One thing I have learned is to not be scared or worried about asking or getting help! This one has taken some time to work on, and to this day I'm still working on it. A lot of the time people don't want to ask for help because they have too much pride, or they don't want to seem dependent on others. My issue? It's not that I'm too proud to ask for help... on the contrary, I'm quite grateful to those that do help me. I just don't like inconveniencing people. Even as I write this, questions are popping into my mind that I could ask people: "How do you spell 'inconveniencing'? Is that an actual word? Is it appropriate to say ______?"... But I haven't asked a single one. And probably won't. You know why? Because I don't want to bother people. Either I'm thinking that they have much better things to do, than to answer me OR that it's such a dumb question that they're going to facepalm as soon as they read. Think about how to say "please" in French: S'il vous plaît. That translates into "If it pleases you"... My fear when I ask someone is that it in fact does the opposite: that it'll bother them.
Oh dear... I feel like I'm coming off 'mightier-than-thou' right now. I'm not trying to. I don't want this to be one of those beauty pageant things : "What is your biggest flaw?" "I care too much about people." This actually is a big problem of mine. Some of those questions that I considered asking people about this post; instead of bothering them... I'm just going to skip it over. I'll never know if including a certain word, fact, phrase or picture would have made this post a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece. (It wouldn't have.) I treat every small favour and question as if I'm asking for someone's first born child! It causes me a lot of stress: Just imagine how I feel when I actually have a big favour i.e. "Can you read and edit this 8-page paper on a topic you don't know about?"
I'm sure there are others out there as well who are in the same boat as me and don't like asking people for help; whether because of some inner pride, or because you don't want to be a pest. But the thing to remember is: some people WANT to help you! I know. It's strange. Well, not that strange. I mean... I love helping people! Hence me, being an eAmbassador. My job is to help people.
There are so many organizations, groups, and individuals that want to help, and who's very existence depends on you asking for help! Especially at Glendon!
Got a question about student life? Pop into the GCSU office and someone will help you out! They were probably once students just like you that need answers!
Worried about your credits? Ask Academic Advising! They'd love to guide you in the right direction!
Don't fully understand an assignment or concept? I bet your professor would love to help you out!
Need to ameliorate* your French skills? Salon Francophone is there!
Feeling stressed? Talk to your Don, if you're on residence or stop by Counselling and Disability Services!
And as always, you can always ask any of us eAmbassadors, by using our Formspring accounts, tweeting us (or @LionsDenGL) , posting in the #GL2016 Facebook Group or commenting on our blog posts!
Don't be afraid to ask questions? Nobody is going to look down on you for wanting to stay informed, and people are more willing to help and actually won't bite your head off if you ask them!
*Fun fact: I learned the word "ameliorate" (which mean to make better) because I knew the French verb "améliorer" first! Learning is fun! :D
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