Why can't I learn?

My title is somewhat misleading. I can learn, I have actually learned quite a bit. I am a science major at a 4 year university. I take nothing but chemistry and biology classes, but Ive always had a problem, I never do as good as I think I should on test or essays etc. I can study days in advance, pound information into my head over this time using a variety of "techniques" that I have learned through my 5 years in college. From writing in different colors, to recording lectures, tutors, rewriting notes, procrastinating, not procrastinating, it all seems to not pay off. Hard classes such as genetics and chemistry that I studied my butt off for I barely passed.

One day while studying organic chemistry with a friend, I noticed something striking and so did he. We would be working on problems where you would be given the name of a molecule and you would have to draw it in its 3D form. We would both draw our molecules the correct way but at different angles. It was ALWAYS like this, I always would draw them facing one direction and he would always show them another direction. We also had to memorize reactions between different molecules and draw out the products, this memorization was simple for him, but for me terribly hard. I would spend 3 times as much energy getting this stuff down while he would study the day before the exam and Ace it. I too want to be an A student.

So I ask, in this terrible, not very well written post, is there something I am missing? Am I just not an A student? I have always thought I may be ADD or ADHD, but have read lots of information on how the treatments are terrible for you. What the medicine does to your body is terrible!

reply to post by BioChemMatt


I dunnno, see I started reading the first paragraph, and being almost the adhd type, once I saw you say you could, I looked for what you couldn't... I saw could could could, and jumped to the next paragraph. Almost immediately ignored that one, then on the last one, all I could really focus on was your question again.

I have no idea.

Try asking it tho, without the tl;dr feel :*(

I have a somewhat similar problem to yours. I can sit down and study an hour a day for a week and learn an entire course subject in that time. The problem is getting myself to sit down and study that subject for an hour straight with no distractions.

I think I have ADD myself, but no way am I pumping ritalin into my body, I advise you not to aswell.

reply to post by badw0lf


I did almost the same thing, hah. I had to re-read his post.

The tr;dl feel? I'm not sure what you mean.

reply to post by BioChemMatt


I would say, to be where you are, you've done pretty well. Therefore stop moaning about it and accept that there is a limit to what most people can learn. I would like to be an astronaut but know it will never happen simply because I haven't got the brains. I have an IQ in the 120s and a technically challenging job but I just can't get my head around complex mathematics.

Sorry but it sounds like you wan't to be Einstein and your disappointed because you're only at Edison level.

Its not that I don't have desire, I do! Its like I'm missing some sort of learning ability.! I just think some people learn different than others and want to find my style, but without making C's in classes that I need A's in. I came here hoping that someone may have had a similar problem and corrected it. I'm looking for methods and ideas on how I can overcome this barrier and blow past the competition.

i had a crazy uncle who made my cousins record what they was studying and play it on repeat as they where sleeping. my cousin says it works so he might not be crazy. you could give that a try. havent tryed it myself so dont know if it works but what could it hurt trying it? btw i have a problem retaining what i learn as well.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

the simplest answer is that some people are brighter than others. the simplest solution is getting prescribed to Adderol. Even if you dont have ADD that stuff will get you your phd with two times less the effort.

I did start getting into chemistry, but did not have the heart for at the time and ended more into computers. If your main problem is with left / right side of molecules then is sounds like you are missing something in how this left / right definition is made, what the difference is and why there is a difference. If you can get your head around this then it should start to come more natural instead of the fight it is. After studying neural networks, it is like your brain has made a connection somewhere in relation to this, but not enough to fill in the missing gap.

reply to post by fiftyfifty


You are probably right. It could be that I am what I am, and that I am just a "C" caliber student. I can just hope that maybe I am just missing something small and that I can possibly fix it.

reply to post by BioChemMatt


Well there could be something about your right hand hand left hand orientation. I would say from your post it may be a minor factor unless you need to draw molecules in the exams which is reasonable in terms of stereochemistry courses.


What more concerns me is exam technique. Are you givng the examiner what they want for their answer? Are you guilty of time management. At one time some of my best students gave briliant comments on their exam papers but the points could not be linked to the marking scheme so no marks. I would put RTQ against some comments. Then in exasperation (see signature) I would put RTFQ (lol).

I came to the conclussion as a student that exam technique is as important as learning and retention.

You should alsotry working through past exams papers to ensure that you stay on point. Do not do so by writing an essay but use bullets points as it is faster.

My 2 cents

What you are experiencing is a learnig block. Everybody has it in every profession. The only way to get through it is just work hard. It's like hitting a head on a brick wall, but the wall will crumble, if you keep on bounding it. Secondly, do not compare yourself to other people, because there's alaways someone faster or smarter or stronger than you. But really rarely in at the same person . By comparing yourself to others you will downplay yourself and your abilities. This makes you unhappy and you perform poorly. Remember Newton was a bad shephard (of lambs) and not a very good politician too. So play with the hand you got and do not worry about it too much. You may not be the best, but you may be good enough. And if you have a dream try to pursuit it as you can. Remember luck plays a role too. You may get your dream job after all, just by being at the right place at the rght time. And you cannot know where and when is that All good on your studies and other things that you choose to pursuit in life (except if it's really evil). ps. do not try a quick path, because it will lead to the dark side

Originally posted by BioChemMatt
The tr;dl feel? I'm not sure what you mean.

It's when you are all excited about something, and within moments find yourself just giving up because the content is just sooooo awkward to read.

tl;dr - too long; didnt read.

I did try tho...

then again you stay awake over 4 days and tell me you can read blocks of text.

I cant lie, Ive tried adderol. The stuff makes me feel like I am running at a million miles an hour and completely destroys my sleep schedule.

Something I forgot to mention is a problem I have with reading textbooks as well. It feels like I have to reread pages, that after I read a page, Ive already forgotten what I read. I can give a summary of what I read, but detail, no way. I am terrible at remembering locations and names. Also, sometimes while studying, I get overwhelmed with information and sometimes mix classes with other classes. During test, I sweat like crazy and if someone raises their hand, Ive instantly lost focus on the test and am now looking at their hand.

I am extremely good with calculus and trig, but stumble with algebra. I made A's and B's in all of my math classes, but didn't move forward with that because I felt like I was missing something. I could do the problems, but felt like I didn't understand what the math meant to the extent that I needed to progress with it. In physics, I would get all conceptual problems correct, but using algebra to answer energy problems, I stumbled on.

reply to post by badw0lf


Sorry mate, I didnt know how to compress my question much. I researched some stuff before the post and couldnt find what I was looking for, so I had to get in detail on how I felt.

reply to post by strafgod


I recorded a friends study notes for him years ago. He was having eye surgery and needed some way of studying. The sound of my voice put him to sleep everytime they were played!

For the three subjects that we could do this with, he was the top mark for them all, whereas he would normally scrape through.

I learned heaps about electronics too, cos I made it perfect for him so I had to edit as well.

Hope to help.

MM

reply to post by OutSideBox


You are completely right. I shouldn't be comparing my self to anyone. We are just really good childhood friends and take the same classes so its frustrating sometimes to see him do better? As far as the chemistry stuff goes, am I really just missing something small here with the left/right hand stuff? I got all the way through organic chemistry I and II and now I'm asking how the hell did I do it?

reply to post by BioChemMatt


Unless you are a risk to yourself or others I would give the drugs a miss. Try meditation instead - anyform will do but pranayama may just help along with some relaxation techniques.

reply to post by MissMegs


You are the second person to post such an idea. Learning while sleeping? I do dream very detailed stories every night. From the tribulation to invading clowns lol.

I do know of some students, they were getting their masters in neurology and they tried such techniques. Sounds very interesting.

reply to post by tiger5


tiger5, i'll take your advice and stay away from them. Like I said, I have tried the stuff, I did get a lot of work done while on them, but it did a lot of "work" to my body in the process.