Asking for Help

By Marian O’Donnell

Hi Guys, Marian O’Donnell, your Academic Officer here. We are in Week 5 now so you should all be fully settled into this academic year. Some of you might be finding things a little difficult or harder than you thought in relation to your different subject choices – this is perfectly normal. Whether you’re a first year or a fourth year it’s important to be aware of the different supports that are available to you, if you need that extra hand.

Lecturers and tutors

If you’re struggling your lecturers and tutors should be first port of call. Ask them is there any additional reading material you could get or they might be able to point you in the right direction of getting some help in that particular subject.

Learning centres

We have several learning centres on campus – these are the Teaching and Learning Centre, the Regional Writing Centre, the Science Learning Centre, the Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) Learning Centre, the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering ECE Student Support Centre and the Mathematics Learning Centre.

These centres offer fantastic services that you can avail of for free. For more information on any of these centres and the supports that they offer check them out online.

Week 5 is also the First Seven Weeks ‘Learner Support Centre’ week, so they will also be able to give you information in relation to the different services offered by the learning centres.

Grinds

Grinds are a good way to go if you need an extra bit of help in a specific area. The ULSU website offers a Grinds section that provides a platform for students to find a tutor for that subject that they are really struggling with and for tutors to advertise their teaching skills. You may only need one class or you may need five but you can rest assured there’s someone who is willing to give grinds for it! Whether you are a student who needs some last minute help with chemistry before an exam or you’re an expert in Irish and want to earn a bit of extra cash this is the place for you.

The most important thing is that when you feel you need help, that you reach out and get it. If you’re feeling stuck or are unsure where to go to for help you can always drop me an email at suacademic@ul.ie and hopefully I will be able to point you in the right direction.