# Does (/did) anyone feel like they suffered from "Lisa Simpson Syndrome" in school?



## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

*Does (/did) anyone feel like they suffered from "Lisa Simpson Syndrome" in school?*

Let me explain for anyone who hasn't watched Simpsons (not that doing so would make you get what I was saying, I just thought it might bring more people in :b)

Lisa's a smart kid & a good student, but there was one episode that made a pretty apt point (and as I grew older, I began to identify with it more & more): a snarky film-maker tells Lisa that she's just a jack-of-all-trades (& therefore, master of none). She then goes on to try to find a field to focus on...etc etc

Has anyone felt like they were always good (or even very good) at most subjects, but never "naturally" good at one -- or at least didn't have a passion to pursue one far enough to make a career out of it? I definitely have. I don't mean this as a bragging statement, but K-12 I was basically a straight-A student. But there were always kids who maybe were B-C in one subject, but better than me in another (as, not all A's are created equal) & had the passion/aptitude that they likely were going into that field later in life (like if they sucked at English or History, but were "naturals" at math -- and in "the real world" a mathematician really wouldn't need to be great at English or History (& being so would almost be "wasted")).

Another way to look at it (/describe my feelings) -- it's almost as if my the thing I "had an aptitude for" was just *being a student*. It became most apparent in college. I just tried to do well (enough) in all my classes, but I never had a feeling like "but i know (math) is my strong suit, I'm really good at it & want to work in that field)". Yes, I do prefer some subjects over others, but even those I would consider my "favorites" I (right now) wouldn't pursue past a bachelor's (which I have now, fyi) --- if someone gave me a ton of $$ to do graduate school I probably wouldn't refuse, but in realistic circumstances I don't feel I have the drive/passion for even my "favorite" subjects to pursue them to the highly specific level it seems many people do.

I guess the whole idea could be summarized under "not having passion for any subject", but I feel a connection to my jack-of-all-trades-ness (being a "professional student" as it were).

Anyone else relate to this?


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## Matomi (Sep 4, 2011)

The opposite really.

I'm somewhat exceptional in Mathematics, but i'm bad at English. 
(Average in everything else)
However, if i wanted to pursue a career in Math, i'd be unable to due to my lack of 'English skills'.
To follow a direct route in one field, chances are, you need base knowledge of other fields to get there.
Pretty much crippled me as if i wanted to go College/Uni to learn Math (even though i would ace it), i need better English skills/grades.
But w/e, i teach myself. You dont' need a degree to be good at something.
I'm sorry if this makes no sense, or has nothing to do with the OP, i found it somewhat difficult to put into words, but i had to get it off my chest.

My paragraph of random, enjoy.


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## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

Matomi said:


> I'm sorry if this makes no sense, or has nothing to do with the OP, i found it somewhat difficult to put into words, but i had to get it off my chest.
> My paragraph of random, enjoy.


No worries, we can commiserate over our mutual lack of ideal-academic careers


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## Meta14 (Jan 22, 2012)

This wasn't a problem a year ago, when the coursework was easy. Now I've dropped 10% in all my subjects except Art.


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## sansd (Mar 22, 2006)

> Another way to look at it (/describe my feelings) -- it's almost as if my the thing I "had an aptitude for" was just *being a student*.


I feel like I'm mostly good at learning things without much effort and taking tests, which isn't of much practical use outside of school. No one is going to pay me just to learn things. Any occupation that involves a lot of learning is more complicated than that.


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## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

carambola said:


> I feel like I'm mostly good at learning things without much effort and taking tests, which isn't of much practical use outside of school. No one is going to pay me just to learn things. Any occupation that involves a lot of learning is more complicated than that.


Yea, same here. I don't have an idedic (spl?) memory or anything like that, but growing up I felt I could just remember things very well (straight facts, steps for solving a problem, details of a book, etc etc) & that made school "naturally" easy (doesn't help building study habits though, & that bit me in the butt in college when memory alone didn't work :/) -- and yea, now it feels like that's not useful in real life.


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## thankyouberry (Aug 11, 2011)

I do, definitely. But maybe passion is overrated. Like currently, I'm just trying to pick a field and go with it. If it brings you satisfaction and you're relatively good at it, then I wouldn't worry about "passion"... I mean, I'm a rather unemotional person and it's hard to get me very excited about anything. It's just not realistic to talk about that stuff.


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## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

thankyouberry said:


> I do, definitely. But maybe passion is overrated. Like currently, I'm just trying to pick a field and go with it. If it brings you satisfaction and you're relatively good at it, then I wouldn't worry about "passion"... I mean, I'm a rather unemotional person and it's hard to get me very excited about anything. It's just not realistic to talk about that stuff.


Yea, but I also meant passion in terms of using it to get "further qualified"

ie: some majors you get told that you basically need to get a masters or PHD in the field to actually find any real career.

or, things that I consider "hobbies", like messing around on photoshop or various computer-things. My parents will say things like "oh, you're good on it, maybe you could do something with that" - and I say "you just think I'm that good because I'm better than you at it - I'm nowhere at a professional level" they (might) say, "well professionals didn't start out at that level, you could learn & get better" ---> and so my "no passion" comes into play here, in that I'm not THAT interested into those things to bother getting better (or ^in the major I graduated with, I don't have the drive/passion to get a better degree in it....and I think mine might be one of those where it would greatly help to get the higher degree).


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## MeggieGirl (Jul 8, 2011)

I feel exactly like that. Well not the straight A part, nto anymore anyway. But other than that yeah. I have no passionate desire to do anything. Not especially good at anything. Rathers just average all around.


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## thankyouberry (Aug 11, 2011)

lightsout said:


> Yea, but I also meant passion in terms of using it to get "further qualified"
> 
> ie: some majors you get told that you basically need to get a masters or PHD in the field to actually find any real career.
> 
> or, things that I consider "hobbies", like messing around on photoshop or various computer-things. My parents will say things like "oh, you're good on it, maybe you could do something with that" - and I say "you just think I'm that good because I'm better than you at it - I'm nowhere at a professional level" they (might) say, "well professionals didn't start out at that level, you could learn & get better" ---> and so my "no passion" comes into play here, in that I'm not THAT interested into those things to bother getting better (or ^in the major I graduated with, I don't have the drive/passion to get a better degree in it....and I think mine might be one of those where it would greatly help to get the higher degree).


Is it because you really don't want to learn more or because you don't feel any particular drive to get better?


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## Barette (Jan 17, 2012)

No, I found my niche in art. I've always been a good artisian, but once I took an art class I found I was at the top of the class. The teacher recommended I take more classes, which I did and continued to do well in. My senior year I took an honors art class and I really honed in on improving my skills. Project after project I got better and better, and I ended up being one of the best in the class, and it was the one class I loved going to each day. I plan on majoring in film, but with a minor in drawing so I can continue to develop my ability.


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## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

thankyouberry said:


> Is it because you really don't want to learn more or because you don't feel any particular drive to get better?


I kind of view those as the same thing (as w/the drive to get better, you'd be learning more to do so), but more of the latter I guess


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## JimmyDeansRetartedCousin (Nov 28, 2009)

Passions for the few and lucky, so if you have one definitely go with it.

On the other hand (I'm going to sound cynical here but w/e) it could be argued that it's better to pursue a career you're not passionate about so you're able to remain level headed, with the understanding that passion won't interfere with making the logical steps you need to be successful.

And it depends on what you want out of life. But there's not harm in searching for something you truely enjoy for 60 years, but it couldn't hurt having a backup plan at the same time.


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## thankyouberry (Aug 11, 2011)

lightsout said:


> I kind of view those as the same thing (as w/the drive to get better, you'd be learning more to do so), but more of the latter I guess


I mean, if you're not absolutely repulsed by formal education/training then it's not the same thing. For me, I guess passion is replaced by a hatred of various things... such as material discomfort, being dependent, etc.


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## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

thankyouberry said:


> I mean, if you're not absolutely repulsed by formal education/training then it's not the same thing. For me, I guess passion is replaced by a hatred of various things... such as material discomfort, being dependent, etc.


Oh, no. I have nothing against the (post grad) education (etc) itself, just not the drive to consider it pursuing it further "worth it"


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## Wildman (Apr 9, 2011)

Yeah, I'm almost done with college and in a very familiar situation. I've never had a problem with any subject in school, and I learn most things fairly fast. But there isn't one field that really stands out to me (even my major), so I'm a bit lost as to what I really want to do with my life. I'm trying to figure out something that will take advantage of my jack-of-all-trades tendencies.


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## MJM58 (Jan 29, 2011)

I wouldn't say I'm good at everything. I struggle with math and some of the sciences (I was horrible at physics, but very good at chemistry in high school). I was always very good at English and I have a great interest in any of the social sciences, so I'm good at those as well.

I think my problem is that I'm interested in basically everything. Even though I'm bad at physics, I enjoy reading about it and trying to wrap my head around the concepts. Same with math, even. I was going to dual-major in political science and economics, but now I don't think I want to go down that route, and I'm thinking about pursuing a degree in either computer science or chemistry. In short, I think my difficulties arise from having way too many intellectual interests and not knowing which one to specialize in.


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## lightsout (Jan 8, 2012)

Wildman said:


> Yeah, I'm almost done with college and in a very familiar situation. I've never had a problem with any subject in school, and I learn most things fairly fast. But there isn't one field that really stands out to me (even my major), so I'm a bit lost as to what I really want to do with my life. I'm trying to figure out something that will take advantage of my jack-of-all-trades tendencies.


if you find something make sure to let me know, heh.


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## Ricebunnyx3 (Sep 1, 2010)

Not really...I suck at everything.


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## crazydom (Jul 17, 2011)

Nah, I can't really relate to this. I literally suck at every single subject besides English, and writing in general. I'm horrible at math and science. Math has almost caused me to flunk out of college numerous times, though I finally managed to conquer it and I'm done with it now. Even niche subjects, like art, I'm terrible at. When other kids were drawing pictures in elementary school, I was writing incredibly bad stories.

I am decent at subjects like history or political science, but those aren't really something I would ever want to do. In a way I kind of hate it, since my passion makes it so much harder to get a well-paying job than if I could be an engineer or accountant.

But it's not really something I can complain about. Those jobs are impossible for me to begin with. I can either follow my passion or work a menial 9-5 job the rest of my life. Or do that anyway if my passion fails .


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