Searching For Help by Sidney

Searching For Help by Sidney - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

There should be a roadmap to handling all the stress of college. For me, I didn't understand how to find help when I needed it. The hardest thing about college is finding holistic help, meaning help not only with academics but also with getting connected, and feeling okay mentally. For me, I reached out to my professors so that they could point me in the right direction. Some directions that they pointed me were extremely helpful including joining clubs and organizations to get involved, getting involved in learning teams and one on one help through our AARC, and seeking guidance on my mental health through the counseling services.

I've gotten rather lucky in that I have professors that aren't just concerned with getting the pay check but also with the wellbeing of their students. For me, this semester has been really rough on my mental health, and my professors have been more than willing to help me to get back to myself both as a student but as a person as well. With that being said, they pointed me toward getting involved to encourage me to get out of my shell and start being more active in my university. With the size of the school, its easy to feel intimidated by the amount of organizations and people. For me, I joined two clubs that got me involved with people I can love on and those who can love on me. I joined a Christian dance team, Dancers of the Son, and the Adaptive Sports club. These two combine my need for activity and my love for community in my faith and being around those with disabilities.

Another thing that my professors pointed me toward was getting involved with learning teams and one on one tutoring. These helped me not feel so alone with studying and the work and gave me a second tool to use along side my professor. This made it not so daunting to ask questions as well because they are students teaching us. This tool is free to us students and gave me a way to get smaller class settings to focus on what I needed help with.

Lastly, my professors suggested looking at counseling services for my mental health issues. They encouraged me to not only focus on my studies but to not let myself go in the meantime. They genuinely wanted to see my succeed, which they knew I could do if I believed in myself. With the help of my professors confidence in me as well as the counseling services, I've been able to see more of regular growth in my confidence not only in regular life but in the class room setting.

While college can be scary, reaching out to teachers and having an open conversation with them is key. They help as long as they know what is going on. They genuinely want to see us succeed and want the best for us.