# Motivation peaks at the end of the race... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motivation-peaks-at-the-end-of-the-race/268632 "2004-10-11T13:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motivation-peaks-at-the-end-of-the-race/268632/1 "2004-10-11T13:56:04Z")
This semester I find that I have reached a new level of progress in terms of organization, motivation, and passion towards school. The irony is that all of this seemed to fall together during the _last semester of college_. If only I could have been like this throughout college, I probably would have been a much better student…Its strange how seeing the end so near can motivate me to work so hard. I guess a part of it has to do with learning to enjoy something. I don’t think I would have enjoyed literature as much as I do now if I wasn’t forced to take so many literature classes, now I am going to miss them very much…most of the classes I took (I’m an English major) were ‘survey’ classes which were studies on various kinds of literature. In short, each class was more like a biweekly ‘book club’. Thus it is no surprise I have many senior citizens in my classes who are taking the literature classes purely for fun (and just the same these old folks put me to shame in terms of self-discipline…and they’re doing this for _fun_! ) I’m hoping to get many A’s this semester, a challenging goal for me because so many semesters had me losing interest in school. Not that the work was unpleasant, it was just boring. I tried taking classes I was passionate about, and that definitely did help- the few classes I got an ‘A’ in were generally classes I loved. This semester I like all my classes, which is a good sign! J ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motivation-peaks-at-the-end-of-the-race/268632/2 "2004-10-11T14:15:47Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > I don’t think I would have enjoyed literature as much as I do now if I wasn’t forced to take so many literature classes, now I am going to miss them very much…most of the classes I took (I’m an English major) were ‘survey’ classes which were studies on various kinds of literature. In short, each class was more like a biweekly ‘book club’. Thus it is no surprise I have many senior citizens in my classes who are taking the literature classes purely for fun (and just the same these old folks put me to shame in terms of self-discipline…and they’re doing this for _fun_! ) Cool, I never thought of it like that! I’ve been reading some classics on my own, and enjoying them, but I know that I’m not getting as much out of them as I would if I had someone to discuss them with. I toyed with the idea of a book club, but as part of my benefits (I’m a college professor) I get to take one class per smemester for free. As soon as my thesis is done (I envy you for your motivation and organization! 🙂 ), I’m definitely going to look into literature classes! And, hey, don’t feel too bad about only figuring out the whole organization/motivation groove in your last semester. You will be able apply some of the same skills you’re figuring out now out there in the “real” world. You might well be coming into your own in as a life-long learner, and you’re in a better position than those of us (_cough cough_) who were super-organized, highly-motivated students as freshmen and sophomores, but then gradually decayed into dispirited, apathetic graduate students. 😉