I have totally been in your shoes in a General Bio class. Science and math aren't my forte, and realizing that has helped me some. What helped/helps me is understanding that "doing my best" changes from minute to minute, day to day, course to course.
A question you should ask yourself is "what's the worse that could happen?". THEN, analyze how rational your response is. Is is really possible for you to flunk out of college is you make a lower than desire grade? If that is a real possibility for you, then proactively plan how to offset the low grade. Could you talk with your instructor to get extra credit? Could you take the course over with a different instructor? In most circumstances, there is leeway for failed courses even when you receive financial aid. I know that I must pass 67% of my courses in order to remain in good academic standing and receive financial aid. Keyword here is 67%, not 100%, because people ain't perfect.
Instead of beating yourself up about the class, realize you ARE doing your best. You should also reflect on the pressure you feel to do well in this course. Why do you feel this exceeding pressure? Do you have unrealistic goals? Do you feel external pressure from others? Is this a longstanding behavior based on the expectations of others? Why are you taking the class? Did you want to take the class?
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Originally Posted by meganms
I am in an organic chemistry class and am having a really difficult time with it. I am doing pretty much everything I can (going to all lectures, studying daily, working on homework with multiple groups of people, going to tutoring) but am still not getting good grades.
I started getting major anxiety this week and am having a hard time keeping myself sane and calm. The stress is making me feel sick to my stomach and I haven't had much of an appetite because of it.
I don't think I've ever felt this stressed throughout my whole college career and it's really scaring me because I don't know how to handle this level of anxiety. I'll feel okay one second and then a second later this cloud of anxiety engulfs me.
Have any of you been in my shoes and do any of you have advice for me on how to cope with it? I only have three weeks left of this class but I can't go on feeling like this all the time, I'm not sure I can go through that.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
P.S. I've dealt with anxiety, depression, and OCD in the past so that's partly why this is really scary for me. It is, however, an anxiety I haven't felt in the past.
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