Applying Your Skills
ENGAGING PERSONAL SUPPORTS AND RESOURCES
Successful people know when to ask for help or use resources to accomplish their goals, and they’re not ashamed to seek support. In college, people across campus — advisers, career counselors, tutors — are employed specifically to help you. Find out who they are and what forms of support they can offer. Resist any temptation to think that asking for help reflects negatively on you. Remind yourself that successful students and employees surround themselves with personal supports to keep them motivated and to help them improve and succeed. In this exercise you’ll learn more about available resources — both in your personal life and on campus.
Personal Supports
List three people in your life you interact with regularly. (They can be friends, roommates, parents, siblings, a significant other, children, bosses, coworkers, and so forth.)
For each name, identify three to five ways this person could support you in your quest to be a successful student. For instance, “My roommate could allow me quiet time to study,” “My mom could call me once a day, not three or four times a day, to see how I’m doing,” or “My older sister could share the study strategies that she used during her time in college.”
Campus Resources
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Visit your college’s Web site.
Search the Web site and identify five available resources that could help you succeed in school or plan your career.