The Student Room Group

Do people who go to uni really enjoy studying?

What I'd like to ask in this thread is a question directed at any people who are either currently in uni, have been in the past or plan to go in the future:

Do you very much enjoy studying in general? Do you get a lot of joy and satisfaction in studying your chosen subject(s)? Do you never feel any dislike for it at all? Would you say you are very passionate about it? Or are you only doing it with some moderate interest and the main goal of improving career prospects and/or experiencing the student lifestyle?


Or anyone feel anything like I do in the next paragraph?

If anyone's interested, I've personally been having my reservations about uni lately, due to bad experiences with education in the past few years. I really can't find that one subject I'm very passionate about or particularly good at. And the things I really hate about academic learning is being told to do this and that, having to work so much and get stressed out all the time over it, and even trying hard and trying to do everything right doesn't always result in getting good grades. It's just all really frustrating to me and I generally prefer learning by reading about things in my own leisure whenever I want without the pressure of having to do stressful coursework and exams just to please some examiner, which I'm often no good at. I only did GCSEs and A Levels because it's constantly drummed into us that it's the right thing to do, but now I'm not sure if it's really worth me carrying on to higher education. Even my OU coursework I can't be bothered with because I'm having the same problems again. I know it sounds bad and I hate feeling this way but it's so hard to help :frown:. I've made a few posts on TSR about this, and most people advise not going to uni if I don't like studying. I do suffer from depression so I'm not sure if that has much to do with it, but I've heard there are depressed people who manage to get A*s so...

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Reply 1
I get satisfaction from studying mathematics and physics in relation to electronic circuits, particularly in broadcast equipment, so yes I do.

Sounds like the Open University might be better for you.

Depressed people who manage to get A*s usually do it through working hard, which can often be a lonely task. And that is why they get depressed.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 2
I am at uni at the moment and I enjoy studying because I enjoy learning. I decided to go to university in part because I want to work in science and it's one of the only ways in and in part because I enjoy learning about the way life works at the biological level.

There is a subtle distinction between learning and studying indeed and it can be a lot less stressful to just casually learn in your own time. Qualifications can provide a kind of structure to your learning and though you don't always learn about the exact topics you are interested in you learn about a wider range of things and learn about topics you may not have known about.

Overall I do not regret attending uni in the slightest, I've studied interesting things and not so interesting things and the pressure of exams is great but the conversations you get into about yours and other's areas of interest outweighs that by far.

In the end you should do what most interests you, if you find something you could see yourself doing and it lends itself beneficially to a university degree then do so.
Reply 3
I probably enjoyed about half of it. Depended on the subject I was working on at the time...some modules were compulsory and boring, but others I could choose and were interesting. I think it's telling that I still read up on these topics for a hobby. But I'm lucky as I've never had a problem with deadlines and like the feeling of satisfaction when I'm working towards a goal. If academia is not what drives you, then find something that does.
Reply 4
No satisfaction whatsoever but I do it because I wasn't a secure job in the future. My degree leads directly to a career.
(edited 11 years ago)
I do!

However, sometimes it's hard, particularly if I don't find the topic/module interesting *cough* materials *cough*
Reply 6
Original post by AidanLunn


Depressed people who manage to get A*s usually do it through working hard, which can often be a lonely task. And that is why they get depressed.


They might not be depressed because of work though - work pressure can make their symptoms worse, but won't always be the root cause of it. I was down about home problems throughout my A-levels but used work as a means of escaping them.
Reply 7
Hard work is generally sufficient for anyone to earn a degree in most aptitudes. You don't have to be smart or stupid, only have to know that if you spend 100% of the time on the lash, you'll be lucky to get past your first year.
Reply 8
Original post by pikaboo
They might not be depressed because of work though - work pressure can make their symptoms worse, but won't always be the root cause of it. I was down about home problems throughout my A-levels but used work as a means of escaping them.


It's because they spend most of their time indoors alone that makes them depressed, as I said. This would be the same effect of doing staying in alone all the time whether they were studying or not.
Reply 9
Original post by AidanLunn

Sounds like the Open University might be better for you.


God no. If someone doesn't enjoy studying, the OU is a bad idea. At least at a brick uni you have people with similar interests around you, more contact hours, workshops. Whereas at the OU you have an online forum.

If this is what you meant of course.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by CherryCherryBoomBoom
What I'd like to ask in this thread is a question directed at any people who are either currently in uni, have been in the past or plan to go in the future:

Do you very much enjoy studying in general? Do you get a lot of joy and satisfaction in studying your chosen subject(s)? Do you never feel any dislike for it at all? Would you say you are very passionate about it? Or are you only doing it with some moderate interest and the main goal of improving career prospects and/or experiencing the student lifestyle?


When i actually get down and do some work yes, i do. Overall i'd say i enjoy my course.

Finding the motivation to study, however, is nigh on impossible. I'm hoping this changes next year when your marks actually count.
Original post by AidanLunn
I get satisfaction from studying mathematics and physics in relation to electronic circuits, particularly in broadcast equipment, so yes I do.

Sounds like the Open University might be better for you.


I am currently doing a course with the Open Uni, but I don't really like it much though. It's probably worse in a way in fact, cos working at home is quite a challenge when there's so many distractions about. I go to the library sometimes to do it, but it's still tiring. I'm also not getting any social life through it, which is such a downer.

Depressed people who manage to get A*s usually do it through working hard, which can often be a lonely task. And that is why they get depressed.


There's probably other reasons why they get depression. Working hard didn't always help me do well personally.
In all honesty I'm doing it for future career prospects first and foremost.
Reply 13
I sometimes enjoy it so much my assignments end up covered in stains.

Seriously though I'm the sort of person who writes for a bit and then gets on a roll rather than being able to do it in little bits.

If you aren't enjoying studying it's probably because you don't really understand the scope of the subject, you've just got a couple of random books out of the library. Or it may be because you haven't taken ownership of it - it's someone telling you what to do. This is why it's essential to write about something that actually interests you
I agree with whoever said that there's a difference between learning and studying. Learning is effortless; studying is pushing your limits and trying hard to grasp concepts.

From what I can tell, especially on a maths degree, those who were naturally gifted at maths at A level or were spoon fed and did no active "studying" were in for a shock. They found it difficult to get used to the fact that university requires much more independent work.

Those who did study hard at A level and had a strong work ethic, but who realised the course was very different from what they'd done at A levels, found it tough to keep up with the material.

Those who both enjoyed what they did and worked hard are currently on a 2:1.
Reply 15
You sound a bit like me... Love learning the stuff, hate doing the assignments. Unfortunately your degree class depends on doing well in the assignments. As you've probably worked out from other threads they don't really provide you with any external pressure so... The people who do the best are ones who are a bit keen about doing well in assessments (like the simpsons episode where lisa's panicy because no-ones graded her for a week) or maintain motivation by focussing on th term goals.
Yeah, I'm quite aware of the "learning vs. studying", and I reckon I'm probably more into learning than studying. Which probably isn't too good in trying to get certain qualifications and prove my intelligence to educational staff and employers, I know :erm:
I do, I just can't be bothered to do it in quantity. If I worked from the start of the year, I would have loved this year so much. But i've done f-all all year, and now i'm cramming so it's not nice.
I'd say on the whole I enjoy it. There are, unfortunately, a lot of times where my course can be a bit of a slog and the constant effort just grinds you down, and there are certainly parts that I find dull and don't like, but I do just really love learning and the feeling of knowing and properly understanding stuff that the vast majority of people don't, and probably one of my favourite feelings in the world is that moment when I suddenly feel like I've cracked a particular thing and it all feels worthwhile.
Reply 19
I went to uni because I didn't really know what to do next, and it seemed like the most natural progression after A Levels.

But in fact, I struggled with motivation through my A Levels, and I struggle with it now I'm at university. I'm in my third year, and the past couple of years have been difficult for me. I am not a strong essay writer, I am no good at student-teacher relationships and I lack an attention-span for anything that doesn't really interest me.

Thing is, I love my subject. I want to continue learning after I finish university, and it is extremely rewarding and worthwhile. I am a Japanese language student, but unfortunately with language learning, the higher the level gets, the more boring the topics become. I'm taking advanced level classes now and it's all about reading statistics, news reports and serious topics. It's going to classes and studying topics I was given no choice in, and writing essays on a subject I have nothing to say about etc. etc. that makes it difficult for me.

The times I have most enjoyed learning is through films, art and travel, and through random drunken nights chatting Japanese in Osaka.
(edited 11 years ago)

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