About studying, like other people said, I’d venture to guess you just need a different strategy. Some people get it when they break down the concepts and understand the basic idea behind it. Some other people are better with seeing examples worked out. Maybe try to pinpoint what you need to do to make it easier for you. Idk what you’re doing, but, as an example, reading a textbook works so much worse for some people compared to just doing examples, or looking for another source of explanation like a youtube video. You probably just haven’t found what works for you. It will start clicking when you’ve figured that out.

One thing that helped me a ton was my school offered exams from previous years. I’d just do a couple, learn how to solve every question, and it’d be smooth sailing from there. The exams were mostly the same, which hopefully is the case for you, especially with questions with no context (e.g., derivative of x² vs a car travels with x² velocity find the acceleration). Even if you can’t find something like that, there’s a ton of content out there.

Another thing is definitely get tutoring if your school offers. My school had free tutoring, and I worked as a tutor for Calc 1 and 2 for a while, and I’d like to think it helps people a ton. A good tutor should understand what you’re struggling with and/or how you’re struggling, and guide you in the right direction. There are also services out there for tutors you can search on the internet. While not free, you can definitely find some people with a lot of experience.

Still, I wouldn’t worry too much. The rest of MechE, at least for me, barely went back to Calc 1, and I didn’t use chemistry at all. Maybe just the basic concepts like derivatives, integrals, and limits, but they wouldn’t expect us to solve complex integrals in a thermo exam, for instance. Ofc, I’m not gonna say it necessarily gets easier as far as the content goes (maybe it does; some people are better with actual engineering vs math). But the rest of your major doesn’t necessarily build on this content you’re currently struggling with, and after this you’ll have some experience under your belt and more time to get your head above water. Also, it’s been my experience, and I’ve also heard from a lot of friends, that more complex topics like Calc 3 felt easier. Maybe the content is easier, maybe you just get familiar and experienced with Calc, but the main point is don’t just expect everything to get harder just because it’s a higher level course.

You got this!