Seeking Help

The hardest part of my college transition was learning that it’s okay to seek out help if I’m struggling in a class; I’m not expected to be amazing at everything even though this is Dartmouth. Sometimes it can be hard to acknowledge that fact because after leaving a high school where you excelled in numerous things, you expect to be just as on point in college. During my freshmen year, I found that subjects that I had formally been really good at were all of a sudden a lot harder for me to keep up in and subjects I used to hate, I became really good at. Instead of continuing to feel sorry for myself, I learned quickly to seek out tutors and study groups from the academic skills center, when necessary, and also to be proactive about attending my professor’s office hours for additional advising. I also pushed my fear of speaking to upperclassmen aside and began to ask older students what they did to pass the classes I was taking. Once I realized that there was no stigma surrounding seeking help for courses, it became a lot easier for me to embrace the idea of getting assistance for my classes; Getting outside help for classes eventually led to my improvement in my courses.