tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post5763769845951838895..comments2023-10-17T05:01:42.650-04:00Comments on Abandoning Eden: I am so smart! S-M-R-T!Abandoning Edenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12696116071749613265noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-14038772148177348422010-08-04T16:57:16.442-04:002010-08-04T16:57:16.442-04:00Happened to me too.... A lot of people, including ...Happened to me too.... A lot of people, including myself, did not regard me as an academic....I could barely get thru HS science courses. And now I am preparing for MCAT. Life is funny......katie lnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-77516044258713863832010-07-25T01:19:57.549-04:002010-07-25T01:19:57.549-04:00Adrienne,
You might also want to look into Willia...Adrienne, <br />You might also want to look into William and Mary. It's always ranked among the top of the medium size public colleges. <br />UVa is reportedly hurting from budget cuts over the past few years. American reportedly had a major problem with their president a few years ago, so if you're seriously thinking about it, you might want to check how that's playing out with the current administration.Ichabod Chrainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-39650995776356404882010-07-24T01:50:54.171-04:002010-07-24T01:50:54.171-04:00OMG, are you me? Until college, my academic histo...OMG, are you me? Until college, my academic history is remarkably similar. Top PSAT scores, great at secular stuff, constantly flunking out of religious studies classes, generally treated like a moron.<br /><br />I actually didn't realize I had much intelligence at all until I started college. Unfortunately, between pressure to go to school close to the community and my deep-seated belief that I wasn't very smart, I ended up at a mediocre state university, and then had serious mental illness problems when I left the community, half-way through college, which affected my performance. <br /><br />Ultimately, I decided not to pursue a career in academia, in part because of worries about getting fellowships and in part because of the terrible job market for historians, but it was certainly odd, growing up with the weird dichotomy of being of the dumbest kids in class--who was also smarter than just about anyone else in the schoolBridgewalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17982895856463498296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-84518989833146650232010-07-22T10:33:59.397-04:002010-07-22T10:33:59.397-04:00You know,I think it is normal to have a bit of an ...You know,I think it is normal to have a bit of an "imposter syndrome" when you just finished your studies and start out on a new job.<br /><br />Take a lawyer: after law school, you are not yet a "real lawyer", rather a budding lawyer with no professional experience. With time, you aquire professional experience (have some more exams in some countries) and become "a lawyer".<br /><br />Acquiring a profession is a continuum marked by important milestones - like finishing your studies, getting a phd, but I would agree that you "fullfill" the profession in a more complete way with 10 years experience under your belt.huhunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-50294988215922891732010-07-22T08:14:25.274-04:002010-07-22T08:14:25.274-04:00Thanks for posting this, AE. I have a natural tal...Thanks for posting this, AE. I have a natural talent for languages, but I couldn't do math after 10th grade because I have spacial-perception problems. It took me forever to convince my 11th-grade math teacher to let me out of honors. He thought I was just lazy. <br /><br />I am teaching my own course (just one; it's a postdoc) for the first time this fall, and I'm working on lectures this summer. I really enjoy working on them, but I occasionally am terrified that I am going to make an idiot of myself. I have found the key is not to dwell on it and just to push ahead with the preparation. <br /><br />Good luck with your teaching! You'll do great! I am still so impressed that you got a tenure-track job in this economy. Rock on.katrinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09428267916507575555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-78248321209084048102010-07-20T16:22:59.272-04:002010-07-20T16:22:59.272-04:00Eh, I was smart (you beat my PSAT score by 30) wit...Eh, I was smart (you beat my PSAT score by 30) with no problems in any subject (other than behavior) and it wasn't so great. I hung out with the "smart crowd" growing up, but now I'm friends with a lot of the OTDers who had learning disabilities growing up. Kind of like them better. :-)Jewish Atheisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04616617537150446818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-40385115713648360292010-07-19T14:09:34.923-04:002010-07-19T14:09:34.923-04:00I also went back to college after a few years &...I also went back to college after a few years & excelled with a all A's. My first try was a mixed bag, mainly because Adult ADD wasn't acknowleged (and when I was a kid, even child ADD wasn't really considered much.)Rabba bar bar Chanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11450815030297601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-61204562472644205562010-07-19T09:23:13.883-04:002010-07-19T09:23:13.883-04:00I was always bad at my Judaic subjects but always ...I was always bad at my Judaic subjects but always knew I was smart. In HS I was also in the stupid hebrew class and smart english class. But the stupid hebrew class was actually a bunch of brilliant but lazy students LOL plus a few stupid ones thrown in. [One of my friends in the stupid class went to an Ivy undergrad and is now graduating medical school]<br /><br />I always knew other people were stupid and I were smarter than them. But I'm still religious so I don't fit your mold :-)Shira and Joeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07088705809368224252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-6299456279627801632010-07-19T02:37:03.611-04:002010-07-19T02:37:03.611-04:00It’s interesting; this post could be about me. (Ex...It’s interesting; this post could be about me. (Except for the 146 IQ and the Ivy League PhD. For that I envy you.) I did very poorly in limudie chol in elementary school and ended up at one of the reject schools for most of high school. Yet in college and grad school I had an A- average. <br /><br />For me, I think it may go all the way back to learning to read. I hated learning to read, both English and Hebrew. Once I learned to read English, though, I was able to read books to myself, which I enjoyed and helped me to improve my reading/comprehension skills. When I learned to read Hebrew, all I got for my efforts were pages of gibberish in the siddur.G*3https://www.blogger.com/profile/06104739087560005056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-81319333950510344002010-07-18T19:29:37.697-04:002010-07-18T19:29:37.697-04:00I don't think not being good at languages and ...I don't think not being good at languages and not being good at parenting are comparable. People choose the way they treat other people, and they are personally responsible if they choose to act like a bag of dicks. You can't choose an inability to learn a language.Abandoning Edenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12696116071749613265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-52773896141305319942010-07-18T19:08:01.891-04:002010-07-18T19:08:01.891-04:00Maybe this realization about your deficit in learn...Maybe this realization about your deficit in learning languages and the deficits of one type or another that we all have may help you to make peace (in your mind) with your parents. Maybe they just have a certain type of parenting deficit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-6793083116768759772010-07-18T18:44:15.713-04:002010-07-18T18:44:15.713-04:00Both UMD and UVA would be an excellent value for y...Both UMD and UVA would be an excellent value for your money...don't know too much about the other schools, other than that GWU is very expensive.Abandoning Edenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12696116071749613265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-91860103270468450842010-07-18T17:35:34.274-04:002010-07-18T17:35:34.274-04:00Holy smokes. I felt stupid for most of my life bef...Holy smokes. I felt stupid for most of my life before I did my second try at college (My first try at college I partied it away with a sorority, another story for another time). I wonder how many of us were worn down to little self esteemless nubs by yeshivah?<br /><br />My husband made me go back to school. The only place where I got in was KBCC. I was shocked to spend all 3 years there in honors, Phi Theta Kappa and on the Dean's List. Supposedly my brother was the smart one, but he has no degree, lives at home and sits in kollel all day. Smart my flying rats ass.<br /><br />I feel that Imposter's syndrome thing. That entire time I was surrounded by fellow honors students, I could not help but wonder...Do I deserve this?<br /><br />The answer is, YES I DO! I now have a choice of colleges to complete my undergrad...Howard, GWU, American, UofM UVA, George Mason, VTech and Georgetown. Choices, choices...who has the better psychology program?AriSparkleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05353792696786575669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-63130039048415576482010-07-18T16:15:57.056-04:002010-07-18T16:15:57.056-04:00Thank you, AE, for this very interesting post.
I...Thank you, AE, for this very interesting post. <br /><br />It is interesting to me for two reasons:<br /><br />1) How much shortcomings in "talent for hebrew language" can influence all your religious outlook in life. "Lonely frum sceptic" blog writes about similar problems, and I am amazed at how much all this jewish religious stuff is geared at people who learn this kind of stuff easily.<br /><br />2) Independently from this fact, you remind me of my brother who had sever difficulties in mastering orthography, while he excelled in mathematics, logic, physics, and many kinds of technical work.<br /><br />Now, you became an "outcast" because you happened not to be gifted for the very specific "jewish" learning. So you came back to "general society" instead of remaining in an insular group with your parents and rest of family. But a child who has problems with orthographic or such basic skills will be an outcast pretty everywhere in our society...<br /><br />Is it unfair elitism to ask from schoolchildren to learn correct orthography and to "shun" those who can't?toutounoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-80454937859532165562010-07-18T16:01:01.913-04:002010-07-18T16:01:01.913-04:00I also had big problems trying to learn Hebrew (an...I also had big problems trying to learn Hebrew (and never really did) even though I did quite well academically in most other areas. Unlike you, however, I was not in a religious school full time, so it didn't really affect my self-esteem. It must be really tough for those kids who are in a school with a limited secular curriculum.<br /> I think different parts of the brain must be involved in learning a new language. Perhaps its a good thing we all have our weaknesses, whether in some academic area or physical/atheltic ones since it hopefully will keep us humble and understanding of those who can't grasp the things that come easily to us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-36582427271876689182010-07-18T09:27:59.141-04:002010-07-18T09:27:59.141-04:00Most people have some area where they are weak and...Most people have some area where they are weak and that leads to "imposter" feelings. For me it is mathematics. My math is pretty weak for an economist. I failed the preparatory math course twice in my economics undergrad degree but somehow they let me continue and as I went further my math scores got better. Even teaching intermediate micro-economics hasn't convinced me that I'm probably about as good as the average economist in this area. There are always plenty of people who are much better to compare oneself with. <br /><br />It seems I'm fairly good at languages though in high school I mostly felt I was scraping through language classes (French and German). The teaching was terrible though in German. Later I learned Hebrew in Israel (I had very basic Hebrew skills before that) and after that felt I was actually pretty good at picking up languages.<br /><br />I was worst at sport in grade school. Very poor grades on my school reports.mOOmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03440274434662150925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8552682727548828725.post-12746450436330998802010-07-18T09:24:22.170-04:002010-07-18T09:24:22.170-04:00I never had any problems with Hebrew language in s...I never had any problems with Hebrew language in school, but I was terrible at Talmud, a no-no for adolescent boys in your typical NY area boys' yeshiva. So I always felt I was stupid as well. The yeshiva system is designed, albeit unintentionally, to play havoc with kids' self esteem. And in any case, who could excel when I would get up at 6:15 am to go to minyan at school and get home at 6:45 pm after school and ONLY then be expected to start my homework!?<br /><br />Massively screwed up system.Rabba bar bar Chanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11450815030297601918noreply@blogger.com