National Education > General National Education Discussion

What makes you keep going?

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jakesilove:
Do you ever just question the point? I'm sitting here, studying for my uni exams, exams that will have essentially no bearing on any aspect of my future. I've spent days, weeks, labouring over notes, doing practice papers, googling and talking to friends, trying to nail Contract law and Quantum Physics, because that's just what I feel like I need to do. Obviously, with a healthy dose of AN on the side...

Don't get me wrong; education is so so important. We study because we have a goal in mind, we work hard because we have an internal drive to do so, or we want to reach some place one day that we know requires the information we're learning now. I've studied hard for so many exams that I've lost count, and as much as I hate it, I'm always glad that I did so.

But sometimes, after a day of unproductive study (ahem today ahem), when an exam that you truly dread is a few days away, it becomes hard to stay on message. So, how do you do it? What gets you up in the morning? How do you manage to continuously slog through this seemingly never-ending barrage?

Personally, I'm a fan of keeping open every available door. So, for me, whilst I don't think my marks will necessarily have a direct impact on any aspect of my future, there may one day be an opportunity that arises that I absolutely adore. If they require a graduate with good-ish marks, then I would be SO PISSED OFF with past Jake if he didn't get those marks. So, I try to leave open as many possibilities as the future might hold.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Maybe it'll keep me going....

Maraos:
This is a big one for me as well (especially now during my HSC year...)

What keeps me going is my true passions/hobbies and outside interests (beyond school).
I usually think of the big picture, the things I actually genuinely want to accomplish. Beyond getting 100% in my upcoming trial exams, the big goals and dreams that I want to achieve.
Think about it, as nice as it is getting high marks and maintaining a high GPA when you look back on your life what are the things you truly remember? Getting 100% in that mathematics exam? Or performing in-front of 1000s of people for a drama production?
Coming first in physics? Or setting up a software start-up company developing apps for the iPhone?

Yes exams are important, try your absolute best, but go beyond exams, don't spend your entire life behind the books, worrying about your rank, worrying about whether you have a high enough uni gamsat score etc. 

I think it's important to take a step back, and ask yourself what do I really want to achieve this year? What haven't I done yet?

How do I get through dreaded study? I usually break it up, spend a few hours studying and then I do something I actually genuinely want to do. I think hobbies can play a huge role for breaks, far too often people use breaks as a time to watch youtube videos or play a video game. This is fine, but I find it sometimes makes things worse, I kinda feel like watching a video vs spending a few hours building something makes your study time feel even more worthless.

Another thing, if you can find a hobby/genuine interest that is related to your university degree then maybe that might push you even further (for example if you did software engineering and in your free study breaks you worked on a game or piece of software that you are planning to sell). That way you might approach study differently. Your perspective would also change, instead of thinking 'oh no i've got to go to this boring software lecture' you could instead take the view 'I wonder what things i might learn today that i could apply to my project'.

I hope this information helps  ;D and good luck with your exams!

K888:

--- Quote from: jakesilove on June 18, 2017, 04:29:03 pm ---Do you ever just question the point?

--- End quote ---
I identify with this on a spiritual level 🙌

The main difference for me is (anecdote time!), and I guess I'm lucky in that most things I learn at uni I'll be using when I'm a qualified physio to some extent. What I learn at uni is teaching me how to be a better health care practitioner, how to give my patients the best care possible, etc. so I guess that's what I use to drive me when I'm feeling low. If I put in the effort now, it'll make me better at my job, and it'll be beneficial for my future patients - and I imagine every patient hopes or expects that someone who is treating them tried their best at uni and didn't just bludge their way through (I know I certainly do).

Also, I guess it's a bit of the idea of "short term pain for long term gain" - putting in the effort now, no matter how hard it is, will pay off in the long run. Keep the end goal in sight, and it will motivate you. This has really helped me when doing rehab after some surgeries that have kept me out of sport for a long time - the rehab is a pain to do now and requires a bit of a time commitment, but in the end, the better effort I do of it, the earlier I get to go back to doing what I love and get back to being 100% healthy :)

Sometimes, you've just got to get out of bed, or sit down, and do something - no matter how much you really don't want to do it. You just have to get good at forcing yourself to do stuff, as unhelpful as that is :P Self-discipline over motivation, any day.

brenden:
When I was in high-school, it was the thought that the students I teach are going to ask my ATAR one day, and I want to have maximum credibility.

I wanted to be a teacher at the time and, as a neurotic 17 year old, it seemed like the most important thing in the world that I achieve the best score I could, so I could authentically tell my students to do the same and properly know what they're going through and so on.

Basically, what kept me going was the desire not to be fraudulent - which in hindsight was a pretty anxiety provoking state of mind. I'd always been perceive as the 'smart kid', so part of me would break out in a cold sweat at the thought of not living up to that toxic expectation. Fear of failure and all that.

At uni... it was just more about the type of person I wanted to be, the type of person I wanted to become. I think I used to think this was a positive thing but again, looking back, I wonder if it wasn't coming from a negative place - i.e., "I'm not good enough now, let's become good enough". That could also be an unfair simplification. Who knows.

I think when it came time to study or procrastinate, I wanted to become the person who chose discipline, or conscientiousness. When it came time to quit or keep going, I wanted to become the person who persevered. For me, it was a character based exercise, rooted in some really fucked up idea of what it meant to cultivate virtues.

Now, I don't even know what keeps me going. The thought that I can buy ice-cream whenever I want? I honestly have no idea any more. I've mellowed out about, and I only have myself to worry about now so, I just kind of do shit like I'm playing a game that I skipped the tutorial of  :o

heids:

--- Quote from: brenden ---I just kind of do shit like I'm playing a game that I skipped the tutorial of  :o
--- End quote ---

That's what makes life so liberating, so thrilling, and so damn scary. There's no tutorial to follow. We just tend to copy how other people play the game even though they never had access to a tutorial either. It's sorta fucked and freaky.

The only way I can keep going is to find a purpose that really matters to me - hence my status as dropout lol. I've been able to find meaningful things outside uni, so uni became superfluous. Obviously not a helpful solution for you Jake xD

The only thing that keeps me going with apparently pointless things is, like uni-brenden, "character-building", practising perseverance and discipline and everything else I don't possess. (It worked in high school and has not worked since. I'm frickin' hopeless and I hate it lol.)

Well, rereading this, I've said nothing vageuly helpful. Fuck. Let's replace it with saying "mate I have exactly the same issues and questions as you and I'm just as far from solving it lol"

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