Month: March 2018

Asking For Help Is Cool

We’ve all been there: an assignment you can’t quite finish, a math problem you don’t understand, or a project that you don’t even know how to start. Or even outside of school, you may be confronted with situations that you just aren’t quite sure how to navigate. For all these times, there’s one sure-fire solution: asking for help.

That being said, asking for help doesn’t come easily to everyone. While there may not be any one right way to do it, the most critical step is being willing and open to asking for help. Read on to learn more about it!

 

Why

There are plenty of reasons to ask for help if you feel you need it:

Save time. – Take it from us, asking for help can save you hours of time you might be wasting by tackling a problem alone. Sometimes, a second perspective is all you need to get everything to click in your head, and you’ll be off and running to finish it on your own – and meeting those deadlines!

Learn better. – Especially in school, asking for help can be a life-saver. Of course, we’ve all tried to Wikihow or Youtube-tutorial our way out of a challenging concept, but these aren’t always the best ways to learn a challenging concept. By asking for help from someone you know and trust, you’ll be able to get more personalized assistance than you can from Google! Just look at what this teacher had to say about the value of  students asking for help.

Reduce stress. – The stress and frustration that comes from not knowing the how to take on a problem can take its toll on your mind and body. Asking for help is an easy fix that can help clarify difficult concepts that have been wracking your brain for weeks, or that can simplify a task that seemed insurmountable before.

Live better. – Asking for help is a life skill, but it is often difficult for many of us. Perhaps we think that others’ opinions of us might change based on what we ask for help with, or how often we ask – even adults have to be reminded that asking for help improves our lives. But asking for help can be incredibly valuable in your decision-making process and for your overall well-being and success with whatever challenges you may be confronted with – school, college, work, leisure activities, and of course, your own physical, mental and emotional health.

Who

Who you can go to for help will of course, depends on what kind of help you need. Like we said, some parts of the internet may not be the wisest places to seek advice. Students and young people, you inevitably have a support system in place that can you can lean on if you feel yourself starting to wobble. Teachers and school counselors are always valuable resources, but so too are family and friends that may have experience in the same sorts of issues. If nothing else, they may be able to help point out where you can find the help you need and support you in the process. (And of course, we here at Meemli have your back too for help in the academic areas.)

When

It’s almost always better to ask for help as soon as you feel you need it, since all the benefits we described can come your way a bit faster. But it’s important to remember also that it’s never too late to ask either. Your support network is always there to help you try and succeed in any way that they can, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Nobody can be an expert on everything, even Superman asks Batman for help sometimes!

So, next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember that you don’t have to do it all on your own. Think about who might be helpful with your specific and go ask! How do you feel about asking for help? Let us know in the comments!

Winners’ Tip: Read More

Not everyone enjoys reading. For some, reading for an assignment seems a tiresome, boring, or even stressful, chore, and being asked to “read more” doesn’t at all sound worthwhile.

But reading is one of the most useful skills you can have, and being a competent reader can help you succeed in many arenas in life. Fortunately, it’s easy to improve your reading abilities, because all you have to do is read more, and then some more again, and soon you’ll see the benefits of reading.

Here’s why you should take the trouble to read more than just what is required at school.

 

Win At School

If you’re in middle school or high school, you’re probably already well aware of the amount of reading you have to do for school. And if you’re not into reading, maybe you’ve been scraping by with the bare minimum of reading so far, or opting for SparkNotes from time to time (we’ve all done it!).

Trust us, reading more will help you out and here’s some data to prove it! Increasing the amount of reading you do can also work wonders for your reading comprehension, whether it’s literature or a social studies text or a science article. Reading more often can quickly help you read faster, improve your vocabulary and build critical thinking skills, which can cut down the amount of time you spend on homework each night.

Win At College

While reading assignments might be a common feature of your high school experience, college is a time where reading is really taken to the next level. The amount of reading you’ll likely have to do simply to keep up with your classes escalates dramatically – even if you’re not a liberal arts major. The things you’ll be reading about can be more complex than you’re used to, and you might be reading about things you’ve never even heard of.

College readings can take you a bit more time to digest and fully understand, so reading more often can help you develop your ability to process lots of information. Reading a lot also helps you develop your writing skills, which will almost inevitably come in handy as you’re writing your college papers. By practicing your reading, you’re setting yourself up for success in higher education and beyond.

Win At Your Job

As we already mentioned, reading more often can improve greatly improve your critical thinking skills, which will be definitely be an asset in any career you end up choosing. In addition, the link between more reading and better writing isn’t just useful for college papers; writing is an integral part of almost any job. Reading can help you clearly and concisely convey your thoughts in writing, a soft skill with immense importance in the professional world. Even engineers have to write professional emails, right?

And, to make it even more worthwhile, there are many excellent jobs that reward people with good reading skills, so if you read more, you’re also increasing your job opportunities!

Win At Life

In general, reading exposes you to new ideas and broadens your horizons. By increasing the amount of reading material that you consume, whether it is fiction or nonfiction, you’ll be exposed to a variety of viewpoints surrounding the same issue, which can help you develop your own informed opinions – not just blindly accept what you read or hear. Equally, this kind of exposure can help you develop new interests, or even allow you to take a deeper dive into the things you already know you’re interested in. Hone your ability to search for new information, or even ask others for their reading lists to keep you engaged and interested.

Reading has also been shown to make you a better person in many different ways, and a smarter one too. All of this will help you win not only at school and work, but also at life – and who wouldn’t want that?

 

Our recommendation is that you start by carving out some time every day to do a little extra reading. Pick books that will interest you (here are some ideas to get started), and soon you’ll find yourself wanting to read more. Enjoy!