Drowning in chemistry

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Hi all,

I seem to be slowly drowning in my chemistry class. I have a 4 year old at home, work 30 hours a week, am 14 weeks pregnant with #2 and just found out that my father-in-law has cancer. This news has been devastating for my husband and our immediate family. I am so overwhelmed with life and am taking chemistry at night (2 nights per week) and am not doing well. I got a D on my first test and am having a difficult time coming to terms with this. I am a very good student and am used to studying hard and getting A's and B's in my subjects. I already have a BA in human services and graduated with an almost 4.0 gpa. I am not bragging but just trying to hit home how difficult failing is for me right now. I can only imagine trying to take chemistry again with 2 kids will be even harder. I am wondering what I should do. I felt so emotional about the D grade that I received that I felt that perhaps I just needed to give up on my hopes of going to nursing school and becoming a nurse. Perhaps this is a sign that I can't cut it. I work with and know several nurses who all said that chemistry was their worst class and not to worry but I must pass this class with a C. I am having anxiety dreams at night about the chemistry equations and all the material that just doesn't interest me or make much sense. I loved my bio, A&P and am so disappointed in myslef right now. I would love to hear your opinions.

Be well....:cry:

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If your children came to you with a similar problem would you advise them to give up? I assume you would not.

There will always be curveballs and obstacles, how you deal with them says everything about you and your character. I do not know you, so I cannot give one of those generic 'you can do it' answers, what I can tell you is that you owe it to yourself and your family to do your best and make it happen.

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Try getting a book other than your school chemistry textbook. Some of them explain things in a much easier way to understand. I used cliff's study solver and have heard good things about chemistry for dummies. Also, you may need to get some help by going to tuturing. I know that seems like one more thing to cram into your week, but it may be necessary to get you over the hump. I found that things eventually clicked into place, but at first seemed overwhelming. good luck to you!

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Look, I know everyone so far is encouraging you to keep it up, but you have said that your family is devastated, you are pregnant, work, and have a young child. That is an incredibly large burden. I think it is important to maintain your GPA, because it is so competitive to get into nursing programs. Maybe you should put everything down on paper- pros and cons. In the end, you may decide to take a W and then when things are more settled go back and really go for the A. The thing with Chemistry is that it is very time consuming, and in order to do well you really need to do all the homework and then some. It probably was the most stressful of classes, but I managed to get an A, and it was one of 9 classes that determined whether I got into my program or not. Now I don't know how competitive the nursing schools are in your area, but in my area the average GPA in those 9 classes- 3.8.

Whatever you decide, make the decision and stick with it and don't beat yourself up over it.

I myself worked full-time and knocked out prereqs at night, and I do remember how hard it was, and my son was already 10 when I decided to go back. I wish you luck and success no matter what you decide, and if you ever need to vent, feel free to pm me.

Best regards,

Jean

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Specializes in Maternity.

god i know that feeling and it sucks. bounce back!!

i remember in my anatomy and physio 1 class, my professor gave as an "aptitude test" (sort of) so we knew how we were going to do in the class. let's just say i felt like an idiot! now granted the result didn't effect my grade, but the feeling was just as hopeless. i wanted to march right back out of the class and just forget about nursing. i thought it was way out of my leauge. but, just as bicster said so perfectly, you owe it to your family to do well. you guys are all in it together! i am a single mommy and so failing isn't an option. i owed it to my daughter to do well in that class........and i did. i never gave up.:heartbeat

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OMG don't give up...

Chemistry class sucks on it's own... and you have so much other stuff of your shoulders...

See what your school offers as far as tutoring. Talk to someone. Go see your professor and let him/her know what you're going through and let them see just how important passing this class is to you and your future...

I went to see my chem professor b/c I was doing pretty poorly. He saw just how important passing that darn class was to me and how badly I wanted to get into the nursing program. He was so understanding and offered extra credit and guided my to the tutoring center. It was tough, but I went from almost failing to getting a B.

So that's the best advice I can give. Your professor is there to help you if you ask for it. Hand in there!!! Hugs...:hgu:

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

What everyone said is so true.

I know it is so hard to get a bad grade - I remember getting a low C on a test in my A&PI class...man, I was bummed about it for a week:chair:. I ended up getting an A in the class, though. You just can't give up over 1 test. Many profs have told me that this is the downfall of many students.

YOU CAN RECOVER!

But you need to do it soon! Chemistry is very much composed of "building blocks". What you learn in the 2nd month is built off of the first month and so on...

Additionally, you do have a low on your plate right now. Not just with being pregnant, but also with your FIL's cancer. There would be nothing wrong with bowing out and continuing in the spring.

You sound very capable - don't give up!

I'm 37 - I know it seems daunting to have to do all this - but it will be worth it!!!!!:icon_hug:

:dncgbby:Lisa

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I just wanted to post a link to a great resource I found for free chemistry help. Much better than Yahoo Answers. It's

http://mychemistrytutor.com

There are high school, AP, General (college) and Organic forums. There's some profs who answer questions, too. Awesome!

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I'm sorry, but you have tons of stuff on your plate! Anyone that was taking a class under those conditions would be having problems. I've heared tons of people say that chemistry was the worst class for them, and I agree. It's just not interesting to a lot of people, even if we do need to know it for nursing. It is possible that you might need to take it again. But, at the same time, you can't be very far into the semester. Take a breath and try again, and if you can't swing your grade around you still have another chance! Good luck!

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try Chem4kids.com and also try www.fordhamprep.com these helped me in the summer class I have taken and I got an A

And don't give up if I could do it with 5 kids I am sure you can do it too.

Just study hard, love the children, and love your husband the rest will all fall inplace when it is time

Good Luck!

Be well! :D

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God, Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And Wisdom to know the difference.

You can't change the grades you have. You can't change your circumstances. Accept that. Take a breath. What *can* you change?

I was exhausted. 5 teenagers. FT + oncall programming job + at one point an alkie addict hubby. 2 teens were ADD. I was suffering layoffs every 2 - 3 yrs as IT jobs went to India or a company went belly up.

What did I change? Got a divorce. Got a new job in a new state. Supported my kids as much as I could. Began the pre-reqs for NS. But, most importantly, I carved out 1 hr per day for ME! Of course I get up at 0500 so I have that 1 hour, but it made the difference.

Take time and look at what you CAN do and then do it! :up:

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Specializes in Maternity.
god, grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change,

courage to change the things i can,

and wisdom to know the difference.

you can't change the grades you have. you can't change your circumstances. accept that. take a breath. what *can* you change?

i was exhausted. 5 teenagers. ft + oncall programming job + at one point an alkie addict hubby. 2 teens were add. i was suffering layoffs every 2 - 3 yrs as it jobs went to india or a company went belly up.

what did i change? got a divorce. got a new job in a new state. supported my kids as much as i could. began the pre-reqs for ns. but, most importantly, i carved out 1 hr per day for me! of course i get up at 0500 so i have that 1 hour, but it made the difference.

take time and look at what you can do and then do it! :up:

that was said perfectly.
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