Drop Out
It’s true. I’m a drop out. Here’s the deal:
I was taking Physics this semester. I took it in High School and although our teacher didn’t challenge us much, I enjoyed and understood it. Flash forward to this semester. Every week we have 13-15 challenging Physics problems…and even though I pay attention in class and seem to understand everything, I can only get about 2 on my own. After that I need Miles’s help. And he has a Mathematics degree and took college Physics. Tony also helped, when he was here a couple weeks ago.
I also spent 5 hours working on a lab report and got 6/10 on it. RIDICULOUS! I spent about 2 hours on the next one and got 7/10. Needless to say, those scores aren’t the kinds of scores I get on assignments. They just aren’t. And I started spending all of my free time thinking about how to do the homework assignments for Physics and became very stressed out. To the point of crying multiple times. (Although, it doesn’t take much for me to cry. But I won’t tell you that because it will seem like Physics didn’t stress me out as much as it did.) The worst is, I was one of the “better” students in the class who understood the stuff (but apparently not really) and so people came to me for help. Causing more stress.
I applied Microeconomics, believe it or not, into my decision on whether or not to drop Physics. I figured the Opportunity Cost. I didn’t need Physics to graduate and it wouldn’t give me an advantage in my major…I just needed a second science course. And I thought, I could work super hard and maybe get an A in the class…or take Biology II and work not as much and still get an A. If I stayed in the class: A lot of extra stress, little to no time for other things (wedding planning?), possibly lower my GPA. The opportunity cost: $/credit (no refund), $/credit (second science class this summer), damaged pride, much less stress, more “free time”, less crabby, same GPA or possibly higher with replacement class.
After figuring the opportunity cost, the decision was pretty simple. Don’t look down on me. Consider me a genius.
February 13th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
You’re getting married?? When’s that??
February 13th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
laughed out loud at the opportunity cost thing. my macro teacher would always point out when people skipped saying, “well, i guess the opportunity cost of sleeping in or drinking early outweighed actually learning the material” of course that means I was a loser for being at class every time he said it.
February 13th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Physics could be important for any 3D animation stuff you may end up doing. Generally you’ll want realistic physics models governing the motion of objects. Also, a lot of rendering depends on the physics of light and the materials being rendered. That being said, I HAD to take physics (I & II), and I hated ever minute of both classes. In fact, I took Physics II (a sophomore level class) as a 5th year senior. So I guess I support your decision.
February 13th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Yes, I had considered the fact that Physics may be useful for Animation. However, none of the graduate schools I’ve found have it as a class or have it as a requirement. Also, if I work for somewhere like Pixar that employs lots of different animators, it is super likely that they’d have a job position specifically for animators figuring out the real-world way a ball would bounce if it were hit across a tennis court, etc. Lastly, never underestimate the power of 3D programs and their ability to render light and materials accurately. Summed up: Physics sucks.
February 14th, 2007 at 12:47 am
I’m taking a computer vision course this semester, and dealing with the physics behind light and color has been a struggle. It is very cool, but the math makes my brain feel small and insignificant. It is amazing how much information one can gain from just a few images; information about the camera, the object, the lighting, etc… Be thankful that there are AMAZINGLY smart people who have figured this stuff out already.
February 14th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Sorry to hear about all your stress. It’s definatly not worth all that stress.
I had to take physics II with that stupid Lon Cappa stuff, that sucks a bunch if you don’t work on it with a group of people in your class.
To bad I wasn’t smart enough to change my major a long tome ago :(
February 14th, 2007 at 10:30 am
I’m not going to say anything except Physics blows
February 14th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Holli this is all you needed to pass Physics… http://www.physics.org/ now you are going to regret that easy A
February 14th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I have never taken a physics or chemistry class or anything so have no idea what to expect of anything.
February 14th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
I don’t think any less of you.
February 14th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
3 cheers for dropping Physics!
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Hi Holli – Interesting post. I do feel your pain when it comes to physics because I took it Spring ’06 but I agree that you should have stuck with the class 8-|. As a grad student I am finding out about how I probably should have spent more time learning the little things I didn’t understand quite perfectly in my undergrad courses. Does Brandenburger still teach that class? He helped me alot if I didn’t understand something. Anyways good luck.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Thanks for your input, but it’s good that I dropped the class, because I never do anything for me, I’m always overworking myself, and that’s not necessary. I’ve challenged myself enough, sometimes people need a break. It’s good to learn the little things, but I can’t expect to learn about everything. I know a little Physics, from High School, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on its concepts. I understood it, it was just a heavy load.
Brandburger does not teach it, a Polish woman now does.