

A Hard MIT Class - onderkalaci
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/a-hard-mit-class

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zaroth
Sounds like what the author needed was EMDR and _then_ swimming lessons.

Just bang your head against it until you break through isn't really a great
learning method when there's something other than the material which is
blocking the way.

Personally this is pretty damning read on MIT Introductory Swim... And I have
the sneaking suspicion they approach struggling students in academic classes
similarly. Don't figure out the underlying cause of the block, just try
harder, perhaps nearly drown, it'll all work out.

~~~
asdf333
There's a saying that is oft repeated (by students) at MIT about how they are
treated like mushrooms:

Put them in the dark, feed them shit and watch them grow.

~~~
gsteinb88
I've never heard this in 7+ years at MIT. Is this from a different time
period?

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jcater
As someone with a similar story (an older kid thought they'd teach me how to
swim without my consent and dropped me in the deep end of a pool -- I don't
remember being brought up), does anyone know of adult-focused swimming
programs to get around those fears?

I've taken lessons as an adult, either at the YMCA or as part of a college
Continuing Education program, but they never seem to click.

I feel like I've conquered anything else life has thrown at me, but I'll be
damned if I've learned to do something as simple as swim.

~~~
debacle
What are you trying to learn? To swim casually? To swim laps? Those two things
are miles apart.

~~~
jcater
At a minimum, not die in the water. But I'd love to get to the point of doing
laps.

~~~
SiVal
Swimming, by which I mean being able to be in the water without touching the
bottom or holding onto anything and moving around comfortably, is not much of
a skill. You can do it, dogs can do it, it's no big deal, BUT ONLY if you feel
safe and secure.

The most important part is to get yourself to the point where you feel mostly
at ease in the water. You can train yourself by spending a lot of time in the
pool. Start in the shallow end, sit on the stairs or just squat down, stick
your face in the water, and blow some bubbles. Pull your head out, take a
breath, and go back in. Do that for a while, then pull your head out when you
start to need air but stick your face back in the water immediately without
taking a breath. You can stand up anytime you like, so take a moment to notice
that your need for air wasn't as urgent as it seemed. You can stay under a few
more seconds before lifting your head out again, and when you come out, take a
relaxed deep breath instead of gasping as if you were dying. Show yourself
that you are in control and doing just fine.

Keep playing games like these. Get a little deeper, go farther under water, do
little flips under water, and so on. When your face is pointing up, the air
sometimes comes out of your nose and cold water rushes in and hits your
sinuses--nobody likes the feeling, but after a few times, it won't be anything
more than an annoyance, so just spend a lot of time getting used to all of
these feelings. That's what kids do. Kids get their heads pushed under water
by bigger kids, and before long they realize that it never kills them.

Take as long as you need to play around in the water (weeks?, months?, no
rush) and get used to all the new feelings. And then take another swimming
class and learn the skills without all the anxiety. (And assume you'll have to
keep going back for your own underwater therapy refresher courses occasionally
for the rest of your life to maintain your comfort level.) Hope this helps.

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fillskills
Wow, this rings so many bells. I took my first swimming classes after I
graduated from college. While others were lapping around the pool, I remember
swimming backwards somehow while holding a floater. And yes, crossing the
middle of the pool going towards the deep end was the scariest part. With the
encouragement of my teachers and some students, I managed to do a few laps by
the end of the class.

In US, it seems like everyone knows how to swim. I am relieved that there are
others like me who struggle with this as adults.

Kudos to the OP for sticking through it!

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mrdrozdov
Practice and preparation would make swimming and completing difficult
assignments much easier. Rather than spend 10 hours banging your head against
your desk, you could spend that time completing easier problems with
increasing difficulty or re-reading the text. Sure, some skill development
benefits from jumping straight into the deep end, but a more deliberate
approach is probably more effect in the long run.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe."

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2510c39011c5
As for the puzzle on the page, has anyone found out the pattern of the number
sequence?

    
    
      [3, 6, 9, 21, 22, 47, 78, 89, 134, 225, 368]

~~~
Bjartr
For what it's worth, The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences[1] confirms
his claim.

[1]
[https://oeis.org/search?q=3%2C+6%2C+9%2C+21%2C+22%2C+47%2C+7...](https://oeis.org/search?q=3%2C+6%2C+9%2C+21%2C+22%2C+47%2C+78%2C+89%2C+134%2C+225%2C+368&language=english&go=Search)

~~~
2510c39011c5
this is a good database :)

Thanks for the pointer!

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zallarak
This is great because it builds confidence; you have to do something hard, and
are encouraged nonchalantly, as if putting in enough effort without getting
intimidated will solve the problem. Which it almost always does.

The MIT students I have had the pleasure of working with all exhibit this
attitude of not giving up and solving tough problems with a calm, perseverent
attitude.

~~~
Squarel
But why should swimming be necessary for attending university?

A calm attitude of perseverance can be obtained many ways, without forcing
people to take swimming classes.

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soperj
At Harvard it's necessary because back in the day a guy(who was an only child)
drowned right after getting his degree. When his mother passed, she willed a
bunch of money to Harvard on the sole promise that everyone who gets into
Harvard has to learn to swim, because it's a waste of everyone's time & money
to get a degree from Harvard when you can die that easily.

~~~
2510c39011c5
that seems to be a folklore on the swimming requirement...

And they actually did some historical research on it,
[http://asklib.hcl.harvard.edu/a.php?qid=31265](http://asklib.hcl.harvard.edu/a.php?qid=31265)

~~~
soperj
neat. Thanks for finding that.

