There is something so isolating about struggling in college. Sure, no one is perfect, and the occasional slip ups are expected, but persistently struggling in college is often a lonely experience. Between the “maximum productivity” work culture that glorifies working yourself to exhaustion, the comparison mentality that makes you think everyone around you is doing better than you, and the gap between expectations and reality, it sometimes feels as if asking for help is impossible. The fear of being judged, and unawareness of resources often exacerbate struggles and make it less likely that struggling college students will reach out for help. The key is finding the best support system that matches your unique situation.
Although every college has a unique culture and set of students, I can assume that a lot of college students are struggling or have struggled in college. Although these struggles may differ in intensity and frequency, ranging from social, financial, academic, physical, and mental troubles, they can all get in the way of enjoying and/or completing a college journey.
I am a cookie cutter example of a struggling college student. Besides the things I couldn’t control such as being a first generation college student from a low income, single parent household, I have also struggled with my academics. In fact, in my ex friend circles, I was often the person everyone knew was struggling. Back then, it seemed like everyone else had the whole college thing figured out and I was the only one left behind in a constant state of panic. It took me years to realize that the thing that differentiates the outcomes of different struggles is how people leverage support systems to better their situations. One of my biggest obstacles in learning to leverage support was asking for help. In many situations, I was too afraid and embarrassed to ask for help. Oftentimes, others were alerted that I needed help indirectly through my actions. Some of my professors noticed I was missing assignments, or my bosses noticed I was sluggish or unprofessional in meetings. By the time other people noticed I was struggling, it was often too late, and I had a much bigger hole to dig myself out of.
During the past year, I have made a point of asking for help and leveraging support. In the process, I have had to teach myself that there is no shame in asking for help. I have also had to remind myself that my education has a price and if I want to obtain the most value out of it, I need to make sure my needs are being met. During my time at WPI, I have personally asked for assistance with safer housing and small grants to assist with basic needs, especially during the pandemic. On an academic level, I have explained to my professors that I may sometimes need extensions.
For those of you that can relate to anything that I have discussed, there are some points I want you to remember:
- Only you can truly understand how much you are struggling. Unless you advocate for yourself and express your needs, others in positions to help you may not know the extent of our situation.
- There is no set support that works for everyone. Everyone has varied personal strengths and backgrounds. While one student struggling with academics may benefit best from tutoring, another student may find that receiving extensions on work.
Overall, college is stressful enough on its own. Recognize that you don’t have to silently struggle.