A Bad Case of Senioritis

Skullo

Hey PA.

I'm a 22yr old college student, in my last semester, and I just don't give a rat's ass about school anymore. I started off this semester with the goal of doing really well, and trying to focus hard, but it just isn't happening.

My previous semester was my student teaching, and I did quite well. I had a blast teaching classes, made a bunch of connections, and felt really good about myself. But, it also meant that I had been out of the classes side of college for a whole summer+semester+winter by the time this semester started, which really killed my interest in classes.

I've already been accepted to Grad School, in the program and school I wanted, and I even earned a scholarship. While finding this out has been awesome, it hasn't exactly been good for my interest in my current school/studies.

Additionally, this is my first semester of college I've been single. The girl I started seeing in my first semester of college left me last semester, and I broke of the fling I started afterward. Lack of girlfriend isn't an issue - I'm quite happy, I'm using the time to do a ton of "me" things I haven't been able to do in forever, and I've been getting along with my roommates better than ever. The thing that is an issue is that all this "me" time means fun things that are more interesting than studying literature.

Now, I'm not doing poorly in school either (minimal effort can still net me some solid B+/Bs), but I feel like I should be trying. I should be in class as I'm writing this.

So, I guess what I'm asking is: How do I motivate myself to actually care about school when everything else in my life is more interesting/fun/better? Do I even need to, or is this just me guilt-ing myself?

TL;DR

School is boring. Life is fun. How do I care about school?

Wezoin

Is your acceptance to grad school conditional? If so, being afraid of losing that could push you into it.

Alternately, if your scholarship is conditional, consider it as payment for your work.

admanb

Wezoin wrote: »

Is your acceptance to grad school conditional? If so, being afraid of losing that could push you into it.

Alternately, if your scholarship is conditional, consider it as payment for your work.

Alternately, if neither of those are the case, why do you give a shit?

John Matrix

I'm in the same situation except that I'm working right now. Grad school starts in August and I'm finding it hard to get motivated at work. I've installed a site-blocker on my browser at work that only lets me view pages during my lunch hour so I have to get my work done, but I'm quickly losing all interest.

I suppose getting fired before I start school is enough motivation for now, but in a few months I'm going to need some serious motivational help.

SwashbucklerXX

Yeah, if getting solid Bs in your classes won't hurt you, by all means have some fun and get solid Bs in your classes. Just make sure you're willing to really work when grad school comes along.

Alternately, use this opportunity to have fun and be experimental in your classes. Write papers on something unexpected that interests you rather than based on what you know the professor will like. Start thinking like a grad student, where you have a lot more freedom to choose your topics of interest. Some undergrad profs love this and some hate it, but at least you'll be doing something that will interest you and be useful for your future as a more independent scholar.

Reverend_Chaos

Life is a matter of perspective.

I think the problem is that you are taking your situation for granted. It's just human nature. When I was in High School I was the same way, especially my Senior year. Now that I have worked in the Soul Crushing, Life-sapping job market making just enough to get by for over 10 years, I wish I could go back to school, and I am working towards doing that.

Just imagine getting up a few hours before you would ever want to wake up on your own, and then sitting in a cube farm for 8-10 hours a day with a bunch of ill tempered chimps (monster.com anyone? Great commercials) where no one appreciates you or what you do, and the higher ups just sit around in an office all day having meetings trying to figure out how to cut $20,000 out of a department that is budgeted for $40,000 because their $900,000 in bonus money didn't cut it last year on top of their salary.......

Seriously imagine it. Ever watch American Beauty? Kevin Spacey's life in that movie is so realistic it's scary. Now - think about your classes. You might have classes with a few idiots, but unless they are walking over to you every day in the middle of class and pissing on your notes and then defecating on your desk and using your text book pages to wipe themselves while the Professor pretends not to notice, then you have it pretty good imho.

My advice would be to do whatever you need to do to finish this semester - and then go out and get a summer job. Something in retail. After 3 months of that you should have a small taste of what a day could be like and maybe school wouldn't seem so bad.

admanb

Uhh... okay. But he didn't say he was going to drop out or fail college to go work in the soul-sapping job market, he said he wasn't applying himself enough to get better grades than B+. He's already been accepted to grad school, and no one outside of college gives a flying fuck about your GPA (especially if you've gone through grad school). Unless there's some material loss he hasn't mentioned for getting Bs instead of As there's no reason he should feel badly.

Shazkar Shadowstorm

I'm in a similar situation man, I have a job lined up for next year, but honestly, a few B/B+'s on your GPA won't matter. Just enjoy the last bit of your senior year.

It takes the stress of for sure.