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Greetings.
I've perused this forum off and on over the years, without posting anything. I'm speaking up now, in hopes of finding guidance that applies to my situation. I know that it's customary on discussion forums to research archived threads, prior to beginning one's own, but to be candid, I'm looking for encouragement as much as I am advice. Thanks for understanding.
I was a trouble-child. I misbehaved in school and at home. I was never overtly destructive to people or property by nature, but I did have fairly severe attitude problems, and I was a low-functioning combination of defiant and tender. I was diagnosed as having ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and some narcissistic features to my personality. I was also identified, by a professional psychologist, as having an IQ in the gifted range, and I was placed in my home state's Talented and Gifted program. Importantly, I have what I think is very good, empirically-based suspicion that the "gifted" distinction was an excessive diagnosis and that my IQ is probably in the superior range, with more of an aptitude for language and less of an aptitude for math. In either case, I don't see myself grasping mathematical or scientific concepts with any particular ease, compared to the types of people who usually become doctors.
I freelanced as a musician for my twenties, working various entry-level jobs to supplement my largely unsuccessful music career, and I joined the Army as a Medic when I was thirty, in an attempt to get a "real job," but was kicked out for a series of conduct-related behaviors. (I'd appreciate each of you withholding your comments on that issue, as it is a sore one. I only mention it to show that, while I do have some fraction of experience in the healthcare field, I am not, that I'm aware of, able to use that experience to further my career). Needless to say, I've been on the far left end of the maturity bell curve, at best, and may have some emotional issues that are just, plain permanent, at worst.
I'm 36 now and am in my second term at a community college. From what I'm told, this particular college's science program is highly reputable. I took an introductory biology class, an algebra class and a weightlifting class last term, and received A's in all three. This term, I'm taking an intermediate chemistry class, another algebra class and political science. I'm getting an A in political science, a B in algebra and a B in chemistry. I'm having difficulty with chemistry, where I get surprisingly low scores on quizzes, and I don't particularly enjoy the subject. I'm also having difficulty in algebra, where my enthusiasm is waning.
My questions are these: Setting aside that it may be unreasonable for someone like me to dream of becoming a doctor, to what degree did those of you who are doctors enjoy chemistry? To what degree did you enjoy math? To what degree did you enjoy studying, in general? In other words, did your journey through undergrad school feel more like a grind or a labor of love?
More personally, do you think that an individual's academic performance is contingent on the health of his social life? (If you're a chronically lonely person, with very little love coming in, should you expect to fare more poorly in school?) To what degree do you think a person can whip himself in to med-school shape, academically, if he doesn't necessarily enjoy chemistry and math? More importantly, do pre-med academics eventually become a labor of love, as skill and confidence are built? (I found this to be the case with the mastering of my musical instrument). Finally, based on the tone of my writing here, and on the things I've mentioned about my life, do you suspect that I'd do better to set my sights on a career other than that as a physician?
Thanks,
ryan467
I've perused this forum off and on over the years, without posting anything. I'm speaking up now, in hopes of finding guidance that applies to my situation. I know that it's customary on discussion forums to research archived threads, prior to beginning one's own, but to be candid, I'm looking for encouragement as much as I am advice. Thanks for understanding.
I was a trouble-child. I misbehaved in school and at home. I was never overtly destructive to people or property by nature, but I did have fairly severe attitude problems, and I was a low-functioning combination of defiant and tender. I was diagnosed as having ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and some narcissistic features to my personality. I was also identified, by a professional psychologist, as having an IQ in the gifted range, and I was placed in my home state's Talented and Gifted program. Importantly, I have what I think is very good, empirically-based suspicion that the "gifted" distinction was an excessive diagnosis and that my IQ is probably in the superior range, with more of an aptitude for language and less of an aptitude for math. In either case, I don't see myself grasping mathematical or scientific concepts with any particular ease, compared to the types of people who usually become doctors.
I freelanced as a musician for my twenties, working various entry-level jobs to supplement my largely unsuccessful music career, and I joined the Army as a Medic when I was thirty, in an attempt to get a "real job," but was kicked out for a series of conduct-related behaviors. (I'd appreciate each of you withholding your comments on that issue, as it is a sore one. I only mention it to show that, while I do have some fraction of experience in the healthcare field, I am not, that I'm aware of, able to use that experience to further my career). Needless to say, I've been on the far left end of the maturity bell curve, at best, and may have some emotional issues that are just, plain permanent, at worst.
I'm 36 now and am in my second term at a community college. From what I'm told, this particular college's science program is highly reputable. I took an introductory biology class, an algebra class and a weightlifting class last term, and received A's in all three. This term, I'm taking an intermediate chemistry class, another algebra class and political science. I'm getting an A in political science, a B in algebra and a B in chemistry. I'm having difficulty with chemistry, where I get surprisingly low scores on quizzes, and I don't particularly enjoy the subject. I'm also having difficulty in algebra, where my enthusiasm is waning.
My questions are these: Setting aside that it may be unreasonable for someone like me to dream of becoming a doctor, to what degree did those of you who are doctors enjoy chemistry? To what degree did you enjoy math? To what degree did you enjoy studying, in general? In other words, did your journey through undergrad school feel more like a grind or a labor of love?
More personally, do you think that an individual's academic performance is contingent on the health of his social life? (If you're a chronically lonely person, with very little love coming in, should you expect to fare more poorly in school?) To what degree do you think a person can whip himself in to med-school shape, academically, if he doesn't necessarily enjoy chemistry and math? More importantly, do pre-med academics eventually become a labor of love, as skill and confidence are built? (I found this to be the case with the mastering of my musical instrument). Finally, based on the tone of my writing here, and on the things I've mentioned about my life, do you suspect that I'd do better to set my sights on a career other than that as a physician?
Thanks,
ryan467
