We all have those subjects from school, that we either hated or just weren't any good at. Usually it's a mixture of both of the above.

Take me, for example. I literally just walked out of a maths exam with the full knowledge that to pass both papers would be a miracle. I couldn't put my pen to the paper to come up with a reasonable answer ONCE. Instead, I just wrote out a bunch of random crap, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

So, I thought I might ask everyone a question, purely out of interest... What was that one subject in school/college/university that you just simply couldn't do, no matter how much effort you put into it?

I didn't like math either. I wasn't bad at it, but my problem was paying attention. Kind of a space shot in school. And if you miss something in math, often you're lost.

Political science because the teachers mostly considered what they were teaching to be fact when in fact it was most obviously opinion.   I argued a lot in those classes.  

Quoted from mcornetto Political science because the teachers mostly considered what they were teaching to be fact when in fact it was most obviously opinion.   I argued a lot in those classes.

Sounds a bit like english. There's no right or wrong answers, but if your interpretation isn't 'correct' they penalize you  ::)

French without a doubt.

Like the wise Homer Simpson once said "English! Who needs that? I'm never going to England" I thought along the same lines about French class and then when I went to Paris years later I knew absolutely nothing other than "bonjour"

Some consider it the language of love - me, I considered it the language of boredom! ;D

Good luck with the maths exam, Dan.

Latin

Ecce romani.... something something something... Unless I'm jumping in a time machine anytime soon, I'm sure i wont come across anybody who wants to speak Latin in upstate New York...

I can always tell them that Flavio runs to a tree!! Oh yes I learnt a lot a school :)

Mark

Quoted from CoopBazinga French without a doubt. Like the wise Homer Simpson once said "English! Who needs that? I'm never going to England" I thought along the same lines about French class and then when I went to Paris years later I knew absolutely nothing other than "bonjour" .

They let you in  ;D! Quelle surprise!

Ironically, since this is a writing site,  it was English, Infact any language. I seemed to have changed with age, I would like to say its like the maturing of a fine wine but I'm sure there are better metaphors.

Maths for me. Always, always maths. It was like being expected to fluently speak a foreign language you've never heard of, let alone studied. I can do basic things -- addition, subtraction, the multiplication table, etc. -- but anything more complicated than that just goes right over my head.

I remember even in high school my mother getting into fights with my maths teachers, trying to get them to take it easy on me. In retrospect, that's a little embarrassing. But at least I was right when I told all my teachers that I'd never need to use that bullshit.

Sucked at Math...

I hated Maths and so failed but I only had to redo it and thankfully passed it the second time round.

I actually went in to my English Literature exam having not read the subject book, Of Mice and Men, and somehow can out with a 'C'. That's a pass in England.

I also disliked Science too.

I hated Science. I was pretty good at everything else, although English pissed me off. Why couldn't we get an A, just to speaking in complete sentences? Why do we also have to read these books and do reports on them?

But, there was not a single Science subject that I enjoyed. Life science, Earth science, Anatomy or Chemistry. I hated them all.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Life science, Earth science, Anatomy or Chemistry. I hated them all.

What?  We did Chemistry, Biology and physics.

I hated creative writing.  :-)

I kind of liked all my classes.  Psychology was by far my favorite.  I guess if I hated anything, it would've been geometry, and I did kind of suck in it, too.  Which is weird because I did great in Math and calculus.

Quoted from alffy What?  We did Chemistry, Biology and physics.

Obviously. Your school system probably isn't a joke like ours is.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde I hated Science.

I love every moment of science. Does that mean I'm any good at it? Heck no! I'm horrible with all the 'logical' subject, it seems  :-/

I'm actually surprised I came out of school with any qualifications as I spent most days pissing about with my mates lol.

Loved science, but disliking math ruled science out for college.

I loved history, science, and literature.

But foreign languages...I have no ear for. Sadly. I can do the written stuff, but can't speak it or understand when listening. I've had Spanish, French and German at different points, but the ear kills me.

I had a girlfriend once who could pick it up in minutes by listening. Man, she saved us in Tijuana once! (I know, what idiot goes to Tijuana with a girl friend? The same idiot who went to Vegas with one!)

I ace'd maths which probably explains why I work as a Civil Engineer !!!!

The subject I hated was "Sex Education". There was never enough practical in the class, it was always theory, never understood how it all came together.

Hee Hee just kidding.

Alex

Chemistry.
Horrible, horrible subject.

It's like Math, but stupid-er.

Music theory was a bust for me. I have an ear for it and I can play instruments fairly well, but trying to understand that stuff on paper was horrendous. I'm a pretty intelligent guy and I can figure out how machines and the human heart works most of the time, but music theory was completely elusive. Intervals were the death of me. In college, I took theory as an elective and probably devoted more time to that than my other classes, because I REALLY wanted to learn how to write music. But despite all that hard work, I still got an F. So I dropped it.

I took Latin too, but I really enjoyed it. Guess I'm the kind of guy who would rather learn a useless, dead language for the sake of being nerdy than one that millions of people use everyday, like Spanish.

PE

I loved biology, but hated chem and physics because i hate math. Since I've been a server and cashier I can do addition and subtraction really well, but once you get into division and, forbid, fractions, I lose it. Don't even get me started on trig.

I loved English and History. In school, I knew all the names and the dates and I was full of useless knowledge. I had a great world history teacher who really inspired me to maybe become an Ancient History major, but what am I going to do with that degree?

I was actually good at everything, seriously. I left school at 15 though which was really stupid so I guess I sucked at making good decisions.   :-/

Some nice responses coming through.

Quoted from DanBall Guess I'm the kind of guy who would rather learn a useless, dead language for the sake of being nerdy than one that millions of people use everyday, like Spanish.

Aw man... You and I are going to get along ;D

Quoted from RayW PE

Same. I'm the class try-hard when it comes to anything sporty. I think I'm all hot-shit, when in reality... Yeah, lets not go there :/

Quoted from ABennettWriter I loved English and History.

Same. My two favourite subjects but not necessarily my best. My English marks have dropped big time this year, probably because I've been applying my screenwriting techniques to prose writing... Not a good way forward. And yes, I'm full of excuses ;D

Quoted from Angry Bear   I left school at 15 though which was really stupid so I guess I sucked at making good decisions.

Not sure about others, but I think you're in a pretty good position, Pia. You don't become one of the most well-known members on SS doing nothing...

Hey Dan,

Though you would have liked my comment !!!!!!! or a least got a laugh from it !!!!

I'm dissappointed !!!!

Alex

Just think how short novels would be if all writers abandoned complete sentences!

I'm taking a short story writing class now, along with a short script writing class. Let's just say that I'm having trouble doing both. I've been writing screenplays for a six or seven years, and my brain doesn't want to start writing in prose.

Quoted from Alex_212 Hey Dan, Though you would have liked my comment !!!!!!! or a least got a laugh from it !!!! I'm dissappointed !!!! Alex

Haha Alex I skimmed past it. Only checked the stuff that was posted today. It cracked me up... I swear ;D ;D

Quoted from ABennettWriter Just think how short novels would be if all writers abandoned complete sentences!

To be honest, I prefer the way screenplays are written. I find myself struggling to read novels without getting bored ;D

I guess I've kinda grown accustomed to reading scripts...

Honestly, the last novel I read was... I tried reading Six Degrees of Separation a few weeks ago and I couldn't get into it.

I used to read more screenplays but I haven't had time. In my last screenwriting class, we had to read one script a week and break it down into the 3 act structure and the Hero's Journey. It was fun but a lot of work.

I can finish reading a script in a day. Two max.

Stephen King's exposition turned me off from reading any fiction back in... geez...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King_bibliography
... Rose Madder in 1995.

I found myself skipping past paragraphs after paragraphs and entire pages of descriptive paragraphs to read snippets of dialog.

I've read enough books that took >four hours to read after watching their film adaptations which took <2 hours to watch to know that last 20% of the book "story" is what took up 80% of my time.

I prefer the 80% of story in 20% of the time approach, and still find myself often fast forwarding through many DVDs @ 2X with subtitles on.

If I want blah blah blah I'll stick to Stephen Hawking or Jared Diamond.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Diamond

I did like this though:
"[Stephen King] also has a simple definition for talent in writing: "If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_king

I think if you became a prostitute this thread could have a whole different meaning... Actually that could apply to many folks....err, I'll stop there.

Is that inappropriate?

Quoted from Reef Dreamer I think if you became a prostitute this thread could have a whole different meaning...

Please continue, Bill... I'm curious ;D

The subject I sucked at at school was European Socialism. I mean, really, what's the point? I'm not European. I don't plan on being European. So, who gives a crap if they're Socialists? They could be fascist anarchists, it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car.

My worst subject in school was a university class - Canadian Unionism 19th and 20th Century.  If you know Canadian history, you know it's boring. Trust me, this was worse than all boring classes put together into a mega-marathon of "get me outta here".  I went to maybe two and a half classes then skipped the rest of the semester. The day before the exam I went to the office and asked to drop the class. They didn't go for that.

Speaking of university, I've always had issues in my production classes. I can frame the shot, but once you get into the whole F stops and light meters and whatever nonsense, I get way over my head.

I'm a screenwriter. I know it's good that I know everything but really, I'm only going to write. I make As in my writing classes and Bs in my production classes. I've made one C, and that was in Edit 1. I passed Edit 2 with a B+!

I took social studies before taking applied social studies, and then mastered in political science, and then mastered again in criminology.

I sucked at math, but all mathematicians are stupid anyway so it doesn't bother me too much.

I'm not surprised at all that the members of a writers board are bad at math.

Quoted from ABennettWriter I'm not surprised at all that the members of a writers board are bad at math.

Same. Its rare to come across a writer who is brilliant at maths... Then again... There are these people who are good at everything...