I have had it.

[ninevirtues]

I am learning things that I do not care about, even a tiny bit, except that I must know them to pass the boards.

Here's a partial, by no means exhaustive list of the things I do not care at all about but must learn:

- How to position someone in bed after they've had a stroke
- How to prevent decubitus ulcers (bedsores) in someone who can't move
- How to fit people for wheelchairs
- How to perform chest PT (whack people strategically on the chest until they cough stuff up, then measure how much stuff there is and assess its color and consistency)

Worse yet, my professors have a way of making the things that I am interested in painful to learn. Arrrrgh. Like physiology, say.

Fine. When all else fails, resort to outright bribery. I hereby decree that if I am good with my schoolwork, I may buy a bike part. (I'm gradually upgrading a road racing bike and building a cyclocross bike. Because I'm not working, and I'm on a small budget, I"m struggling with my own personal covetous consumerist desires for nice bike parts.)

Fine. I may have them. I just have to work for them. They are a reward for good effort. Now to structure the deal.

I ought NOT to say "I may have a new bike part if I score well on my exams." That's an outcome goal. I can study perfectly, and still not score well.

I also ought NOT to say, "If I spend X hours studying, I can have a bike part." Hours spent does not guarantee that learning has occurred.

Hmm... I can say "If I walk in feeling thoroughly prepared for the exam, and I can honestly say I did my best at each one, then I may have a bike part."

I'll let you know what transpires....