By 09:20 tomorrow morning I've got to front up for an exam ( in my study unit, The New Testament in its Times). And, even though two of the questions are known to me (and all the students sitting for the exam) - I'm finding it hard to concentrate. The problem is not helped by having a dose of the flu - but I'm just finding it so hard to focus.
I've got a Problem - exam tomorrow, and I can't get interested
by fulltimestudent 16 Replies latest jw friends
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Slidin Fast
Go and have a walk, a cup of tea/coffeee and in 15 minutes get your head in gear and start again.
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GrreatTeacher
Sudafed. (pseudoephedrine)
It's a cold remedy for clearing head congestion and it's also a stimulant so it will help with concentration.
Good luck with your exam.
GT
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sarahsmile
Study very hard and study your notes.
You need to get to bed early take some night time liquid flu medicine.
Wake up have a cup of coffee! Have one to go!
Focus! Shut your mind off and get off the computer.
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naazira
Reading over your notes is a good idea. To be honest if you have attended the lectures and did the readings that led up to the exam date you should be fine. At this point you are just fine tuning things. Get some rest!!
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Magnum
You seem to indicate that the problem is not the flu, but maybe is exacerbated by the flu. Do you know why you're having a problem concentrating and focusing? The subject sounds extremely interesting.
Where are you going to school (what country)? I think you've said before, but I don't remember. Australia?
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GrreatTeacher
Let us know how your exam went, fulltimestudent.
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fulltimestudent
All hypothetical now, but thnx to all who offered suggestions
sarasmile:
Study very hard and study your notes.
Smile!!! That's the problem - I guess the bottom line is that the topic.
You need to get to bed early take some night time liquid flu medicine.
Been sleeping OK!
Wake up have a cup of coffee! Have one to go!
Great idea! But I drink too much coffee.
Focus! Shut your mind off and get off the computer.
My mind was made without an on/off switch. It runs perpetually in speed mode. Maybe I should take lessons in mindfullness.
And Computers? Another smile! I agree - they are a problem. The world is now at our finger tips as we type in topics for which we want information. Mention something you don't know, and a search engine will bring a cascade of information - you can then spend hours sorting it out. I Understand your point.
Problem is that learning is going electronic. I can listen to the lectures over and over if I want. If I want to question a lecturer's point, I find google scholar (which filters the search engines results to academic information) and again, there's a flood of discussion.
In the future, (so my University hopes) there will be few on-campus lectures. You will listen to canned info at home and only attend the University for an extended tutorial.
Magnum:
You seem to indicate that the problem is not the flu, but maybe is exacerbated by the flu. Do you know why you're having a problem concentrating and focusing? The subject sounds extremely interesting.
Where are you going to school (what country)? I think you've said before, but I don't remember. Australia?
You've got it right - I'm Australian, living in Sydney. And, the good news for you is you've won a cigar. You picked the crux of the problem. And yes! the flu is worse today, its moved into secondary infection stage.
My lecturer, for whom I have deep respect,( https://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/department_of_ancient_history/staff/dr_chris_forbes/ ) is extremely knowledgeable - a knowledge that extends far outside the Bible itself. And, he makes the topic really interesting. I have/had a fairly good knowledge of Bible topics (from a witness viewpoint, of course. But I did try to understand opposing viewpoints to the WTS. ), and I was once a fervent true-blue believer. But, I've learned so much in this course - its actually quite exciting to analyse the Bible documents as historical documents. I wish I could post Dr. Forbes lecture on Revelation. (Can't, its against University rules) He sees it as being written to console those suffering persecution, and not as a roadmap to the future. His arguments are compelling and challenging.
But, having faced a crisis in my faith - I now face the world without faith, and I guess this topic causes me some problems. First and foremost are what I call hot-button words. Words that are used in the Bible and churches, to move you to some action. Dr. Forbes also happens to be a true-blue believer and at times it shows through (I would not hold that against him- I believe his 'faith' is solidly based on his understanding). But maybe I've never faced up to those hot-button words. I can see now that I will have to.
So essentially I've faced personal issues in this course, and found my well dry. And, that's why I think I've had this problem. In my mind, its exciting! In my heart, I'm unmoved!
I thanked Dr. Forbes for the course. He has helped me immensely to see that I need to become even more analytical in my approach. The lessons I've learned in this study unit are extremely useful. If I live long enough, I hope to approach Buddhism and say Confucianism from the same perspective. In fact all documents. They all suffer from the same difficulty.
For examp;e, In the Gospels, we get the viewpoint of humans writing long after the death of the key actor in the drama. The writer's must approach their topic with their own biases, biases that will be affected by their experiences and their need to convince others of their own viewpoint. The problems in Buddhist and Confucian writings are similar.
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fulltimestudent
GrreatTeacher:
Let us know how your exam went, fulltimestudent.
Oh, well! what can I say.
I wrote solidly for the two hours, but does it make sense? (uncontrolled laughter)
I'll probably get a pass (i.e 50%), which maybe I should not deserve.
As I said in my last post, the well is dry, my heart is empty. If one knows two of the four questions and all you have to do is prepare an essay style answer that you can write in 30 minutes, you should be able to get close to full marks on those two questions.
The other two are not known, but are general questions anyway.
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fulltimestudent
As I continue to think my attitude through, I think I can put my finger on the problem I've been having. Is the Jesus of the NT, based on an historical figure? Prior to this study unit, its a question I thought was simply irrelevant. However, I know think that its likely that the NT figure is based on an historical figure, but, developing in parallel with that realisation, was another realisation, a much more significant realisation.
This:
That the Jesus standing behind the NT figure was an idealistic young man, with a charismatic personality, who got out of his depth, and was killed for his trouble. Maybe he was not too much different to myself and other young men I'd known in my witness life, and since then in other churches.
I doubt that the Jesus of the Gospels had a clear idea of himself (aside than likely thinking he was special to Yahweh). He wanted to do something about the social problems of the world and had at least analysed the world's problems as being rooted in toxic relationships, and as you can note the biographers who told stories about him, did focus on what he had to say about human relationships.
But, even though some humans may have thought he said some worthwhile things, in the end the organisations that developed as communities based on what he said, have proved to be as toxic as the ones he thought of as failures.
And maybe, just maybe, the crystallisation of that thought a couple of weeks ago - was at the root of my difficulty in preparing for this exam.