A Case Study on Draining Schoolwork

Because I was always good at math (mental math in particular), I decided to be a physics major in college. Nearly flunking out of UMTYMP (A gifted math class; I took college level honors calc in 9th grade) in high school twice should have been a clue that this may have been a bad idea, but I was pretty set on it anyway.

The basics were GREAT - I love the conceptual side of physics. However, things went downhill quickly the more advanced the material got. Analytical mechanics and quantum physics? Ugly. I was hitting my threshold for frustration tolerance on a very consistent level...my ADD got in the way.

Whenever I hit my 30 minute concentration limit but made no perceptible progress toward finishing a problem, my brain just shut down - even with meds. I actually got physically tired, sluggish and was unable to think. If I couldn't do 30 minute problems, how was I supposed to do single problems that took SIX HOURS (quantum mechanics)?

I could not figure out how to make it work. Even though I had gotten my suggestions at the counseling center at the beginning of the semester (for my accommodations), and knew all of what was offered within the physics department, I didn't bother to go back and tell them I was having trouble with this stuff. How were they going to help me? In hindsight, I should have gone in to the professors the second I started to feel drowsy after working on a problem. However, that was typically very intimidating - and I was generally unhappy and felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall.

After failing one class and dropping two more, I finally dropped the major. Happily, though, I still had another major I was working towards, and a killer extracurricular that I loved - theater. Ironically, the decision to drop quantum (and thus the major) happened because a test was going to fall the day after opening night of one of the plays. Had I not dropped it then, I would have later had another test fall like that after a different play. I learned quite well the difference between quitting and cutting your losses.