I used to be someone who liked to do everything by myself. I would rather sit and struggle by myself than admit to anybody that I needed their help. I would very rarely want anybody to read my work, unless the teacher had already said that it was good and that they could use it to improve theirs. I thought that asking for help made me look stupid and incapable of doing anything by myself.

But then something happened and everything changed…

I failed my maths mocks. It was then I realised that I wanted to have any hope of getting into university that I was going to have to ask for help. I realised that my desire to get into university was stronger than my fear of looking stupid. Was it hard? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

Learning to ask for help really helped me to boost my grades. I no longer had to hide the fact that I was struggling with things. I no longer had to sit and try work things out by myself, too afraid to ask for help. It was liberating! I could finally focus on getting the best grades I could and making the most out of the everything my teachers had to offer me.

But the change didn’t stop once I got into uni…

Once I’d got into uni, asking for help had become the norm. I’m able to ask my friends and tutors for help when I need it, without being scared of sounding stupid. It turns out that failing my mocks was the best thing that could have happened to me. I learnt so much from that experience, despite it being heartbreaking at the time.

It turns out, that whilst I thought asking for help would make me look weak, it actually enables me to do better than I could ever do by myself. We’re so much stronger when we help each other!