CATEGORY 1 - PLEASURE AND DUTY: THE CONFLICTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDIES AND LEISURE

In order to better understand difficulties related to the study process, Maurício was asked to answer a questionnaire about time management and to survey activities carried out throughout the week. Based on his answers, we identified that Maurício did not manage his time well: he studied only on the eve of the tests, did not plan his activities, took time to start doing the tasks, and often left studies and academic papers to the last minute. Maurício also managed to identify that he devoted a lot of time to leisure and little to his studies. His little involvement in the studies seemed to be related to a lack of interest and motivation in performing academic tasks, leading him to perform more pleasurable activities instead of studying.

Motivation is understood as one of the factors that sustains individuals’ willingness to dedicate themselves to study activities. This can be identified, for example, when the student, feeling torn between a tempting pleasure and a duty, ends up opting for the later. The will appears when there is this conflict between two tendencies (one stronger than the other), and the choice for one of them is due to the desires and values of the subject (^{Piaget, 2014}; ^{Blando, 2015}). ^{Piaget (2014}) exemplifies this type of conflict when describing a hypothetical situation of a student thinking about solving a problem or writing a text, when, at one point, he/she realizes that the rays of sunlight touching the table and the good weather are inviting for a walk. Thus, the Swiss biologist (2014, p. 243, our translation) asks: “[…] how to resist the temptation of the sun and keep performing the duty?”. These are dilemmas that affect college students when they need to study.

Maurício’s will to enjoy leisure time without having to worry about the demands of university life - which implies having to devote himself to academic tasks - was strong, making him unable to sustain his desire to study and perform the tasks. This will, which may be better translated into a need to pass the disciplines, only manifested itself near the deadline for performing the academic tasks. By procrastinating the studies devoting himself to leisure activities for a long time, Maurício sought to obtain an immediate satisfaction of his pleasure without thinking about the long-term consequences, indicating a certain trait of immaturity. Moreover, he seemed to lack a desire to study, that is, something that mobilized him to act towards a goal, because “[…] it is not enough ‘to be able’ to perform an action, it is necessary ‘to want’ to accomplish it.” (^{Brenelli, 2007}, p. 106, our translation).

To better understand Maurício’s relationship with studies and leisure, he was asked to represent in a circle, as in a pie chart, the time he effectively used for performing different life roles (student, worker, son, spouse/partner, time dedicated to leisure and to household chores, citizen, etc.) and how would he represent his ideal life structure. From the understanding of the current life structure, it is possible to identify the roles played and their prominence in terms of dedication and importance in relation to the others (^{Lassance and Sarriera, 2009}). We discussed with the student the three most significant life roles for him: worker (the engineering internship he was taking), student, and the one related to spare time, in this case, specifically leisure (hanging out with friends, watching television shows, watching videos on the internet, etc.). Maurício did not seem to give so much importance to the role of student, considering college only as an obligation for entering the labor market. Based on this, we inferred that he had frustrated expectations about the role of student, because abdicating a time that could be invested in leisure seemed to require great effort, especially to achieve results that were not immediate, such as passing the disciplines, the degree in Engineering, a good job, etc.

When asked about plans for the future after college, the student emphasized only leisure, stating that he would like to take the time to watch movies, hang out with his friends, and travel. Considering this answer, we perceived how much he did not consider the other life roles in his perspective of the future, besides believing that he would find the fulfillment of his desires only in leisure.

CATEGORY 2 - STUDIES AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS: THE CONFLICTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRESENT AND FUTURE

The following meetings were proposed to make the student reflect on the causes and consequences of his lack of motivation with studies, seeking to establish reflections about his future. We noticed that Maurício was able to reflect on his behavior: “I am ignoring the harm that the lack of study does to me” (sic). He seemed to be gaining awareness of how much his practices as a student would directly influence his academic and professional background. However, Maurício continued to claim that he was exempt from other roles in his life due to the role of student, failing to enjoy leisure moments and declining invitations from friends to dedicate himself to studies. The aversion to the role of student is evidenced by Maurício. His conflict with student activities was a burden for him, he found no desire in study and learning, so he could not commit to it. ^{Brenelli (2007}, p. 107, our translation) points out that “[…] it only makes sense to perform an action if there is a lack, a desire, whose satisfaction is pursued. In the absence of value, strength, or desire, the performance of the action ceases to make sense.”.

In attempting to relate his demotivation with studies to his future, Maurício said that he did not really imagine himself in or worried about a long-term future. He reported that he focused only on the present, he wanted to complete the course, but did not have a clear purpose and did not plan his professional insertion after doing it. ^{Piaget (1978}) states that the idea of the future alone cannot play a role in the goals sought after by individuals, but rather their desire to achieve, in this future, a result that can be anticipated in the present. In other words, by being able to anticipate what they want, subjects can guide their actions in the present.

Individuals must be able to anticipate in the present the result of what they want to achieve in the future, understanding the necessary steps and the involved context, as well as the possible results they can achieve, in order to reach what they want. It will serve as a guide to the actions of the individual in the present. (^{Blando, 2015}, p. 33, our translation)

Maurício’s lack of motivation with studies seemed to be related precisely to his lack of involvement with the course and the profession, that is, he had no interest in the studies because he did not have a clear purpose of what he wanted with the engineering degree. According to ^{Freitas (2003}), the individual’s actions will be dictated by an interest that, when aimed at a certain purpose, will assign a value, because it involves desire. One can understand desire as the expression of lack, that is, one desires what one does not have. The individual who desires has gaps, and one way to fill these gaps derives from desire (^{Fernández, 2001}). Maurício had difficulties incorporating the desire to be a university student (which implies performing duties, such as studying) into his life.

Considering that, on Maurício’s part, there was no actual desire to be a university student, his values were ultimately unclear. Values will regulate the students’ interest in terms of the goals they pursue, determining their actions. ^{Blando (2015}, p. 88, our translation) states that “[…] for subjects to have clarity about what underlies their value system, it is necessary to have an awareness of the career objectives they aspire to achieve.”. This awareness on the part of students of their professional goals may mobilize them, among other aspects, to study for a test, for example. This means that the students’ actions in the face of their learning process and their way of relating to their studies will be motivated by their objectives. In Maurício’s case, he was unclear about what his objectives were with the undergraduate course beyond obtaining a higher education degree.

Considering this context, he was questioned, in the meeting, whether would it not be easier to drop out of the course or, then, why would it be worth staying. Maurício said that what motivated him to continue in college was the time already invested, the internship, and the importance he attributed to having a higher education degree. The student agreed that he did not identify himself with an engineer professionally. His goal with the course was mainly to be more likely to get a job. Despite verbalizing this, Maurício could not incorporate this into his life as a desire, in fact, nor relate it to his career goals. Here we can observe the affective conflict between having more chances to getting a job (something future) and taking a higher education course (something present), which requires effort and dedication, which did not give him satisfaction.

CATEGORY 3 - THE UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT: THE CONFLICTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STUDY AND PROFESSORS

Throughout the meetings, we noticed that, for several moments, Maurício mentioned his relationship with his classmates and professors of the course and that this was something important for him. The student confirmed that, in his own words, it really “hit him hard” the issue of starting to think about what to do after college. He asked some friends what they thought about doing when completing the course and had vague answers, with no clear goals and some especially emphasizing leisure (examples: living in another city, traveling, watching movies, etc.). In another moment, when we resumed the post-college issue, the student said he had even forgotten about it, that it was no longer something that was worrying him. Maurício said he felt relieved to realize that his friends were in the same situation as him, without even thinking about planning the professional future. We perceived that Maurício felt supported by his friends, coming to the conclusion that it was perhaps not so important or necessary to think about the future at that moment, as a form of denial to avoid suffering. Sometimes, some university students adopt this passive stance in the face of their learning at university. These students prioritize passing the disciplines only seeking to obtain the undergraduate degree. Overall, in these cases, it seems that there is no clarity about what is intended with the academic degree, which is considered as an obligation and a mere extension of school (^{Blando, 2015}).

Maurício considered the undergraduate course as an obligation, which made him demotivated and uninvolved in his studies. Thus, he felt that he had the duty to pass the disciplines, without worrying about whether or not he had learned from them. In those moments, when he ended up forcing himself to study, he reported that he could count on classmates to clarify doubts about exercises and academic papers, he had access to old tests from other semesters and notes of the classes and resolution of exercises made available by students who had already attended such classes. In turn, he mentioned that the professors were not available to assist the students. Hence, Maurício found support in his classmates and not in the professors, which seemed to contribute to his demotivation with his studies.

Throughout the meetings, Maurício constantly complained mainly about the professors and the lack of infrastructure of the university for preparing reports of practical disciplines. He complained that there were often unforeseen events that impaired the performance of experiments such as lack of materials, little time available for data collection during classes, the materials required for the experiments disappearance, etc. He also said that the professors did not have much didactics, were not available to clarify any doubts about the subjects, and seemed little concerned about the difficulties reported by the students concerning the practical experiments. In addition, he stated that some professors were not open to classroom dialogue and were sometimes rude when asked about questions. According to ^{Becker (2012}), to the extent that teachers think that the students’ speech - which has a pedagogical meaning - is a waste of time, they will be failing to conceive these subjects as capable of producing knowledge. Students who speak, question, dialogue with their teachers are learning not only the content, but also developing their ability to understand or increasing their ability to learn. Thus, these attitudes on the part of teachers end up frustrating the students’ speech, inhibiting curiosity, the pleasure of discovering, the initiative and the desire to find answers - therefore, the desire to learn. Maurício reported how frustrated and unmotivated these situations made him, even to the point of thinking about dropping out of the course.

The relationship between teacher and student was shown to lack affection in Maurício’s reports, he did not find, in the figure of the teacher, someone who was meeting his expectations and bringing solutions; on the contrary, it seemed to him that the teacher did not care about his difficulties. In turn, it is necessary to consider that the student seemed a little immature, considering that he presented difficulties playing the role of a university adult and perhaps could expect from his teachers a parental or maternal affection. In any case, this feeling that he was misunderstood by the professors and that he could not dialogue with them can impair his willingness to study and even to learn, leading the student to fail tests and to academic failure. Thus, their frustrations and anxieties lead to beliefs, such as the inability to learn and to deal with academic demands, which can contribute to students experiencing a feeling of non-belonging to the university environment (^{Blando, 2015}).

^{Becker and Marques (2001}) state that academic success is essential for the student to feel safe. Poor performance, in turn, would affect the students’ relationship with themselves by generating feelings of failure. However, difficulties that interfere in the learning process cannot be merely considered as a problem of the student, professors, and the academic institution, but rather of the relationship established between the subject and the environment. Therefore, we deem that not only organic and inherent causes in the subject (which place the responsibility of failure only in the student) explain the learning difficulties, but there are also explanations of an interactional nature (^{Saravali, 2005}).

CONCLUSION OF THE MEETINGS

Throughout the meetings, we sought to help Maurício reflect on his involvement in the studies and on his professional goals, based on the identification of behaviors that could be changed to deal with conflicting situations in his academic life. Initially, the student felt frustrated by having to reduce his leisure hours to dedicate himself to studies, but these factors were dissipated during the meetings as a result of a greater awareness of the future and the experienced conflicts.

Upon approaching the last meetings of the service, Maurício said he understood how much his behavior had changed, presenting the studies as a more frequent habit throughout the week compared with the first meetings, in which he studied only on the eve of the tests and left academic papers to the last minute. In addition, he said that he had decreased the time dedicated to leisure, especially the hours he spent watching videos on Youtube. He said he was “hoarding” videos, realizing it was something he was not missing. We emphasized to the student the difference between his speech in relation to the first meetings. Maurício would probably report this same situation with regret for not being able to have more time for leisure in the first meetings. We evaluated that, at this moment of closure, Maurício showed a greater desire to assume his role as a student and to dedicate himself to his studies, despite still having difficulties thinking about his professional future and having emotional issues that were not addressed in the meetings and that seemed to interfere in his learning. Hence, we recommended for him to search for psychotherapy.