Being independent is one of my strongest qualities, but it also has a lot of downfalls that come with it. Asking for help is one of the biggest problems I deal with. If you’re anything like me, asking for help is like pulling teeth. It is not something you willingly do and are reluctant whenever someone else suggests it. I want you to know though, that it is ok to ask for help. Whether you’re taking a class and just need a little extra explanation of something or if you’re just going through life and something comes up, but maybe you don’t feel you can tackle it alone, it’s OK.

Asking for help in a college class was one of the hardest things for me. For the longest time I never had to ask for help because things just made sense, but once I got out of high school, I realized I wasn’t going to get through college if I didn’t learn to speak up and ask questions. I always felt embarrassed if I had a question on something because I guess I thought I should know everything. Big news flash for me: I didn’t know everything and never would. The first time I had a question about an assignment in college it took me quite a while to swallow my pride and ask it, but once I did, I realized that the professors were there to help me and all I had to do was reach out to them. I also learned that the more the professor sees your face and hears your name, the more they know who you are and will remember that when it comes time for final grades. So, in the end, reaching out to my professor got me the help and answers that I needed and it gave us a better relationship because she knew I cared and wanted to understand things. The next time you don’t understand something or need help on an assignment, I encourage you to jump into the deep end and go talk to your professor because that one meeting with them will not only help you then but will help you in the future as well. I also realize that college may not be the only place where you need help and that’s where I’ll tell you that it is ok to ask for help in life too.

I remember the first time I reached out for help. It was my Freshman year of high school which was one of the biggest transitions of my life. I wasn’t feeling myself and I was having a really hard time engaging in any sort of activities. I started to notice changes in my behavior and so did the people around me. They would ask me why I was sad all the time or why I didn’t want to do anything and I just didn’t even know how to respond. I finally talked to my parents about it and they were my first step to getting help outside of the school. I saw a couple doctors and I was diagnosed with depression. Without the help of those doctors, my parents, and the school, I probably wouldn’t be the same person that I am today. This is not an easy subject for me to talk about because mental illness has such a negative stigma on it, but I think it is so important for everybody to know that asking for help can be life-changing especially with something like what I was going through. Getting help early made me the person I am today and I am so thankful for it. If you ever feel helpless and start noticing changes in your life like myself and the people around me, please reach out to someone. Anyone. A person that you can trust and even if you just talk to them about what you’re experiencing and you decide not to seek further help at that time, you will always have a person to go to that knows what you are going through.

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In the end, there hasn’t been a time where I have asked for help and regretted my decision. It may take me a while because I want to do things on my own, but once I realize that I can’t do everything on my own, I will reach out and ask for help. Asking for help is still a little bit of a struggle for me today, but I do it much more willingly than I had before. To anyone who reads this though, I want you to know that you are not alone and that there are people out there who want to help you whether it be your professor, parents, doctors, or anyone else in your life. I encourage you to reach out and you may be surprised by how much better you feel when someone can help you with your problem.