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aspiringastronomer
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If Tl;dr I am struggling in Math 171 and Physics 191 and throwing around the idea of declaring a geology major with an astronomy minor because the Physics major "juice is not worth the squeeze" at my age(29) anyone else out there who struggled with Calculus 1 when they first took it?Hello everybody,
I am 29 and in my freshmen year as an undeclared Physics major at an American University.
A background on my journey thus far:
After I saw a display at a museum at 8, I got bit by the astrophysics/science bug. At 11 I read a book about quantum mechanics at a Barnes and Noble, which was topical but I found quantum theory fascinating. This lead to more inquiries into the nature of the universe.
After being homeschooled most of my life I went to public Highschool and barely passed physical science and pre-algebra my first year because I found that stuff useless and did not have a strong study routine established. I just got into Star Trek so this reignited the passion I had for Astrophysics and discovery.
Sophomore year and beyond, I would spend all of my extra time in study halls and breaks in the library reading magazines and books about astrophysics and physics. Junior year of Highschool a science teacher noticed my dedication and interest in physics and astronomy. He recommended I take a Physics class. I took the physics class and managed a B- (again bad study habits die hard) and enjoyed it very much and my strongest performance was in the astronomy section of the class(only section I really aced in that class). I decided I wanted to be an Astrophysicist/Astronomer. When I took a Highschool careers test, this ticked off as one of the fields I would enjoy and find success in.
I went to university after graduation to get up to date since I scored pretty low on the ACT which I really did not study for. Science again ticked as one of my strengths along with reading comprehension. I lost financing to go to university so I pivoted to tech school to study mechanical design. But I always looked at this as a means to an end(along with my other majors), the end being a physics degree. I switched majors from Mechanical design to natural resource management(for one semester) than business management(two semesters).
My highest grades where in math and trig. I had accumulated enough credits that when they transferred over to my current University that I could get my undergrad in Physics in just two to three years. However I basically failed a physics course at the tech school, because I did not study(like literally I would just read the textbook 1 hour before exam).
My old habit of reading in library kicked in the following semester and I would find myself reading these books:
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/0333750888/?tag=pfamazon01-20)
I grasped the concepts of astronomy and physics well enough that I had professors at the tech school tell me I should go to a university. One of the professors even loaned me their grad school systems of equations textbook for me to peruse which I only did once or twice. I sneaked in on lecture at a local private University and I became an "unofficial physics major" for a day. I even rubbed elbows with some of the prestigious physics professors there discussing theories(again the concepts not so much the maths) over tea(they had a thing called tea on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)
I have always enjoyed learning physics and astronomy. Last year I was accepted into a physics program, however I took an evaluation and once again, science ticked off as a strength but my math skills ticked as one of my weaknesses. I am now seeing it, I am currently struggling with Calculus 1(the first time in my academic career that I have officially taken a calculus class which is five credits) I am also taking Physics 191 another five credit class. I understand how the mechanics work in equations once I find some familiar ground. Getting to the familiar ground however, is where I am struggling with in both classes.
Another kicker is I have test anxiety where I can work physics formula derivations using calculus rules like integrations and taking the derivative and extensive algebra without a time constraint and can somewhat teach it to other colleagues clearly. I also collect old physics textbooks and like going through problems on my own time. But when it comes to showing what I know, my mind goes blank or stuff gets scrambled and my working memory takes longer to access the information needed. This is for both Calculus and Physics.
I am seriously considering declaring a geology major with a minor in astronomy and possibly another minor in physics if I literally need one more physics class to declare a physics minor. Because I am currently struggling with Calculus 1. However, I am told by upperclassmen in my major that they also struggled with Calc 1 failing and retaking it and getting a better grade. I wanted to get into a grad school in central/eastern Europe studying astronomy/astrophysics and work in an observatory as either a researcher or research assistant(research assistant is possible with a physics/astronomy undergrad) but I am thinking the juice is not worth the squeeze , especially at my age. Also I am not very confident in my ability to do math and my inner cynic is telling me "you are failing Calc 1 a trivial class, so how re going to survive the upper level maths required for a physics undergrad?"
I am 29 and in my freshmen year as an undeclared Physics major at an American University.
A background on my journey thus far:
After I saw a display at a museum at 8, I got bit by the astrophysics/science bug. At 11 I read a book about quantum mechanics at a Barnes and Noble, which was topical but I found quantum theory fascinating. This lead to more inquiries into the nature of the universe.
After being homeschooled most of my life I went to public Highschool and barely passed physical science and pre-algebra my first year because I found that stuff useless and did not have a strong study routine established. I just got into Star Trek so this reignited the passion I had for Astrophysics and discovery.
Sophomore year and beyond, I would spend all of my extra time in study halls and breaks in the library reading magazines and books about astrophysics and physics. Junior year of Highschool a science teacher noticed my dedication and interest in physics and astronomy. He recommended I take a Physics class. I took the physics class and managed a B- (again bad study habits die hard) and enjoyed it very much and my strongest performance was in the astronomy section of the class(only section I really aced in that class). I decided I wanted to be an Astrophysicist/Astronomer. When I took a Highschool careers test, this ticked off as one of the fields I would enjoy and find success in.
I went to university after graduation to get up to date since I scored pretty low on the ACT which I really did not study for. Science again ticked as one of my strengths along with reading comprehension. I lost financing to go to university so I pivoted to tech school to study mechanical design. But I always looked at this as a means to an end(along with my other majors), the end being a physics degree. I switched majors from Mechanical design to natural resource management(for one semester) than business management(two semesters).
My highest grades where in math and trig. I had accumulated enough credits that when they transferred over to my current University that I could get my undergrad in Physics in just two to three years. However I basically failed a physics course at the tech school, because I did not study(like literally I would just read the textbook 1 hour before exam).
My old habit of reading in library kicked in the following semester and I would find myself reading these books:
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/0333750888/?tag=pfamazon01-20)
I grasped the concepts of astronomy and physics well enough that I had professors at the tech school tell me I should go to a university. One of the professors even loaned me their grad school systems of equations textbook for me to peruse which I only did once or twice. I sneaked in on lecture at a local private University and I became an "unofficial physics major" for a day. I even rubbed elbows with some of the prestigious physics professors there discussing theories(again the concepts not so much the maths) over tea(they had a thing called tea on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)
I have always enjoyed learning physics and astronomy. Last year I was accepted into a physics program, however I took an evaluation and once again, science ticked off as a strength but my math skills ticked as one of my weaknesses. I am now seeing it, I am currently struggling with Calculus 1(the first time in my academic career that I have officially taken a calculus class which is five credits) I am also taking Physics 191 another five credit class. I understand how the mechanics work in equations once I find some familiar ground. Getting to the familiar ground however, is where I am struggling with in both classes.
Another kicker is I have test anxiety where I can work physics formula derivations using calculus rules like integrations and taking the derivative and extensive algebra without a time constraint and can somewhat teach it to other colleagues clearly. I also collect old physics textbooks and like going through problems on my own time. But when it comes to showing what I know, my mind goes blank or stuff gets scrambled and my working memory takes longer to access the information needed. This is for both Calculus and Physics.
I am seriously considering declaring a geology major with a minor in astronomy and possibly another minor in physics if I literally need one more physics class to declare a physics minor. Because I am currently struggling with Calculus 1. However, I am told by upperclassmen in my major that they also struggled with Calc 1 failing and retaking it and getting a better grade. I wanted to get into a grad school in central/eastern Europe studying astronomy/astrophysics and work in an observatory as either a researcher or research assistant(research assistant is possible with a physics/astronomy undergrad) but I am thinking the juice is not worth the squeeze , especially at my age. Also I am not very confident in my ability to do math and my inner cynic is telling me "you are failing Calc 1 a trivial class, so how re going to survive the upper level maths required for a physics undergrad?"
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