Diagnosis: Academic Apathy.

So… long overdue update from my last post.  In spite of a mysterious and very ill-timed stomach virus (I’ll spare you all the details) that was ravaging our campus, I did pass that math assessment test on the second try (some had to take it four times, so I don’t feel as bad as I did earlier).

I’m happy to report that I’m enjoying my Econ class and have an “A” on my midterm to show for it.  I won’t exactly say I skip across campus to go to class, well, maybe but I’m enjoying learning and get a great deal out of the material.

And then there’s my other class.  To be honest, I feel… How should I put this… I received a notice a few weeks ago that students had a week to drop classes without incurring a “withdraw” on their transcript and instantly thought “Ooh, should I drop my Ancient Societies* class?”.  Yeah, it is that bad.  Major case of the “meh’s”.

I was all set to write a post about my classmates not attending class, but decided it was more honest to write about my mental absence in this Societies class. That, and the other post was getting kind of preachy…

I can’t even explain why.  I have an “A” in this class as well.  I think the professor is great, he is very knowledgeable and engaging, and the material is interesting.  I’m just not “feeling it” I guess, because the minute I found out the class may not count for my humanities elective, I started to regret taking it, and have to fight mentally “checking out” every so often while in class.

What is wrong with me?  I have diagnosed myself with Academic Apathy.

Academic Apathy: Latin: Coursus Couldcarelessin  The scholarly equivalent of “it’s not you, it’s me”.  Symptoms include: ennui, distraction, creation of new Pinterest board/blog post/vacation in one’s head, forgetfulness or desire/tendency to “phone in” course assignments, sudden onset of extreme ADHD-like behavior during readings.  This condition is often associated with Spring Semester.

Contrast this behavior with mine in my econ class:  I study ahead of class, work on extra problems, review, and even keep up with current events and email my professor with questions/comments on material (I know, teacher’s pet… whatevs).  I realize this is a class in my major and demands more of my attention, but I’m bothered with the fact that I just can’t seem to get  “into” the other course and give it the attention it deserves.

I do attend class, and keep up with readings (mostly) and participate from time to time.  The information is only sticking on a very basic level, however. A part of me feels that I’m too old to feel or behave this way and need to be the “go-hard” dedicated adult student I brand myself as.  But I find the kid that one of the students brings to class occasionally far more interesting.  What can I say.

I hope this is all a bad case of Spring Fever (officially, though the weather in DC declared it Spring/Early Summer 3 weeks ago), since I know from past academic endeavors that this is most likely to happen between the months March-May. Also it may be that this is an intense course and most of the students are Humanities majors and have background in some of the professor’s other courses, and I just feel left out.

Maybe I just need a vacay.

My normal strategy would be to pick an interesting paper topic for our research paper and develop an interest there.  However, I couldn’t think of anything and picked something that would have the needed sources.  I can’t relate any of the events in the course to current issues, as the society in question no longer exists!

Is it essential to be passionate about every course you take?  I’m pretty sure that isn’t possible, so what do you do with the courses you just have to take?  I’m well prepared to just “suck it up” and try to get a good grade, but  have moral angst about not caring more.

What do you think?  How do you address/cure your Academic Apathy?

*Course name changed to protect the innocent professor, who really is a nice guy.