life help: why does it seem like everything is always so hard for me. - Help.com

Be a bit more specific about what the problem is with studying. Do you find that you sit down to study and end up getting distracted and wasting time? Or do you study but find that you’ve been covering the wrong things? Or do you just move slowly through the material? You need to figure out why it takes you so long to get the work done, as this could be a problem all your life, depending on what your skills are and what job you end up doing. Brains work very differently, so perhaps you haven’t tried the right subjects yet. Most people are brilliant in some subjects and quite slow in others . . . figure this out and the girl situation will come naturally later.

like i re read the course materiel. take notes from the book. make flashcards. i think i have a solid understanding of the subject and then test comes by and pow. i get a 46 out of 100… im a film major and i do as much work as a nursing major.

it sounds like the problem is in not studying the right stuff for the test. You need to figure out your professor’s testing style and anticipate what kinds of questions will be on the next test. Depending on the subject, learning a lot of details from the book and using flashcards may not be too useful. If it’s a test full of minute details, are you forgetting what you study, or are you studying the wrong details? If it’s a big-picture test, try avoiding flashcards and such, and focus on the larger questions/points of the material. This will be very different for math or science as opposed to social science or humanities, of course. For the latter, big-picture can be more important. Also, don’t feel intimidated to go talk to the Professor or TA during office hours. Students are often scared to do this, but some teachers can be very helpful if you ask for studying advice.

Well, I think you may have a number of issues

1. potentially a learning disability — this may make it harder for you to read, understand, express yourself

2. anxiety — the more anxious you are, the harder it is to concentrate, analyze, synthesize and express yourself… I suspect you may be a perfectionist… someone who does not value something that is not perfect… this kind of person gets very anxious about doing things properly and then often gets paralyzed by the anxiety that comes with seeing perfection is not going to happen