u/elimanzz

I'm currently in my sophomore year, and I'm trying not to rely on AI as much as possible. But when I see my classmates around me blatantly cheating on their assignments and exams with it, I can only fear what is to come 10 to 20 years from now. Why am I even putting in all this effort when GPT can do everything better than I can? What purpose do I serve, and to what end? By the time I graduate three years from now, it will be even more advanced. Why would anyone hire me when I will not be able to hold a candle to this technology? I'm excited for the advancements that will come with this revolution, but I feel afraid, and I'm not really sure what to do. I have an exam tomorrow, and I have zero motivation to study for it since AI knows it all better than I do, so what's the point? I feel as though only the brightest minds will be able to contribute in any way as time goes on. As an average Joe, I feel hopeless.

I'm currently getting my degree in engineering, and I'm trying not to rely on AI as much as possible. But when I see my classmates around me blatantly cheating on their assignments and exams with it, I can only fear what is to come 10 to 20 years from now. Why am I even putting in all this effort when GPT can do everything better than I can? What purpose do I serve, and to what end? By the time I graduate three years from now, it will be even more advanced. Why would anyone hire me when I will not be able to hold a candle to this technology? I'm excited for the advancements that will come with this revolution, but I feel afraid, and I'm not really sure what to do. I have an exam tomorrow, and I have zero motivation to study for it since AI knows it all better than I do, so what's the point? I feel as though only the brightest minds will be able to contribute in any way as time goes on. As an average Joe, I feel hopeless.

"If you know the material, the professor doesn’t matter." I hear people with this take all the time, and it pisses me off.

You have the straight up miserable professors who seem determined to drag everyone down with them. They do not teach for shit, act condescending whenever someone asks for clarification, and test on random crap they never mentioned. When the exam average sits at a 40%, they wear it like a badge of honor instead of admitting they failed as an educator. If you actively despise teaching, get out of academia ffs.

On the other hand, you have the professors who are geniuses in their field, but could not explain a simple concept to save their life. Deep knowledge does not equal good pedagogy. Knowing how to run complex derivations in your head means nothing if you cannot translate that knowledge to someone seeing it for the first time.

Hate on me if you want, but communication barriers in STEM classes make learning suck ass. When I am sitting in Statics or Circuits, I should not have to spend eighty percent of my mental bandwidth deciphering what word is being said instead of processing the actual physics or circuit theory. The lecture turns into a listening comprehension test instead of an actual class.

A great teacher can make you fall in love with a difficult subject and walk away with massive respect for the discipline. A terrible professor does the exact opposite, ruining an entire topic so thoroughly that you end up hating it and never wanting to engage with the material ever again.

"Just teach yourself from the textbook." Sure, except I am at a community college. Faculty here are not hired to bring in multimillion dollar research grants or run labs. Their sole job description is teaching. If you are not capable of doing that effectively, why are you even here?

I went through Calc 1 and Calc 2 with straight As, but starting Calc 3 has been rough. The weird thing is that we are not even doing calculus yet. It is all 3D coordinate geometry, and my spatial intuition is just not clicking for questions like:

Write an equation for the set of all points 7 units away from the y axis.

The coordinates of point P are (5, 1, 8). What is the exact distance between point P and the z axis?

Write an equation whose graph is the set of all points whose distance from the xz plane is 12.

Write an equation for the sphere of radius 6 centered at (8, −3, −5).

Describe thoroughly the set of points in the intersection (if there is one) of the graph of (x − 2)^2 + (y − 4)^2 + (z − 3)^2 = 25 with the xz plane.

Up until now, I was really confident grinding through derivatives and integrals, so hitting a wall right at the start is frustrating.

For people who have taken the course: does this get smoother once the class gets back into actual calculus like partial derivatives and multiple integrals, or is this early geometry a sign of how the whole semester goes? How did you build up your intuition for 3D coordinate systems early on?

I have never been on a date in my life. The frustrating thing is that I am actually a very friendly person and get along with pretty much everyone. Making new guy friends is completely effortless for me, and I can talk naturally to women who are at least eight years older than me with zero issues.

The second it is a girl my own age that I find attractive, though, my brain completely locks up. I freeze and hold back because I immediately dread coming across as creepy or getting hit with an immediate "ew."

Right now, there is a cute girl in one of my college classes I would love to introduce myself to. Every time an opportunity comes up, I can never bring myself to actually do it. The moment I walk away, I am kicking myself with regret. But in the moment, the fear of making her uncomfortable and the thought of creating an awkward dynamic for the rest of the semester completely paralyzes me.

Has anyone else felt stuck in this kind of loop? If you managed to break out of it, how did you stop treating a simple greeting like such a massive risk?

I love the AW3926QW, but I would love it EVEN MORE if you let us get rid of the dimming. Thanks 🙏

u/alienware 👀

I want a high quality premium keyboard that I can use with both machines. It must be wireless with 2.4ghz and Bluetooth. Budget is $300, any recommendations?

Been thinking about buying this color but want to see some photos from actual owners. If you have it, please share!

I feel like a lot of people get blinded by rankings and completely forget they actually have to live in that city for the next 2-3 years.

A school might look great on paper, but if it’s in a place where you hate the vibe, you’re going to be miserable. Plus, you have to think about networking. Where do you actually want to end up working? Which location has the biggest growth for your specific industry?

It doesn't make sense to go to a top-ranked school in a place with zero jobs in your field just for the name. Make sure the location actually sets you up for the future you want.

I feel like a lot of people get blinded by rankings and completely forget they actually have to live in that city for the next 2-3 years.

A school might look great on paper, but if it’s in a place where you hate the vibe, you’re going to be miserable. Plus, you have to think about networking. Where do you actually want to end up working? Which location has the biggest growth for your specific industry?

It doesn't make sense to go to a top-ranked school in a place with zero jobs in your field just for the name. Make sure the location actually sets you up for the future you want.

Finished my first year with 34 credits completed and a 4.0 GPA. It’s looking like I’ll be taking Statics, Circuit Analysis, Calc 3, and Chem as the main potatoes this semester. I'm 22 and I honestly feel like I'm too old for this already lol.

I’m burnt out man, I took Calc 2 and Physics 2 over the summer and it whooped my ass (Still managed to get the A’s tho). I can’t do this shit anymore but I need money to live, and my parents can’t work much longer. They have no retirement funds, so I want to support them. I gotta push through, but shit maaaan, I’m losing my soul 🥀🫩