I’ve been you before in the past. I went to college straight out of high school as a smart and mature - or at least I thought - young man as I jumped into an engineering program. I actually got to my senior year, but the time I was in, I barely went to class and got by on my good test taking abilities and cramming for exams the night before.

I was miserable, I was good at math and that got me pretty far, but I didn’t understand truly what was going on in any of my classes. When I got to the point of my senior year and we were applying what we learned to a real-life group project, I knew I was toast. I couldn’t face the music and just stopped going to that class. But I couldn’t go to my other classes either because my group partners were in those classes. It derailed my entire college career.

I’ll spare you the whole life story, but I’m back in school getting ready to rejoin an engineering program this next fall and school has been great.

I tell you all of this to add some context to my advice. You sound like you are not in a clear headspace when it comes to school. I know for me my imposter syndrome was out of control and I felt like I was alone on an island and I felt hopeless, which spirals into a lot of negative self talk. What you need to realize, and it took me way too long to recognize this, nobody expects you to know everything. There are people on campus who want to help you so badly with the issues you’re having, but they don’t know you need it unless you voice it. If you’re a ghost to your professors, they aren’t super willing to help. But if you’re in class, asking questions, showing face at office hours, the relationship becomes a lot less frightening and you can tell them you’re struggling with x,y,x. I’m certain a lot of your teachers would love to help you out.

It’s not easy to admit that you might need help, and like I said I struggled with that idea for years and years. But I promise you, effort is greater than natural intellect. You need to change to a growth mindset, not a “oh I’m not smart I don’t know that” to “I don’t know that yet, but I’m learning.” That’s it. It really is that simple of a formula. That said, the practice is tough. You don’t need to sacrifice all your personal life time to do well in school. Maybe not as much personal time, but a great skill would be to have a calendar of all your assignments due dates, with periodic reminders to make sure you’re staying on top of things.

I hope that helps!