Studying and Motivation

Well here is a story about me.

I'm a high school drop out. I dropped out of school last March, not by my own choice. Now, a year later, I smoked a good amount of weed :D and somehow I decided that I need to improve my life, I said to myself, "I need to start moving". I just felt like I was stuck in a cycle(not that kinda cycle, AS junkies!!!). I felt like I wasnt moving anywhere with my life. I looked at my friends and one is already in college the other one got accepted to Baylor. I knew I needed a change.

Well, my only option was to start studying for my GED, which previously I wanted start a few months earlier, but never did. So, now every day after work I go home and dedicate a few hours to my studying. But for some reason I cant really do it. I start thinking about other things, I just cant concentrate. Just after I was done with the Writing Skills, I thought I was ready to take a diagnostic exam, well I took it and I got a worse grade then I got on the first diagnastic before I was studying. That drove me nuts. I feel like quiting again because I dont know what to do. I feel stupid because I cant remember some simple grammar rules.
Its really frustrating to fail like that. This summer I want to start taking some classes, but with such results I'm not going to be ready till 2004 probably.

The manager where I work at said that he will give me a rais every time I will learn something new about networking, programming, wahtever, even if go to college they give me a raise, but it seems that I'm not succeeding in studying and work. At work it just seems like my supervisor doesnt give me anything to do to prove myslef, so here again I'm stuck. And I'm probably going to work at the same postition with a little raise like the other guys in this company. But, I dont want to be like the rest, I want to be the supervisor here ina year or two. I've been told its possible, although to me it just seems like I'm not going to be able to become one in 10 years with my type of view on things.

Damn, this thing is a little long...just wanted to share what was on my mind today while i was sitting and doing nothing with my life again

For me, it wasn't ever a question of motivation, and it never should. During high school it just seemed like that's the path to take, so I went with the flow. I got good grades and studied my ass off sometimes, but that's all a matter of how much pride you have in yourself. There's an old sayin "everyone is their own worst critic" - which is true. When I feel even a little less than perfect, I get pissed, and strive to acheive it.

For school, espeically your GED, everything comes straight from the book. So just get the book, and memorize it as best you can. In college, I used to type my notes up, print them out, and then read them over again. When there was something I didn't know, I'd highlight on my computer, print it out again, and read the whole thing over again. Soon enough you begin to focus on the things you don't know, and they mix in with the things you do know. After a while you've got the whole thing memorized because you've gone over it so many times.

I have a friend like that. Her sister dropped out of high school when she had college scholarships lined up for volleyball. It makes you wonder, what the hell is she doin ?? She's got some things in her life already set, as long as she stays on the correct path. But, lately she's been a little into the drug scene, and all hell's breakin loose.

Not trying to be a dick, but how are your parents ?? I know mine were always on me (especially my mother because she's a teacher) about school. I left college to pursue a career elsewhere, and she still keeps on me about going back to school and gettin the degree, just as a backup.

Tolinka, i'm not always the best at remembering the content of people's individual posts, but I seem to recall you striking me as more than intelligent enough to tackle the GED...I wouldn't cash in your chips just yet. Insofar as the simple grammar is concerned, I firmly believe that a good amount of people at my purportedly elite school would have some difficulty passing a traditional grammar test. That being said, it is a simple thing to work on, do an online search for OWLs (online writing labs)...a number of them are free, interactive and provide an excellent resource as a means to your end. If you have trouble finding an easily accessible and simple to navigate OWL, PM me, as I many times send individuals I tutor to such sites, so i have a few on file that might fit the bill. Also, I'm not saying this to toot my own horn, but rather as a true life example of how you can reach these goals more easily than you might imagine if you put in the work, but I failed several classes in high school early on, decided a bit late to turn it around, did whatever it took and managed to weazle my way into an elite institution of higher learning. I see no reason why you could not achieve similar results.

KeyMastur- thank you for you post. Youre not being a dick by asking me of my parents. The thing is i'll say the truth, I don't have parents. I live with my uncle and cousins. My uncle doesn't really care, well he does but I messed up with school(kinda because of him) I dont really blame him anymore, I had bad grades in school, just was to lazy. I messed up and trying to make it up now.

BigGreen- Man, I think you are exaggerating about my intelligence, I used to think I was quite smart and smarter then most of the people but I know it's not true anymore, my ego was just blown out of proportions. Anyhow, I've been on that website and I downloaded a few sheets that might help me. I went threw them but I didnt really highlight any notes. Thats my biggest problem, the English grammer. Science, literature, math all that isn't a biggie.

thanks for your help bros