:-)
So today I was working on my chem homework, and I simply was getting nowhere. I was pretty depressed about it at one point. So I finally decided to go to get help from my TA. He helped me a little, but I figured out the question I had trouble with by myself. But that was accounted for 50 points out of 200. Still had a long way to go. By now it was almost time for dinner, so to pass the time, I called my mom up and talked to her for a while. She tried to encourage me a bit, and I listened. After dinner, we played a prank on a few people in our house.
Then my dad sent me an email and called me. My mom had told him that I was having trouble and he just wanted to talk to me. He told me a few things that really made me feel better about myself:
I think this is natural. You will find some stuff hard because it is
hard stuff. That is ok. I found stuff very hard when I first came to
UM for graduate school. It took a while to figure out and I did. The
same thing will happen to you.
Just remember two things:
1. Work can overcome the difficulty level - it is a matter of accepting
that the only way to overcome it is through study. There is no short
cut.
2. Failure is not an option. It does not exist in our vocabulary. You
have the brains to figure it out. Therefore you don't need to submit
to partial knowledge of the subject matter. You can master it.
You are in a new place and a new system. I guarantee that you will
figure out how to study with efficiency. It just takes a little time.
So don't be disheartened. The only and most important thing is to face
your work with solid effort and do your best. I have no doubt you will
succeed.
Please call me anytime.
Love
Dad
That was his email. He reemphasized that in our conversation. We talked for a long time, and it really got me thinking about a lot.
But eventually, I went back to my chemistry set. And I ballered up a 40 point problem in about 25 minutes. Then I read for about 30 mins and then reasoned my way through a 20 point problem. I felt really good right about now, cuz I'd learned all this really hard stuff myself and applied it correctly. So I took a quick break. What did I do you ask? I played Tetris Attack for SNES on my computer via an emulator. I played for 15 minutes and absolutely destroyed the computer. Somehow, the problem solving aspect of the game relaxes my brain. How? I have no fucking clue. But after I was done, I felt refreshed. So I read for another 30 minutes and started another question. This one was a biggie - 50 points. And I stormed right through it. Then I started the last problem, a 40-pointer. I went and asked a housemate if I was doing it right, and then slogged through it (it wasn't as hard as it was tedious). So I took another break and played some foosball. I even ballered that up! My team won 4-1 (that's in games, not points!). So then I restarted the problem. And I definitely took only 25 minutes to finish it.
So that's my amazing story. I feel really proud of myself for taking my worst subject by the hips and fucking it like *insert hot chick's name here*.
:-D