I spent all of 2024 and part of 2025 in online classes and was getting good grades. Now that I'm back to in-person classes in August, I'm having trouble concentrating and my exams aren't going well. Is this change normal or do I need to do something different?
The shift from virtual to in-person affects more than just concentration - there's also the noise, people around you, fixed schedules. That's physically draining after months at home, so give it a month or two more before you think something's wrong. In the meantime, try studying in a quiet place without distractions and check if you need more sleep or better nutrition, because that makes a difference.
The most important thing is to give your brain time to adapt - the shift from online to in-person is a big change, and it's completely normal to feel like your concentration dropped those first few weeks. You probably had fewer visual and audio distractions in online classes, so now you have to relearn how to filter out noise and focus in the classroom; that's something you can train. In the meantime, try studying in quiet places, break your material into smaller chunks, and if you can, talk to your teachers about how you're feeling - a lot of them understand that this kind of transition takes time. Give it another month or two before you start worrying; most people who go through this adapt pretty quickly.
Have you tried studying in places with some background noise, like a café or the library? What others say about adapting is true, but there's a detail that sometimes doesn't get mentioned: when you were studying at home you could control your whole environment, and now you've got exams in classrooms full of people. Try practicing in less controlled spaces before your exams, that way your brain doesn't get shocked all at once on test day. It's only been a couple of weeks, give yourself a break!
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