short term stupid, long term smart

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Anyone ever notice this?

You're in a new situation, say a new class, and things just aren't sticking.

Everyone seems to be "getting it" right away, and you know you should be getting it because this is the kind of thing you are good at, but still it's not sticking.

This continues for several days or weeks during which everyone writes you off as slow.

Then something strange happens. You hit the "groove" of whatever you're doing.

Suddenly you get it. You don't just catch up, you leave everyone in the dust.

You're setting curves without studying. You are the star pupil. You feel ok about yourself again. Yay for you!

A new semester begins. Everyone seems to be "getting it" right away, and you know you should be getting it because this is the kind of thing you are good at, but still it's not sticking...

When I started classes at my local business college, I thought, at first, "Oh, no! What am I getting into." The first week, I felt in over my head. Then I got into the groove and did very well. I received mostly As and Bs in my classes.

I was this way at school when I was attending university. One of my teachers actually told me that I just wasnt smart enough for his class and need to make a major leap. I dropped out because I discouraged, then retook the course with another instructor and passed the course with 98%, the teacher bragged on me and submitted my papers to be published. Most of the time I just "dont get it" for awhile, but then it clicks and I really excel. It is the same way at work, I really have trouble when I start a new job, and people think Im ret*d or something, but once I learn more about the job, I become the hardest worker for the company.

Ok so...any theories about why this is and how to deal with it?

Because i'm running into it again at my new job...they all think i'm "a little slow."

maybe it just takes more to interest and engage you?

I've had this happen before. I've also had it happen the other way where I start out very strong and the get lazy and then get smacked with a bad test grade because I wasn't paying attention in class out of boredom. It depends on the class.

I don't know about leaving everyone in the dust... but YES I have a delayed learning reaction, and often I don't realize how much I know, until faced with someone who doesn't know what I do.

Yep, this is the same for me. I have no idea why this is or what can be done about it... adopt a more patient outlook?

I guess it has to do with the way we are wired.

Yup.
That's my brain.

Oh that is SO true for me. When I was learning to drive, the teacher got angry at me because he'd just told me something but I couldn't do it unless he was talking through it. He actually said "Why can you do it when I'm explaining it but not on your own!" I fired him. It was the same at each lesson, if there was something new I couldn't do it...but at the next lesson, I could do it just fine. It was like I needed a few days to absorb the new information, and once it had, I could do it. It was the same when I was learning Swedish, I couldn't grasp new words but the next week I was using them fluently. Delayed reaction learning.

It always happens to me.

Here's my theory after think on this one for 40 really rough years. I think it happens for two reasons: 1. because we have to visually remember doing or thinking the things through and 2. our brains run through all the options...it becomes a process of elimination. When those two things hit the curve together that's when we overtake everyone else.

I never get it.

I’m just reciting recycled passages from prose….

In my learning style I have to have the whole thing not just severed rote information. For example in college I took intro to psychology and sociology the same semester. I took notes in each class compared the theories, read about the heavyweights and their theories in their own words, and read some psychological, sociological, and biologicial journals. Without my extra reading I never could have understood the class content. I can never learn or remember rote information. Why? Because I am unable to memorize. I remember theories, correlations, visual examples, relevancy to my experiences.

Hey guys what's going on in here? Oh wait, yeah me too.