What Support is Available When You Are Struggling at Uni?
When you go to university, you’re signing up for a life-changing education and a chance to meet like-minded people, but it can be a challenge finding the right balance. If you don’t take proper care of yourself, the stresses of student life could create problems for you. It could be that your grades suffer, or that you have feelings of isolation, or that your health deteriorates, or that you struggle financially.
Knowing when and where to find support for any of these issues will help you to overcome them and get back on track. So if you feel that you’re struggling, here are the places that you can go to for a little extra help:
YOUR FRIENDS
How does that Beatles song go? Oh yeah…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C58ttB2-Qg
Uni is a great time for making mates, and it’s the place where you’ll meet a load of open, caring, genuine people. The best part of this is that they will also be in the same situation that you are in, so they might be in a good position to offer you a little bit of support.
If you’re struggling to keep up with the workload, you can ask your coursemates if they would be interested in setting up group study sessions – this way you can share your knowledge and fill in the gaps for each other. This is much easier than trying to learn all of your course content alone – plus, a bit of social interaction is good for the mind.
YOUR TUTORS
Your tutors are not only there to deliver the course material, but also to support you through your academic journey and to help you get the best grades possible. The chances are that they teach hundreds of students just like you, and are unlikely to know that you are struggling unless you tell them.
If you’re finding it difficult to get your head around tricky concepts, or if you need a little bit of extra support with the work, go and see your tutor during their office hours. They will do everything they can to help you through it.
UNIVERSITY RESOURCES
Regardless of which university you attend, they want you to succeed and will do everything that they can to help you get through your degree. They are aware that student life can create financial, personal, and academic issues for students, and they address this by employing teams of professionals to support you.
If you’re finding any aspect of student life difficult, you can contact your student representative or student hub, and they will point you in the direction of the member of staff who is best placed to help you out. Following a consultation with that member of staff, you will likely have a plan put in place to help you overcome the problem that you are facing.
YOUR STUDENT UNION
In the event that your struggles are caused by the university, you can turn to your student union for support. The union is there to represent students and to make sure that you’re being treated fairly, so you should be able to approach them for help and support if you feel that you aren’t being treated properly within the institution.
YOUR PARENTS
Although you’ve left home and you’re now taking care of yourself, you’re probably still learning what it means to be an adult, so you will need a little bit of support with certain things. Your parents have been there before and they are still there to support you.
If you’re finding it difficult managing your money or you need someone who is a bit more experienced to help you deal with tricky situations, your parents will be able to put a plan in place and make the most of your time at university.