Don’t let your pride get in the way of asking for help in school

Being prideful and having a strong ego can have its advantages, but it also can have its downfalls.

At one point, my ego was big. Even though I have learning differences, I felt like getting help was a form of weakness. I refused academic support in high school because I thought, “I got this — this classwork is a piece of cake!” In reality, this was not the case.

My grades in school started plummeting. I needed help immediately. But how? How could I trick my own mind to drop the ego?

It took an entire week from when I first received the bad grade to get over my pride and seek help.

One of the methods I used was to ask myself this: What if someone I cared about needed help in school? If they were struggling, I would be begging them to talk to the teacher, because school is important.

Think about this. What if your friend or a loved one were in a bad predicament and clearly needed help — but they were in denial? How would that make you feel? How you would feel is exactly how your friends or loved ones feel watching you refuse help. This thought process led me to care for myself as much as I care for others.

As weird as it sounds, another method I used was to look at one of my homework assignments with a bad grade and just stare at it. Stare at the low mark on the paper and think to myself: “If you don’t turn this 63 into an 90 or higher, then you can’t play your video games.”

How did I get such a parent-like thought into my head? I have no clue, but it worked. I reached out to the tutoring office in my school and went each week. And eventually the 63 turned into a 90.

It’s OK to ask for help in school. Everyone eventually needs help with something, and it’s not weakness to receive it. Let go of the pride.