It's difficult to stand at the front of a classroom and watch a student fail. Everything in you screams to help them out, to take them under your wing, but odds are you have hundreds of other kids that require assistance, too. You help out as much as possible, since you can't save everyone. Occasionally, you'll come across those students who might be suffering from another problem: getting out of their own way.
Reddit user, Lokael, wanted to know how someone forced you to flunk them when they asked:
Professors of reddit, what are the top reasons you see students fail?
It's Their Version Of A Job
Giphy"They don't treat school like it is a job."
"If you put in a 'committed' 40 hours a week of class, study, and homework, you generally will do just fine."
slotwima
One is Not Inherently Linked To The Other
...Having the mindset that you are there to pass a class, not to truly LEARN information and gain a skill. Once you pass a class, it is assumed you now have full mastery of that material for higher level classes..."
Meeaf
Ahem....STUDY/
"Cramming for exams, or being arrogant about the material and thinking they do not need to study. My biggest pet peeve is having students who are either not trying, or really don't care, or something. The lab exams are "write in the answer", when someone doesn't even fill in enough of the blanks to pass the exam it hurts me. If you are not going to pass the class, just drop it, a Withdrawal on your transcript is a lot better than a 25% grade"
Madscientisteq
Show Up As Much As You Can
"Missing too many classes."
"That's really the only way I'll "fail" a student."
"There are lots of ways to get a C/D though."
"Not turning in assignments or paying attention to directions or doing homework are big."
"Sleeping in class, being on the phone, or generally not participating in class lead to point loss, too."
FarWestEros
Listen When You Can
"Not heeding our advice."
"I always meet with students one-on-one several times a semester to review their work, and I notice if they don't make the little changes that I suggest. I'm not a stickler; I'm just pointing out things that I know bosses and other professors wouldn't like. Most students are like "Oh, yeah, that makes sense," and will make the changes to their work, but some are weirdly stubborn and will revolt against the prompt or the clearly-stated expectations. It's weird."
toss_my_potatoes
Make All The Mistakes If You Can
"They don't learn from their mistakes."
"Mistakes are great learning opportunities. It's so common for students to work out a problem, look up the answer and see that they were wrong, then just correct their answer and move on. You should really stop and take the time to analyze your mistake. Why was your answer wrong? Why was the other answer correct? What mistake in your thought process or understanding of a topic led you to your answer? How do your correct it to arrive at the right answer? Fix those mistakes and misconceptions now so they don't happen again on exams. Also, write down that problem you got wrong so you can try it again on a later day."
"This and approaching a subject like it's something you can summarize as a series of separate facts, statements, formulae, or reactions. There are underlying connections that you miss when you take this view and it can rob you of a deeper understanding of the subject. Try to find those connections between all the new knowledge you are gaining and the knowledge you already have. Ideally your professor is helping to highlight some connections to get you started."
"Learning is a collaborative effort between the instructor and the student. It doesn't work if both are putting forth effort. It's not entirely on the professors to make you succeed."
Breathe_the_Stardust
What You're Learning Can Be Taken So Much Farther
"My father is a professor and according to him, the top reason for failure is not understanding the overall concept enough to apply it to different kinds of situations."
"The students who do poorly only really understand how to solve a particular type of problem, if they understand anything at all. Then when the assessments come around and my dad throws a 'similar concept/different situation" kind of question, they shut down."
DangerousWithForks
Seriously: SHOW ALL YOUR WORK
"Tutored at university. I had a girl who got an 18 on a calc exam come crying to me. I looked over the exam quickly and asked her how she studied. She studied the night before. Her biggest issue was showing 0 work. There were triple chain rule problems that even a genius couldn't do in their head. I was amazed she even got an 18, I felt it was generous."
"Idk where she ended up, it was the only time I saw her. But I hope she figured it out"
WeakPressure1
"Passion is good—but loving something, tending to it, that takes discipline."
"The thread has listed the big ones: external pressures. Lots of our students work 30+ hours/week, are food insecure, have to go to the VA for treatments, or have horrendous family problems that make attendance difficult, not to mention mental issues. Please talk to us when you're having these difficulties, or to the clinic or disability services offices—it is possible to work things out."
"I'll emphasize that if someone told you you're "just not good at school," they were wrong, or trying to cut you down. Students get bullied (sometimes by a professor) into underconfidence, and then undermine themselves, skipping assignments just to prove they can't succeed. Seek out the people who support you and your education."
"Barring that, the biggest problem I encounter is not reading or following directions, especially comments on work. There are clear instructions for every assignment, and following them means at least basic success. The same is true of feedback: your professor is giving you specific instructions (ideally) to follow to improve your grade next time. It's all carrots and sticks, guiding you to practice the skills we want you to learn. Follow the directions, and when it's feedback time, take a deep breath and read the comments."
"Next highest is this logic: "I find it interesting, so I must be good at it." You may be passionate about Japanese cartoons, but if you take Japanese, you need to study and practice things like vocabulary, grammar, and writing. Or you could be really "into history" and know lots of facts—but your History classes are there to help you think historically, to contextualize, argue, analyze, criticize, give you a new approach to the world. Passion is good—but loving something, tending to it, that takes discipline."
Atarut
Why Pay And Not Show Up?
"I dunno. Theres a lot a good psychology professor can bring to the table. You may have learned a goo deal on your own but i really don’t think that discounting an entire class because you learned something on your own is reasonable."
"I took english comprehension honors in high school at one college, and the again at another when i went back. I took away different things each time."
"What you value is up to you but it seems like you are simply against the way current institutions are structured and thats valid. But you can still get a lot of value out of education. Most people look at the time-the degree and how it will land them a job. Not the practical learning, the life experience and social exposure that comes with it."
"I’m in the US and our college edu is fucked but despite that you can get a lot of value out of classes and learning. Past generations have definitely dropped the ball and put undue pressure to go to school for a decent job. They also allowed our edu costs to skyrocket. I think its absoulyely insane for stufents to go to college and not try to get every ounce of information out of it based on price"
UnidentifiedFlop
Something Outside Their Control
"I'm a university tutor. It's very rare that anyone fails because they're not physically capable of passing the subject. It's usually extenuating circumstances - they're skipping class (to take care of a sick relative or work), they're putting things off (because of fear of failure), they're not motivated in multiple aspects of life (because they don't think they're good enough)."
"Very common to see 18 year olds who have moved from the countryside to live alone in the city for the first time, and they feel homesick for their family and friends. I teach at a big, competitive university without much individual support, have had multiple chats after tutorials with kids who start crying because they feel isolated and lost on the huge campus."
manlikerealities
Perfection Is The Enemy Of Done
"Perfectionists with depression/anxiety/lots of other responsibilities."
"It basically means not having the time you need to do the work but also never ever handing in anything that isn't perfect. So it goes in a hideous cycle until I work out what is going on and put them into amended due dates/small steps type things, and emphasise that SOMETHING is better than failing."
"That and remaining enrolled but not taking the damn class."
"(Plagiarism and thinking film theory is a cruising elective for funsies are close second places)"
handsofanautomaton
Don't Lost That Password, Now
"Not. Reading. Their. Emails."
"I work in central admin, and a huge percentage of the fails we see are due to students failing to check their university email account. Frequently, they get to the end of term, then claim no one ever contacted them, so they couldn't possibly pass. We then get sent the massive list of dates and times the increasingly irritated department secretary has contacted them..."
172116
It's Like HW IS Meant To Help You...
"I'm currently an adjunct professor at a community college. I also teach a how to succeed in college class. The school I work for has a ridiculous amount of resources available to students, including free tutoring and writing help. And students don't use them. They don't check email, they don't turn in homework, and they don't ask for help when they need it, or deny needing it when I offer... I just don't get it."
"They have everything to succeed. No one should ever fail- I'm very reasonable with emergencies or other situations if they need extensions with homework. And they just, don't. It's incredibly frustrating to see bright individuals not complete the work they need to pass. Just check your email and do the homework!!!"
brine-22
It's All In Your Head
"They convince themselves they're bad at a subject. Some students understand really well and can even sometimes apply what they've learned for an exercise during the lesson, then the next lesson they've forgotten everything, because they're "bad at it" so "it's normal they can't do it"."
Olde_Sweet_Shoppe
Use Your Phone To Set Reminders
"Lack of time management skills and no desire to think critically about subjects."
svazq003
"This meshed with my experience while a professor, with one difference: Kids nowadays aren't taught to think critically, by and large. They're so conditioned by being taught to the test, and being able to look nearly anything simple up on Google that they rarely have reason to think critically."
"It's so bad that the first semester of freshmen chem where I taught was largely taught to the test (ACS standardized test, in this case). I taught my second semester freshmen chem course in a way that required critical thinking to get an A or a high B, and I didn't curve. Let's just say that the admin didn't like that the average in my class was a C-."
HerrDoktorLaser
It's A Mental Game
"Every single student that fails my class has one or both of this character flaws."
- They blame everyone else: you can see it when you hear them talk. They don't say "I fail" or "I got X grade", they say "HE failed me" or "HE gave me X grade".
- They are so afraid to fail that they barely try. Because they thing that if they don't even try they can always say "if I apply myself I could have done it easily".
You Need More?
•Lack of maturity.
•Lack of any self-study.
•Lack of interest in their chosen subject.
•Lacking the ability to see the long game / plan ahead.
•Merely seeing study as a means to an end (IE getting a well-paid job).
•Inability to think critically.
•Inability to conduct meaningful research.
•Plagiarism.
•General laziness.
monster_breeder
Too Much Self-Medication
"Tenured professor here. Three words:"
"Stop. Smoking. Weed."
"Seriously, stop doing this! Ok, so occasional recreational weed use is ok, but if you're lighting up to avoid worrying about assignments, it means you're avoiding doing the assignments. That means you are an addict. That means you will fail. You may feel great, but you. Will. Fail. Use of cannabis is highly correlated with apathy, and apathy is a degree-killer."
"Don't smoke weed to avoid your responsibilities. It works far too well- soon you will find you no longer have those responsibilities at all."
OphidiaSnaketongue
Start Strong, STAY STRONG
Giphy"Halfhearted attention to class, skipping, getting zeros on assignments, then doing frantic damage control near the end. Nope! Try again next term."
Repent2019
"So if students do the work, show up, pay attention, care about the class, they'll generally do okay?"
Lokael
A huge round of applause to all the educators out there. And please, read your emails students!
Do you have a similar story? Please share it in our comment section below!
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Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.