When You’re in a Class That You Can’t Stand…

FREE AT LAST!!!

Those were the words I internally exclaimed as I learned that the Terry College of Business had dropped the Calculus requirement for admission. I had just finished a rough semester of PreCalculus and thought I was done with math forever. I was so excited that I posted on Facebook and Twitter about it.

Boy was I wrong.

The next year, I had to take “Business Statistics” (it was more like “just Statistics”).

I survived it. And once again, I yelled, “Free at last!!!”

Then I learned that the business school had not actually dropped the Calc requirement. They had simply made their own course called “Business Analytics” (aka Calculus).

So now I’m in the class. I can’t say it’s been the highlight of my semester.

Growing up in school, there was always that one class I absolutely dreaded going to each day. My sophomore year of high school, that class was Honors Chemistry. I hated it. I don’t know why I thought taking the honors section was a good idea. I didn’t care how many moles could be converted to grams and I despised Avagadro’s number. I felt like I was drowning in a bottomless pit of molecular oblivion.

I would often go home and whine to my parents about how hard the class was and how useless it felt to my life. I just wanted it to be over. One night, as I was stressing over memorizing the formulas for compounds like Acetate and Sulfuric Acid, my dad said something exceptionally insightful, “In life, there will always be a ‘Chemistry’- something you dislike and don’t want to do.”

Yep.

My junior year of high school, it was Physics. My senior year, it was PreCalculus. My freshman year of college, it was PreCal again (except 3x as hard). My sophomore year, it was Business Statistics. This year, it’s Business Calculus. (Can you tell I don’t like math?)

Every time I thought I was finished with math or science, another “Chemistry” type of class unexpectedly popped up out of nowhere. Like my dad said, it will probably never stop.

When we are working full time, there will be assignments and tasks that we don’t want to do. Tasks that we don’t feel add value to our lives, yet we have to do them anyways.

So what do we do with the “Chemistry’s” of life? How do we take something that seems useless and futile and turn it into something productive and meaningful?

I’m no expert by any means, but I’ve come up with a few ideas that might help.

1) Instead of complaining, ask, “What does this make possible?”

While suffering through Physics my junior year of high school, I came across a tutor named Tom.  He was a super smart dude.  He was like a Jedi teaching me the ways of the Mass X Acceleration.  But there was more to it than that.  Tom also tutored people in their SAT prep.  With his help, my score increased a couple hundred points, and I’m convinced that he played an instrumental role in my acceptance into UGA.  Without the misery of that Physics course, it might have never happened.  Could there be a bigger reason or doors that are opened by what seem to be meaningless challenges?

2) Develop an attitude of gratefulness.

Man, this is a hard one isn’t it? It really takes some perspective. Here’s a stat for you: If the world were made up of 100 people, only 7 would have a college degree. As college students, that puts us in an extremely small 7% of the entire world. Makes it look a lot less like “I have to do Calculus today” and more like “I get to do Calculus today”.

3) Stop complaining and do it.

Sometimes, you just gotta suck it up and do it. One day during high school football practice, I heard our defensive coordinator say this to the defense:

“Gentlemen, there’s gonna be times during a game when something unexpected and disappointing happens. The offensive will fumble or throw an interception and you’ll have to come right back out here on the field. It’s in those moments where there’s no time for complaining. It’s time to buckle down and play football. You’ve gotta see it as your challenge.”

I didn’t even play defense. I was the lowly punter. But hearing that has stuck with me ever since high school. Whenever I feel like my back is against the wall or I start to feel sorry for myself, those words always seem pop into my head. “It’s time to buckle down and play football”. Forget the disappointment. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s time to see this as a challenge to meet head on.

Are you in one of those frustrating classes right now?

What does it make possible?  Are you sitting next to someone who could use some encouragement?  What are you learning about yourself through the class?  Can you develop a more grateful and thankful attitude towards it?

From there, just buckle down and gitterdone!