Studying Uninteresting subjects

[tsuchinoko92]

I study law, and while I have a slight preference towards it, I really just want to focus on my specialty, which will be in 3 years and a half.

I must mantain good grades to attain a scholarship,yet, I don't find my subjects enjoyable at all.....

So, would you people please give some suggestions to a freshman in college like me?

[bigm141414]

Ugh, I remeber all those boring classes I had to take that weren't related to my major: poly sci, history, english, booooorrrrrring, at least to me. I tried the whole set aside an hour and just do it routine, but it didn't work for me. I found that while studying I either turned into a game of some kind or was active during the study session such as getting up and pacing the room and talking/muttering to myself. My roommate didn't appreciate it but the pacing stopped me from yawning and the muttering helped me remember the details since I had to recite them to myself to understand.

The one down side is that I still mutter to this day, even at the office I will walk around counting on my fingers and muttering to myself.

Edit: As for the game part, having a dart board helped me. Just line it with facts/ questions and try to answer them when you hit them. Also very good for frustration relief, just try to not hit the wall behind the baord too many times.

[tsuchinoko92]

That's a good one, the dartboard gig.

Coincidentally, I have studied while pacing around and muttering to myself, but where I work at, my boss(mom or dad) tells me that that gets everyone nervous, so stop it. So I can't really apply it at work.

Ill try the dartboard though.

[kaelder]

I'm a Criminal Justice major and thoroughly enjoy the subject. I have the opportunity to be in a program that allows me to focus on the investigation/profiling side of law enforcement rather than legal stuff but I do remember those heart wrenching moments of my first two years of college. In the end the thing that really helped me get through the angst and boredom was the discovery of something that I find absolutely intellectually stimulating to this day. I discovered the joy of words. Specifically the joy of words in the hands of the very capable Stephen Fry, the ultimate nerd in my opinion. Check out QI (It stands for "Quite Interesting") on YouTube and if you want to see some brilliant maneuvering of censor rules there's the clip understanding barman http://youtu.be/2BjDmEhbPLY

[Centurion]

Specifically the joy of words in the hands of the very capable Stephen Fry, the ultimate nerd in my opinion. Check out QI (It stands for "Quite Interesting") on YouTube and if you want to see some brilliant maneuvering of censor rules there's the clip understanding barman http://youtu.be/2BjDmEhbPLY

Brilliant clip. (And for some of you Americans, yes that is Dr. House on the right.)

tsuchinoko, I can sympathise. When I first started University I was studying economics (we don't do majors like you guys do). I ended up dropping out because I realised I didn't want to be doing economics and ended up going back to study Accounting and Finance which was closer to what I wanted to do. Now I have to resit a couple of exams I failed this year in order to progress to the next year. Both of them are economics, one was a mandatory unit and the other was a unit I had to take in order to be able to take another unit that I wanted to do. Unfortunately I can't really offer any advice, sometime you just have to grit your teeth and bear through it

[Kristen]

I don't have any advice to make it more bearable. I know it sucks to just go through the motions, but when you're playing someone else's game (like earning a degree) you just have to.

Think of it like a paying job. You have to work doing something that isn't fun, but it's paying for the opportunity to do what you like. Keep the grades, keep the scholarship, then do what you want when it's all done.

[tsuchinoko92]

Yeah, youre right Centurion, I will sacrifice my happiness for now in order to be able to work in my dream job.

[tsuchinoko92]

Sorry for the double post, had a network problem.....

[caithnard]

In the end the thing that really helped me get through the angst and boredom was the discovery of something that I find absolutely intellectually stimulating to this day. I discovered the joy of words. Specifically the joy of words in the hands of the very capable Stephen Fry, the ultimate nerd in my opinion. Check out QI (It stands for "Quite Interesting") on YouTube and if you want to see some brilliant maneuvering of censor rules there's the clip understanding barman http://youtu.be/2BjDmEhbPLY

This is exactly what I did. I had a lot of programming assignments that were extremely tedious and didn't take any mental effort--QI helped me get through it. I'd have it on while in the background while I was working, and it kept me interested enough that I didn't go off on the internet, but it was also easy enough to ignore that when I actually needed to focus, I could.

The main thing that keeps me motivated is remembering why I want to study what I do. In my case, I love medicine and, cheesy as it is, shows like Scrubs and Greys Anatomy help me remember that. Greys Anatomy has kept me motivated through many finals weeks...