Not Naturally Smart

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I'm feeling kind of down today because I think I got a B on my first Anatomy & Physiology exam. I've already been accepted to the nursing program, but I'm still just so mad at myself for not ace-ing that exam. I study a lot, and I put in the effort. I'm not "naturally smart" like many of my peers, but I work hard. Im starting to become uncertain about if I'll be able to pass nursing school. My grades in the past have been all A's and one B. However, it was purely by hard work. Many of my friends are naturally smart and don't have to study as much. Will not having that natural talent hurt me in nursing school? Any advice for me? It's just one of those days :(

I'll keep everyone updated I'm sure... I get on AllNurses before I go to bed to 'wind down' :)

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I would highly recommend you try different studying styles to see what works best for you. I learned that the hard way.. I was so used to sitting down studying for an A&P exam and just reading lines over and over to memorize, that was a mistake. Memorizing will do nothing if you can't retain it. I found myself in my first week of nursing school struggling to find what worked best for me. To retain information, repetition repetition repetition.. studying a little every day will help you retain that information, not just sitting down for a small session and studying large chunks of information. So you should definitely find what studying style works best for you and use it through the last of your pre-reqs so when nursing school comes around, you will be ready. But enough procrastinating from me and back to studying.. ;)

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I would highly recommend you try different studying styles to see what works best for you. I learned that the hard way.. I was so used to sitting down studying for an A&P exam and just reading lines over and over to memorize, that was a mistake. Memorizing will do nothing if you can't retain it. I found myself in my first week of nursing school struggling to find what worked best for me. To retain information, repetition repetition repetition.. studying a little every day will help you retain that information, not just sitting down for a small session and studying large chunks of information. So you should definitely find what studying style works best for you and use it through the last of your pre-reqs so when nursing school comes around, you will be ready. But enough procrastinating from me and back to studying.. ;)

Thank you for the advice! I have taken multiple of those "What type of leaner are you?" quizzes and I always score equally in every area haha :) I think that flashcards, and teaching the information to someone is what works best for me. Listening, pointing out things out on my body, and reading my notes are helpful. However, nothing can beat being forced to verbalize my thought process out Los. Then I HAVE to understand it!

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Thank you for the advice! I have taken multiple of those "What type of leaner are you?" quizzes and I always score equally in every area haha :) I think that flashcards, and teaching the information to someone is what works best for me. Listening, pointing out things out on my body, and reading my notes are helpful. However, nothing can beat being forced to verbalize my thought process out Los. Then I HAVE to understand it!

*** out loud

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Specializes in Hospice.
Thank you for the advice! I have taken multiple of those "What type of leaner are you?" quizzes and I always score equally in every area haha :) I think that flashcards, and teaching the information to someone is what works best for me. Listening, pointing out things out on my body, and reading my notes are helpful. However, nothing can beat being forced to verbalize my thought process out Los. Then I HAVE to understand it!

Where are those quizzes? I've always wondered which way I lean 😛

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My pleasure. That's great that you already know what works best for you. Reading it, writing it, and verbalizing it are great because you are using 3 different parts of the brain!

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Where are those quizzes? I've always wondered which way I lean 😛

This is the one my professor recommended! What's Your Learning Style? 20 Questions

However- I've googled "What type of learner am I quiz" and tons of neat little quizzes come up!

Alas... I score evenly in all the categories, or a little higher/lower in certain areas depending on the quiz. I guess that I just learn all types of ways, not really well in any way :)

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Specializes in Hospice.
Where are those quizzes? I've always wondered which way I lean 😛

Thank you for the info. However...

Re-read your original comment and my reply to it. Re-read carefully.

Then smile.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.
In the real world, nobody cares about your grades except academia and your mom. As long as your scores are high enough to let you advance, don't focus on the letter.

There is so much more to nursing than achieving high academic marks. There are the so-called soft skills like interpersonal communication, creativity and critical thinking. I've known nurses who got high grades but had zero compassion.

You got this!

I just wanted to respond to this comment. I agree with it for the most part, but wanted to point out that employers in my part of the world are including GPA as part of the screening criteria for new grads - along with exit test scores. So..... grades can be important outside of academia.

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Thank you for the info. However...

Re-read your original comment and my reply to it. Re-read carefully.

Then smile.

Whoops!!! Just shows how my day yesterday was going! Thanks for the laugh, I needed it today :)

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I just wanted to respond to this comment. I agree with it for the most part, but wanted to point out that employers in my part of the world are including GPA as part of the screening criteria for new grads - along with exit test scores. So..... grades can be important outside of academia.

I've heard about that happening. I wonder what the GPA cut offs are though. If nursing school is almost impossible to pass, how high could the cutoff be? (I haven't started nursing classes yet so my GPA is about a 3.94)

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Anatomy is hard. Good job with the B nothing wrong with that.

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