying out late before exams. Your #1 priority needs to be school. They may let you come back, but only after you do something to prove you are ready. You mentioned summer school. If you manage to do well, that may be all it takes to kick that GPA up over 2.0, prove to them that you care capable of doing better and committed to doing so.
I also don’t want to discount the possibility that your mother’s issues might not be affecting you. Is it possible you’ve used excessive partying as a way to escape or avoid some feelings/worries related to all that? If you feel that might be the case (even at a subconscious level), don’t hesitate to take advantage of any counseling services offered on campus. It can’t hurt to talk to someone about it, right?
Honestly, I think you can do this if you put in the time and effort and stop the self-sabotage. Commit to do whatever it takes, seek the help you need (office hours, tutoring, counseling) you may be surprised at the level of success you can achieve.
Best of luck!