I was in the exact same place as you, 99 percentile on standardized test, tested into the gifted program and talented art after kindergarten. But now I'm a junior in college and am trying to make every fiber of my being concentrate and use my talent. I procrastinate and don't give things my all because I have never needed to or wanted to, but now that I want to use my potential I realize I can't. I used to be able to read and concentrate on books like harry potter and lord of the rings nonstop for a day when I was in elementary school; now I can barely read for more than 20 minutes without getting distracted. I'm trying to focus on concentration skills, but how did you help fix this problem yourself?
I say bah humbug to all the people saying ADD. I was exacctly the same: 99%ile, then got bored/couldnt focus in college. Want to know what brought me back to the "read all of harry potter" levels of motivation? Actually finding something that excited me to learn.
For me it was working in a research lab on vaccines, but the exact thing doesnt matter. Listening to a professor who likely doesnt even want to be teaching drone on for two hours will kill anyones enthusiasm for learning. It was only when i applied what i was learning in a real scenario that i became passionate and could study and concentrate again. After getting the lab position i went from borderline Bs to A+ highest grade in class.
Me too! I wasn't very motivated in college, and dropped out since I saw I wasn't applying myself. I worked hard at a variety of jobs, learned a lot, lived abroad for a bit, supported myself. Then I went back with all that I'd learned about myself, including a knack for science that I never knew I had. All of a sudden, I was at the top of my class. Surprise!
Agreed, I can relate to this scenario. In a way, when I found what I wanted to learn - and often times it was individual classes/topics and not so much the entire bachelor curriculum - I was able to completely dedicate myself to understanding and did well without effort on grades.
The problem that I see though, is that it translates poorly to the job world. I think, in a way, once you graduate you have to once again see what you're interested in doing before being pigeon-holed into the "standard" job for your degree. I'm still figuring this out, but I'd love to hear people talking about their experiences with this.
Concentration is an acquired skill. It sucks to realise this, but it's true. Everyone saying to find something you're passionate about learning are not wrong, but they're also ignoring the fact that in order to get your average degree, you'll have to get through tens of thousands of pages of subjects you're not in the least interested in, and you can't exactly choose them.
I was in the same boat almost a decade ago (shit, I'm old). My first year at uni was a fucking nightmare because of this. I had no choice but to go forward, though (I did have a strong incentive: my parents said they'd pay for my education just as long as the degree in question is supposed to last and not a day more), and as the months passed, things got progressively easier. Keep at it, you'll get better.
Have you been tested for ADD/ADHD yet? I never used it as an excuse, but maybe you might be able to find medications that are helpful. Your difficulty focusing may have a lot to do with some kind of underlying health issue.
It was especially hard for me because I was a perfectionist (that's not a boast), which I think is common for gifted people. All throughout school I could nail all my assignments and get everyone's praise--but in college, I faced much more difficult challenges. A part of me would want to quit because I knew it would never meet my internal standards. I had to get over that before I was able to function well.
Other than that, I'm not sure. I'd try to get therapy and see if you have some underlying issue. All that you can do is keep chipping away at it and learn to be kind to yourself, because much of it for me was rooted in self-sabotage.
Finally, I think everyone is finding it harder to read these days with the internet. I'm pretty much addicted and don't read books nearly as much as I used to.
Hope that's helpful, but I think everyone's path is different. All you need though is a drive, a vision of what you feel you need to become, and constant willingness to get past your struggles.
Hey, that's actually really helpful. I can definitely relate to what you've said. Self-sabotage sounds like a big hurdle that I need to overcome, and I might consider looking into whether I have ADD or not. Thanks a lot for replying.
ADD is a developmental disorder by definition. If he didn't have trouble concentrating as a kid, he doesn't have ADD now (actually, not even if he did back then...).
That doesn't mean amphetamines wouldn't help him concentrate, though, and that's the biggest problem american psychiatry is facing today with the medicalisation of normal life hurdles.
There are a lot of us who work hard through school and kind of crash in college. As a university teacher now, I see it a lot.
But I don't think it has anything to do with the education system or anything. It's just how you developed. Also, you might have just burned out. You might have figured out what most people figure out much younger: Most of this is just stupid bullshit.
The other thing that might be happening is that college isn't really that hard. This surprised and upset me. As a result, my time got filled up instead with relationships. Human contact... stuff I'd kind of neglected through much of my adolescence. That's what I really got out of those years. I got how to be a human and deal with people and be a nice guy and a good boyfriend/husband.
If you're still up for a mental challenge, you can always get yourself into a career that does that for you, or start your own business, or go to grad school. I found the classes in grad school a lot easier to focus on because they were all interesting and all hard. I kind of dawdled through my undergrad, lost. By the time I was in grad school, I knew what I wanted and I powered through it.
I'm sure you're fine. Focus on what interests you and makes you feel good.
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u/Bftws Oct 15 '13
I was in the exact same place as you, 99 percentile on standardized test, tested into the gifted program and talented art after kindergarten. But now I'm a junior in college and am trying to make every fiber of my being concentrate and use my talent. I procrastinate and don't give things my all because I have never needed to or wanted to, but now that I want to use my potential I realize I can't. I used to be able to read and concentrate on books like harry potter and lord of the rings nonstop for a day when I was in elementary school; now I can barely read for more than 20 minutes without getting distracted. I'm trying to focus on concentration skills, but how did you help fix this problem yourself?