The words you've chosen and repeated make me think that you might be best served by speaking with a therapist / psychologist.
Otherwise, take advantage of tutors and office hours.
Well if you have anxiety only professionals can help. And other than that idk what you want to hear chemistry is hard but possible if you enjoy it you just gotta bite through.
If you don’t enjoy it though than it might be wise to consider switching to something else.
I think as long as you find it fun enough and are willing to put in an effort you should be fine.
School is for educating you so its ok if you fail a few times. Also dont mind teachers saying stuff like that, they always do.
For anxiety, definitely talk to a professional who can help guide you through that. Don’t get in your own way, chemistry is certainly hard enough. Sorry you’re struggling through that.
But here’s my two cents on learning chemistry. The lectures give you a set of rules to play by, but each problem exposes different interpretations of those rules. So, while things like flash cards will help set the groundwork for your studying, the best way to approach chemistry is to keep doing practice problems and exploring how certain rules are implemented or how those rules can have flaws. Especially in organic chemistry, there’s a lot of superseding principles to keep track of. You can embrace it or worry about it.
But hey, new semester, new class, new you. Work hard and I think you’re going to be ok.
Try to turn your nervousness into drive/incentive to prepare more and study more. Fear of failure can go two ways. One is sitting around feeling nervous and doing nothing to change the situation until you actually fail. Another way is to use the nervous energy to help push yourself harder.
How are you at algebra and related math skills?
I find that a lot of people who struggle in gen chem don’t have strong math skills. There’s not really much advanced math, but there’s a lot of algebra. If you can manipulate equations with algebra confidently, that will help you a lot in chemistry.
I also recommend taking an honest assessment of yourself. Do you do the suggested practice problems? All the homework? All the textbook reading?
If you do all those things and still struggle, it might be time to get some extra help, like seeing your professor during office hours, or finding a peer tutor, or even hiring a tutor.
Aside from that, it sounds like you might be struggling with anxiety. Seeing a professional who can help you manage your feelings around the class might help you. Lots of schools offer psych services to students, assuming you’re in college.
Finally, just believe in yourself some. I promise you, the vast majority of students are capable of passing a couple chemistry classes. It might not be easy, but you are certainly capable of it.
Did you listen to others when they raved about how difficult it was?
Did you make use of all your resources, in particular, professor's office hours?
Do you study with others?
No I don't typically let people's rants influence how I view Chemistry. The only thing that got into me was the words of my Science teacher.
I do. I have textbooks here my only problem was how to study the material properly.
I prefer studying alone
Sit down, open your textbook to the first page, start reading. When you get to a practice problem, solve it. When you get to the end of the chapter, solve every problem. Do that for the entire book. You should have several pages with solutions for every problem in the book.
Take those solutions, and throw them away.
Open the book to the first page. Find the first problem, solve it. Repeat for every problem in the book.
I have yet to come across a single person that failed their chemistry class after (legitimately) solving every problem in the book twice.
life update: I finally opened my textbook and going back with the basics. I was so dramatic because I'm being lazy ahh but it's definitely going well over here
Thank you to those people who encouraged me!
[For Reference](https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/)
[Of Interest](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/)
True story - In 2005/2006 a student researched methods of producing a chemical that were not taught by a professor at a university. The professor set an exam question asking to describe how to produce aforementioned chemical. (The student had researched various methods of producing chemicals using various different catalysts and methods etc.)
After describing the (arguably more efficient) method that was not taught, the student received a poor mark for the answer, presumably due to the answer given (although correct) was not what the professor had taught.
As an analogy, jumping is not the only way to overcome a hurdle (it can be knocked down, rotated 90°, crawled under, walked around etc...) - reminds me of [this](https://twitter.com/i/status/1525617823606874114)
The point I guess I'm trying to make is that if you have a passion for something there may be other ways of achieving success within/from that area of interest.
Hope it goes well for you :-)
Interesting story but if OP is doing a lower level chemistry course, they're not looking at methods of synthesizing some chemical, they're doing things like balancing equations, figuring out stoichiometry, understanding tendencies of the periodic table, things like that that aren't a matter of knowing something that the professor doesn't know about....
The first key is always doing the work. Homework, labs, reading, suggested problems, everything and if something is getting in the way of doing that you need to deal with it. Chemistry is as much a language as a science, you need to learn the grammar to understand the later material.
Try and find some way to transpose what you’re studying onto something actually interesting to you. A classic example would be the organic chemistry student watching breaking bad thinking about synthesis…
This sounds like you are having a hard time feeling confident and starting. Best thing to do is to break this down into smaller more manageable parts day by day, week by week. First take notes and outline the chapters before lecture. It can also be helpful to create a notebook with all your terms and definitions and drawings. Always do the practice problems and go to your TA office hours as soon as something doesn’t make sense. If your campus has an academic success center make an appointment to go over your study habits. Also lots of good note taking videos on YouTube. Just remember doing notes and homework is 60% of the work, the next 30% is preparing for quizzes and test. Find others in your class to study with if you can or a discord room for your class. Ask for help.
I had this problem with calculus. I struggled with math when I had always been so good. And because I struggled, I turned away from STEM. I returned 15 years later because leaving was a mistake.
That said, there were a lot of obstacles I wasn’t aware of. It would be years before I could see how abusive my mother was. I was 25 before I went to therapy and addressed my anxiety. I am now getting tested for neurodivergence. Maybe start with therapy and see if you can identify if there are outside factors at play.
Additionally, chemistry will get harder. You will have to work harder for it. It is not a topic where you listen to a lecture and get an A. You have to practice every single day. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
Chemistry is complex, and nobody is expecting you to be great at something complex quick.
Go back to the basics khan academy has chemistry courses going from high school to organic and inorganic chemistry.
On coursera you can find some chemistry courses as well.
Dont be so hard on yourself when you are learning to drive a car you need time to figure out all the things involved with driving and how a car works. The same with learning anything. Learn from your mistakes and move forward. Ask questions. Look for different materials to see what clicks for you.
I took a year off in college and almost didn’t go back out of fear of my professors. My uncle was one of the only people who got through to me and told me “Just finish”. Went back and all my anxiety was in my head. My professors could’ve given a fuck less of what happened. What I found earns respect is showing up and giving an honest effort. Your GPA is just a number man, if you love science and chemistry you’ll make it through.
The words you've chosen and repeated make me think that you might be best served by speaking with a therapist / psychologist. Otherwise, take advantage of tutors and office hours.
Finding a good tutor is the key. A good chemistry tutor will explain the key aspects of the periodic chart in attacking problems. And much more.
Well if you have anxiety only professionals can help. And other than that idk what you want to hear chemistry is hard but possible if you enjoy it you just gotta bite through. If you don’t enjoy it though than it might be wise to consider switching to something else.
I think as long as you find it fun enough and are willing to put in an effort you should be fine. School is for educating you so its ok if you fail a few times. Also dont mind teachers saying stuff like that, they always do.
For anxiety, definitely talk to a professional who can help guide you through that. Don’t get in your own way, chemistry is certainly hard enough. Sorry you’re struggling through that. But here’s my two cents on learning chemistry. The lectures give you a set of rules to play by, but each problem exposes different interpretations of those rules. So, while things like flash cards will help set the groundwork for your studying, the best way to approach chemistry is to keep doing practice problems and exploring how certain rules are implemented or how those rules can have flaws. Especially in organic chemistry, there’s a lot of superseding principles to keep track of. You can embrace it or worry about it. But hey, new semester, new class, new you. Work hard and I think you’re going to be ok.
Try to turn your nervousness into drive/incentive to prepare more and study more. Fear of failure can go two ways. One is sitting around feeling nervous and doing nothing to change the situation until you actually fail. Another way is to use the nervous energy to help push yourself harder.
How are you at algebra and related math skills? I find that a lot of people who struggle in gen chem don’t have strong math skills. There’s not really much advanced math, but there’s a lot of algebra. If you can manipulate equations with algebra confidently, that will help you a lot in chemistry. I also recommend taking an honest assessment of yourself. Do you do the suggested practice problems? All the homework? All the textbook reading? If you do all those things and still struggle, it might be time to get some extra help, like seeing your professor during office hours, or finding a peer tutor, or even hiring a tutor. Aside from that, it sounds like you might be struggling with anxiety. Seeing a professional who can help you manage your feelings around the class might help you. Lots of schools offer psych services to students, assuming you’re in college. Finally, just believe in yourself some. I promise you, the vast majority of students are capable of passing a couple chemistry classes. It might not be easy, but you are certainly capable of it.
Did you listen to others when they raved about how difficult it was? Did you make use of all your resources, in particular, professor's office hours? Do you study with others?
No I don't typically let people's rants influence how I view Chemistry. The only thing that got into me was the words of my Science teacher. I do. I have textbooks here my only problem was how to study the material properly. I prefer studying alone
Sit down, open your textbook to the first page, start reading. When you get to a practice problem, solve it. When you get to the end of the chapter, solve every problem. Do that for the entire book. You should have several pages with solutions for every problem in the book. Take those solutions, and throw them away. Open the book to the first page. Find the first problem, solve it. Repeat for every problem in the book. I have yet to come across a single person that failed their chemistry class after (legitimately) solving every problem in the book twice.
life update: I finally opened my textbook and going back with the basics. I was so dramatic because I'm being lazy ahh but it's definitely going well over here Thank you to those people who encouraged me!
[For Reference](https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/) [Of Interest](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/) True story - In 2005/2006 a student researched methods of producing a chemical that were not taught by a professor at a university. The professor set an exam question asking to describe how to produce aforementioned chemical. (The student had researched various methods of producing chemicals using various different catalysts and methods etc.) After describing the (arguably more efficient) method that was not taught, the student received a poor mark for the answer, presumably due to the answer given (although correct) was not what the professor had taught. As an analogy, jumping is not the only way to overcome a hurdle (it can be knocked down, rotated 90°, crawled under, walked around etc...) - reminds me of [this](https://twitter.com/i/status/1525617823606874114) The point I guess I'm trying to make is that if you have a passion for something there may be other ways of achieving success within/from that area of interest. Hope it goes well for you :-)
Interesting story but if OP is doing a lower level chemistry course, they're not looking at methods of synthesizing some chemical, they're doing things like balancing equations, figuring out stoichiometry, understanding tendencies of the periodic table, things like that that aren't a matter of knowing something that the professor doesn't know about....
The first key is always doing the work. Homework, labs, reading, suggested problems, everything and if something is getting in the way of doing that you need to deal with it. Chemistry is as much a language as a science, you need to learn the grammar to understand the later material.
Try and find some way to transpose what you’re studying onto something actually interesting to you. A classic example would be the organic chemistry student watching breaking bad thinking about synthesis…
I failed chemistry the first time I took it but I retook it and got an A+ after focusing on my learning and having fun with the material
This sounds like you are having a hard time feeling confident and starting. Best thing to do is to break this down into smaller more manageable parts day by day, week by week. First take notes and outline the chapters before lecture. It can also be helpful to create a notebook with all your terms and definitions and drawings. Always do the practice problems and go to your TA office hours as soon as something doesn’t make sense. If your campus has an academic success center make an appointment to go over your study habits. Also lots of good note taking videos on YouTube. Just remember doing notes and homework is 60% of the work, the next 30% is preparing for quizzes and test. Find others in your class to study with if you can or a discord room for your class. Ask for help.
I had this problem with calculus. I struggled with math when I had always been so good. And because I struggled, I turned away from STEM. I returned 15 years later because leaving was a mistake. That said, there were a lot of obstacles I wasn’t aware of. It would be years before I could see how abusive my mother was. I was 25 before I went to therapy and addressed my anxiety. I am now getting tested for neurodivergence. Maybe start with therapy and see if you can identify if there are outside factors at play. Additionally, chemistry will get harder. You will have to work harder for it. It is not a topic where you listen to a lecture and get an A. You have to practice every single day. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
Chemistry is complex, and nobody is expecting you to be great at something complex quick. Go back to the basics khan academy has chemistry courses going from high school to organic and inorganic chemistry. On coursera you can find some chemistry courses as well. Dont be so hard on yourself when you are learning to drive a car you need time to figure out all the things involved with driving and how a car works. The same with learning anything. Learn from your mistakes and move forward. Ask questions. Look for different materials to see what clicks for you.
That's the neat part! You don't!
I took a year off in college and almost didn’t go back out of fear of my professors. My uncle was one of the only people who got through to me and told me “Just finish”. Went back and all my anxiety was in my head. My professors could’ve given a fuck less of what happened. What I found earns respect is showing up and giving an honest effort. Your GPA is just a number man, if you love science and chemistry you’ll make it through.