Mastering Physics

The ability to do well is not solely based on talent. We accomplish by striving for and desiring to achieve goals; we must have passion to ignite this desire. Talent can assist us to be successful, but it is devotion that gets the final results.

I’m one of those rare students who actually enjoys physics: the numbers and computing engage me in a way that other subjects cannot. The first day of class, I thought I was so prepared with my new glistening binder and sharpened number 2 pencils. Mr. Maley gave us an inspiring lecture, detailing the importance of the year and how he would work with us to get everything done. I was excited about physics, but I honestly did not care about the class at that point. I listened passively and half-heartedly, waiting to just get the first homework assignment and get it over with. For a while I thought that this would just be another class, another teacher, and another year of a class that I would struggle with to keep a decent grade. My eyes finally opened when I logged on to Mastering Physics the next week.

Urban Dictionary defines Mastering Physics as, “the process of demoralizing aspiring science majors by the keepers of the knowledge who devised such a tool.” This I can attest to. Mastering Physics stinks. You log on, go to your assignment that is often 70 problems long, begin your hours-upon-hours long quest to conquer the nearly impossible problems, and when you get one wrong the program has the courtesy of telling you immediately and repeatedly. It was the start of the second week of school, and I thought that I would get a head-start on my assignment. So I logged on to Mastering Physics and started a skype call with my study group. We opened the first question and my eyes nearly bulged out of my head. There it was: a word problem, with just variables, asking about concepts. The basics. I had never focused on concepts like the ones presented in front of me..I usually just looked at some numbers, plugged them in to an equation, and there was the answer. Not this time. Once I had finished the first problem, I had managed to answer each part of it wrong at least once, and some parts twice. I was not used to failure such as this. Why wasn’t I getting everything right? This was the basics.

That’s when it hit me. The basics. I never focused on foundation before. All I ever saw was the grandiose outcome. I never worked for the moment, I always worked for what I saw the future could bring. I anticipated great things rather than visualizing them in the present to conceptualize them. Also, this helped me grasp that I don’t get physics. Physics is not something that comes naturally to me, and Mastering Physics definitely has let me know that on many occasions.

So I changed my habits.

Instead of half-heartedly working and then giving my all last-minute is no longer a habit of mine. At least it’s a habit I’m trying to break. I developed a passion for physics: a real drive to assist me to get things done. In the beginning I just wanted to cry and give up on a problem, now when I get one right all I want to do is scream “TAKE THAT SUCKA” and punch the computer really hard. A new drive changed my perception. A new way of thinking changed my reactions. A new way of learning changed my habits. Mastering Physics makes me excited to learn now. When I log on now I see new building blocks that lead me to achievement rather than a roadblock in the way of a successful grade. I conquer each problem one at a time, and work my hardest. I give my all now so I know that I can do it for years to come; I developed a passion so that I don’t rely solely on talent. Devotion has helped me do well in the present, and I know it will help me accomplish much more in the future.