[DenisDonnacha]

Does anyone else get this?
I start off every school year with high hopes of doing good, keeping on top of things and generally feeling good about school/college. But eventually I just get overwhelmed by work and sheer boredom and other feelings make it that I stop caring. Quality of work goes way down and general effort goes down too.
I had high hopes this year because the good feelings actually prevailed on the whole (despite some annoyances and events) for all of the first semester. But now a few weeks back in the second semester and I'm just sick of it again. It becomes a struggle now and school isn't enjoyable. I'm either swamped with work or bored out of my mind. It's just a feeling of "I don't care any more" and no matter what I do it comes around every year.
If anyone has solutions to kick these feelings or also has problems with them, post away!

[mazing]

I have the same problem a lot of the time.. and unfortunately I don't really have the answer - still looking for it myself!

I have found that accountability does help though. Is there a friend in your class you can study with or study group you can join? Having someone pushing you to do the work makes a major difference.

The other thing is to do your best to not get behind - keep a schedule of when/what you are going to do and try to stick with it. It tends to hold off the feelings of not caring.

[Perna]

The Apathy Anonymous meeting was canceled due to lack of interest.

From: http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/apathy.htm

A university professor set an examination question in which he asked what is the difference between ignorance and apathy. The professor had to give an A+ to a student who answered: I dont know and I dont care.

From: http://www.bored.com/findquotes/cate_533_Apathy.html

http://www.bored.com/

[DenisDonnacha]

haha I read that second one before, it's very good lol

[Open Eyes]

I think in your case Denis you enjoy being more physical than mentally stimulated.
Keep in mind that at 19 through about 24 your actually still growing in ways you don't realize. And the brain does get fatigued you know, hense the apathy.

The whole reason there is a winter break, spring break etc in the schools is there is a recognition of brain fatigue and a break is good for everyone. You have to keep in mind that your doing this because you WANT to not because you HAVE to. It is the state of mind that we impose on ourselves unknowingly that can add to the apathy as well.

Actually these college years are shorter than you realize. The next thing you know you will be graduating and saying to yourself that you wished you had applied yourself more. You have to work on convincing yourself that these years are not really going to repeat and that you should savor this experience in your life. You will be surprised down the road at what you may wish you paid more attention to as it was more useful to your self empowerment than you thought at the time.

Keep in mind as you feel yourself not caring, YOU ARE ACTUALLY IN AN ACTIVITY THAT IS ALL ABOUT SELF EMPOWERMENT. Make sure that your active during this period. If this is the period where sports activities are not present, your brain will lack in the much needed endorphins that give you the boost in brain power. So if your not involved in a physical activity, make sure you go to the gym, jog, and make sure you also get rest.

Open Eyes

hey D

what worked for me...taking some classes that really interested me..not always the ones that were part of my major...so what if they didn't really tie into my major at the time.

you are only at the school once..& you have all these intelligent prof's at your fingertips...use them...suck all the knowledge out of them...if physics sounds like it might interest you...try a class. writing, the same. philosphy, religion...you got it. use the resources that are there.

i have a degree in exercise physiology & close to minors in history, religion, english, science ...my feeling is that the broader you are educated makes you much more rounded & fun & learned anyway.

find what will make you grow my man...i LOVED physics & biomechanical analysis, & statistics...even tho i can't really do math...because i totally got the theories behind them...

find your niche by exploring...& then the passion will come. don't just plod along taking what people say to take..it makes you dull & depressed. hey if pottery does go for it (i never tried that & wish i could have)

be brave D...branch out.

[Perna]

I would get out of the "trench" and look at the bigger picture. When we're in school, it's about getting good grades and pleasing professors, etc. But we get out of school and no one hiring us really cares about our grades and only places I don't want to work anyway, care about what school I went to even! Do a 3-5 year plan and realize that this semester is only a small part where you want to be in five years. If you picture yourself in another country, the skills you pick up now fall into place for helping you get a good enough job there; you work on getting experience using what they are teaching now so you have the appropriate background in five years. The boring stuff just becomes a tool in your toolbox.

Sure hammers are boring but you're not just making hammers, you're making screw drivers, chisels, wrenches, etc. and when you have to build that ark in the future, you'll be glad the professor talked on and on about what kind of wood was best to make hammer handles out of and made you experiment by making multiple boring hammers :-) By the way, pouring the metal for all those hammer heads, and finally getting the right texture/strength, something that didn't shatter? You know enough about metal working now to try making a sword. Nothing fancy, but it "works". Then you can go back and run that obnoxious professor through with it

[swstudent615]

Denis,

I really don't blame you. I'm not a genius in school or anything but I feel like for the past few years of college, which I'll be in my senior year of social work next fall, I keep reading the same text books over and over again. Everything seems so tedious and the professors??! Don't even get me started. I do try to just enjoy the fact that school does keep my schedule productive and time consuming, and sometimes with hard work, just putting in all that reminds me that the end result is worth all of the boredom and repetitiveness. It will all get better and like everyone always tells me, even though I get sick of hearing it it's still true....

It will all be worth it!