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I noticed your column, so I thought I'd ask you a question. I'm in my first year of college, and I can't take it anymore. It's soo hard. I'm a slow reader and a bad "absorber", and that affects my history, science, and english grades. I'm failing one class and last semester I failed one too. It's just so stressing to have a job and be expected to memorize loads of material and read tons of chapters/books. What do I do?
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Hmm. I don't live in North America (assuming that's where you come from), so I can't give specific suggestions. That said, you are determined to stay in college for whatever reason, right? If you are, then finding the motivation might be a little bit easier.
Also, I'm guessing it's the same everywhere that for most people, it's not university/college itself that's difficult, but the transition from high school to college, which is why a student's first year in particular might be harder than usual (I had this problem a bit). It takes a while to get used to a completely different way of doing things, and a completely different attitude too -- some people take longer than others to get used to it. Might this be the problem you're having?
If it is, buddy up with others, and perhaps talk to your lecturers as well, if you feel there are some you can approach. There are probably other students having the first-year blues as well, and it might actually help to see other students experiencing the same troubles as you... not even the most studious people I knew at my first year of uni could do _all_ the readings*, so we all used to commiserate together. =)
* (I'm doing history and sociology as two of my majors, so I do know the pain of lots of readings ;))
However, if you think it's something worse than this, that you really _are_ struggling to keep up:
1) I'm guessing you work part-time. Is there any way to cut back on your hours, at least until you get into the swing of things, or even get a different job? I understand if you can't, but balancing both in one's first year at college can take a tool.
2) Could you change your attendance to part-time for a while, or even defer college for a year? Now that you know firsthand what college is like, giving yourself extra time or a year to prepare yourself might do wonders for you.
3) This shouldn't really have to be said, but do you want to do the course you're doing, for whatever reason? There are people who do courses for purely practical reasons and drop out soon after. Is it possible to change or defer certain classes, or even transfer to a different course?
4) Talk to somebody. Does your college have some sort of advisor in these matters, or a SRC?
5) I wouldn't have really mentioned this, but how are your study habits? Do you have the habit of skimming for important info and either noting or highlighting the important points?
Good luck with all this. In any case, remember that even if you're struggling, you're not the first one, so there's bound to be some sort of useful advice, support, or alternatives out there. =)
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