It's not that I'm an unmotivated individual, it's just that I've always been a self-learner.
Maybe this is where you are fooling yourself. College was originally designed for self-learners. The most successful engineers I've seen are the ones who are busy learning on their own, plus going to classes "on the side" to supplement their own exploration with a bit of formal rigor. You are standing in the middle of a bounty of resources for learning- forget about classes, why aren't you seizing that opportunity to learn on your own from the wealth of brilliant people & resources?
If you were falling behind and missing classes because you were so busy learning something just as good, that's one thing. But if you are falling behind and missing classes and not really doing much learning on your own either, to say "I'm a motivated learner who the school just doesn't cater to" is misleading yourself. If you are a motivated learner, you would be out there learning, as there is no better place to learn regardless the class structure.
Does that mean you are a talentless hack? No. Looking at my own history, what it means is you are lying to yourself (which is the worst kind of lie) because you don't want to put in the hard work. Once you can see through that self-deception, you can get back on track.
Maybe this is where you are fooling yourself. College was originally designed for self-learners. The most successful engineers I've seen are the ones who are busy learning on their own, plus going to classes "on the side" to supplement their own exploration with a bit of formal rigor. You are standing in the middle of a bounty of resources for learning- forget about classes, why aren't you seizing that opportunity to learn on your own from the wealth of brilliant people & resources?
If you were falling behind and missing classes because you were so busy learning something just as good, that's one thing. But if you are falling behind and missing classes and not really doing much learning on your own either, to say "I'm a motivated learner who the school just doesn't cater to" is misleading yourself. If you are a motivated learner, you would be out there learning, as there is no better place to learn regardless the class structure.
Does that mean you are a talentless hack? No. Looking at my own history, what it means is you are lying to yourself (which is the worst kind of lie) because you don't want to put in the hard work. Once you can see through that self-deception, you can get back on track.