Semi-serious question about motivation

[DrModern]

O.K., first a little background. I'm a senior at Wesleyan University (CT) and am double-majoring in philosophy in French. I do well enough in school (As and Bs), and have found, over the years, that there is virtually no correlation between my effort and engagement in a class and my final grade for it.

I find often that if I really like a class and work hard in it, I'll end up with a B+, and if I say "[censored] this class, I don't care," do basically none of the reading and write all my papers at the last minute, I get an A.

This trend may be relevant to my question or it may not, let me know what you think.

Basically, lately, meaning for the past several months, I've been finding it harder to really care about school and be motivated to do my best work. This isn't a problem grades-wise, it just makes me feel somewhat like a slug sometimes, or makes me wonder wtf I'm doing with my time.

It's been a problem occasionally. I ended up doing my grad and law school applications (yes, applying to both) last minute and maybe effed them up a little bit.

I just want to know what motivates you guys and how you come to care about school. Or, if you think it's O.K. not to care, then how you deal with feeling guilty about not working (or how you might, if you don't).

[catalyst]

I am in a somewhat similar situation. I am a senior now, graduating with a finance degree in the spring. I am very lax when it comes to going to class, I procrastinate all the time, and don't put in much effort. But, like you, get very good grades. I don't think it's strange to not put in extra work when there is little or no perceived benefit. (I don't intend for this to sound snobbish)

Clearly, school does not motivate us. This is a major reason why I will not be going to grad school right after graduation - I will be working in my field instead. Have you considered working instead - possibly finding something that motivates you instead of more school? (if grad school is necessary for the job you wish to have then I suppose this question is void)

[DrModern]

[ QUOTE ]
Clearly, school does not motivate us. This is a major reason why I will not be going to grad school right after graduation - I will be working in my field instead. Have you considered working instead - possibly finding something that motivates you instead of more school? (if grad school is necessary for the job you wish to have then I suppose this question is void)

[/ QUOTE ]

It depends. I either want to continue in philosophy (i.e. become a philosophy professor) or become a lawyer of some kind, both of which require graduate education. Even though I filled out my applications this year, there's always the possibility of deferring and working for a year before going to school. I'm not sure how great a long-term decision that would be, though.

I'm hoping that graduate school will be more challenging or engaging and therefore naturally get me to work harder (which I wouldn't be against, necessarily).

But regarding my present situation, I'd like either to a) care and be required to work hard or b) not care and not work, but do so without feeling guilty about it.

[Tony Skaloni]

i'm a junior at oakland university and am a bio major and chem minor i have a 2.7 gpa... i played poker and did bad for my first 2 years and now am buckling down and studing every day. The thing that changed for me is i have a goal and am determined to get there. For me my goal is medschool. So IMO pick a life goal u can achieve to and remind your self every day that u want to make this goal, and see if it helps you.

[venom007]

Jesus christ gl with the 2.7 GPA getting into med school, work hard [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Edit: At least I guess you now have a good personal essay about "newfound motivation" and all that good garbage?

[Dave D]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Clearly, school does not motivate us. This is a major reason why I will not be going to grad school right after graduation - I will be working in my field instead. Have you considered working instead - possibly finding something that motivates you instead of more school? (if grad school is necessary for the job you wish to have then I suppose this question is void)

[/ QUOTE ]

It depends. I either want to continue in philosophy (i.e. become a philosophy professor) or become a lawyer of some kind, both of which require graduate education. Even though I filled out my applications this year, there's always the possibility of deferring and working for a year before going to school. I'm not sure how great a long-term decision that would be, though.

I'm hoping that graduate school will be more challenging or engaging and therefore naturally get me to work harder (which I wouldn't be against, necessarily).

But regarding my present situation, I'd like either to a) care and be required to work hard or b) not care and not work, but do so without feeling guilty about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure I've made at least one thread about why taking a year off before law school is crucial. Search for it or something.

[billyjex]

My guess would be you are either bored or burnt out on the whole school thing. I think it's pretty natural for most to go through this. Learning all that crap can only be interesting for so long.

I don't have a solution, but taking time off before continuing your education would probably be great for you.

[SuperUberBob]

I don't.

You only have to really care if you plan to go on for further education. Otherwise, all you have to do is pass.

After you have a lot of classes under your belt, an occasional bad final grade doesn't set you back much as the GPA alteration is negligible.

To motivate me, I think about the consequences of me not doing my work (failure, course repetition, extended stay in college) and how much they suck.

[W. Deranged]

Not to sound too judgmental, but are you really sure that you'd find an academic career fulfilling considering the recent lethargy that has overcome your current academic circumstance?


Now, with that said, I overcame a relatively significant bout of lethargy in my Junior year of college and am now very excited about pursuing an academic career (intellectual history / history of science). But everyone I've ever talked to warns me about the potential pitfalls of academic careers, and the one universal seems to be that it can be a pretty brutal career path if you aren't really motivated by what you are studying (particularly considering how much self-motivation it requires to do well and how much money you are passing up by pursuing it).

[Skoob]

Grades measure your ability and willingness to conform and follow directions.

They do not measure effort, knowledge of subject matter, or intelligence.

Your "motivation" is irrelevant.