Problems with grades

[abbadabba]

I've been in college for two years now and I've had lots of problems with grades, mainly because I have trouble getting the motivation to attend class on a regular basis. I always try to get up and go, but then I realize how good it feels to lie in bed and I shut my alarm off and go back to sleep. I know that the fifty-cent answer is "just go to class," but it isn't that simple. I was wondering if anyone else here has had similar problems and how you dealt with lack of motivation.

[SageDreamer]

The threat of flunking out did a lot to motivate me. Are there any particular classes that are giving you problems? Many schools have tutoring available. If something else is bothering you, counseling is often available. Sometimes it helps to talk about your problems with someone who is physically present.

Another thing to do is to get to sleep earlier. It's easier to get up at seven in the morning if you're in bed before midnight. It might also help to take later classes.

[ImmortalDissident]

I think it depends what you are studying. I have absolutely no motivation for school or school-related-anythings... but I do it because I'm motivated to find solutions to help fix the environment (Environmental engineering). School isn't sooooo shitty if you find a major you like, and find people who are going into the same thing and take all your classes with friends.


... but school still sucks.

[fitzy21]

I've been in college for two years now and I've had lots of problems with grades, mainly because I have trouble getting the motivation to attend class on a regular basis. I always try to get up and go, but then I realize how good it feels to lie in bed and I shut my alarm off and go back to sleep. I know that the fifty-cent answer is "just go to class," but it isn't that simple. I was wondering if anyone else here has had similar problems and how you dealt with lack of motivation.
i just finished my 1st year of school. i took sleep over my english class. though i couldn't sleep in my room, i slept at the chapel, which was good. but i ended up failing 2nd semester english. and i was in the wrong major. so now my goal is to get into a good master's program somewhere, just starting to look right now...but i hope that goal will deal with my lack of motivation.

maybe setting a goal could help you. talking with your friends about problems could help. it helped me in some areas.

[dawn_sky]

Have you given any thought to taking some time off school? Go spend a couple of years out in the real world -- working your ass off at some crap job, partying as hard as you want, whatever... That's what I did, when I got my butt back to school I knew what I wanted to do & have the motivation to do it -- I didn't like the real world & want to hide out in school for as long as I can now! After all, all you're doing now is screwing yourself over by destroying your GPA. What if, during your senior year, you figure out what it is you really want to do, but you need a masters degree to do it, but you can't get into grad school because you fucked your grades hardcore? And, of course, what if you find something you really enjoy doing but don't need a degree to do it? You could save yourself a couple of years & save somebody (yourself, your parents, uncle sam, whoever) a lot of money...

[LuciferSam]

For me college classes aren't so bad, my major matches my preferences pretty well (English Writing, and Studio Arts minor). In a way the courses just don't seem that bad to me because high school courses really sucked in retrospect.

Specifically, I mean mathematics... I used to ace both math/science courses and liberal arts courses, and I used to take a lot of math-heavy courses as my parents had always been pointing me like a compass towards a math-related career, even so far as forcing me to participate in the math team. I always hated math though, gave me big headaches, and by senior year I was fed up with it.

So now in college the classes just don't seem that bad anymore (I won't need to take any math whatsoever in college thanks to AP credit), so I don't have much problem attending class, and I'm sorta obliged to maintain a good GPA to keep my scholarship. And anyway, in the liberal arts you kind of have to attend most of the classes to do well, as opposed to the sciences where you can skip the lectures and just come for the tests if you want. Though that didn't work out for me that well with Intro to Psych, a class so boring that I would literally always doze off during the 2 1/2 hour lectures, and I got my worst grade in that class. So I take it as a warning to stay away from big lecture classes, I can't stand those.

[Strawberry_Fields_Fo]

Motivation? Would the fact that you're now PAYING for school be a motivational factor? Just wondering...