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Almost every campus has a learning assistance center, and this chapter’s topic is one of their specialties. More and more, the best students—and good students who want to be better students—use learning centers as much as students who are having academic difficulties. Services at learning centers are offered by both full-time professionals and highly skilled student tutors.
Often, the best help we can get comes from those who are closest to us: fellow students. Keep an eye out in your classes, residence hall, co-curricular groups, and other places for the most serious, purposeful, and directed students. They are the ones to seek out. Find a tutor. Join a study group. Students who do these things are the ones most likely to stay in college and be successful. It does not diminish you in any way to seek assistance from your peers.
If you need help using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or electronic note-taking systems, visit the computer center on your campus.
Your college may have a special center that provides help for math courses. If you are having difficulty figuring out what kind of notes to take in math classes, visit this center to ask for assistance.
Your institution’s office of disabled student services can help arrange for a note-taker if you cannot take notes because of a documented disability.
This organization offers public speaking tips at toastmasters.org. When you feel more confident about speaking in public, you will participate more in class. Find additional guidelines for speaking in class at school-for-champions.com/grades/speaking.htm.