Personal Help from A teacher???!
Question: I'm a 20 year old college student, and I've really had some difficult expieriences going on in my life, and I'm not currently doing well emotionally, but I currently have a teacher who has been very kind, and helpful with school work, and whom I'm sure, if I really needed to talk to someone, she'd be happy to help, but how do I approach her in the beginning? I'm petrified of asking for help in general; but I feel I would be the most comfortable talking with her but it's not exactly the easiest thing to do: going up to a teacher and talking about these very painful topics, but I really think it could potentially help me. I've been kind of looking for something that would cause her to approach me to ease the process, but how would I go about that? And if it is I that should approach her on my own, how do I go about that? I'm just so confused... and any help would be greatly appreciated...
Answers: I'm a 20 year old college student, and I've really had some difficult expieriences going on in my life, and I'm not currently doing well emotionally, but I currently have a teacher who has been very kind, and helpful with school work, and whom I'm sure, if I really needed to talk to someone, she'd be happy to help, but how do I approach her in the beginning? I'm petrified of asking for help in general; but I feel I would be the most comfortable talking with her but it's not exactly the easiest thing to do: going up to a teacher and talking about these very painful topics, but I really think it could potentially help me. I've been kind of looking for something that would cause her to approach me to ease the process, but how would I go about that? And if it is I that should approach her on my own, how do I go about that? I'm just so confused... and any help would be greatly appreciated...
If you are hesitant to approach her... send her an email... let her know that you trust her and feel that you could really open up to her. Ask her if she would be comfortable providing you with some guidance. I am a former teacher and I know I was ALWAYS willing to come to the aid of my students in any way I could.
Good luck
write her a note and tell her that you are kind of embarrassed to ask just short and sweet
Im 20 , at University too. I'd just approach her on her own, like at the end of class, and say, 'i just wondered if i could have a quick chat with you'. if she says yes just say 'well Im feeling a bit .... and wondered if you could help me out?'
You have to throw caution to the wind and JUST DO IT!!! Especially if you feel it will help you.
suck it up and tell her straight up you need help.
I dont care what kind of emotional problems youve been going through, if you need help and you know a person that can help you, stop being lame and TALK TO THEM
put ur fellings on paper n give them in a note this gets you out of talking and lets you organize your feelings
Greet her, and she'll probably greet you back w/"how are you?", to which you could respond, "not too great." She may ask you what's wrong, or if she can help you in some way. Or you could just come right up to her after class and say "Can I have your opinion on something?" That would start you guys talking too.
I'm a teacher, and I know if any student wanted to talk to me, I'd be happy to help them. You don't need to be afraid or feel awkward in the least. I hope everything works out for you...God bless you.
ask her if you could talk to her about some thing personal.
Sorry to hear that you have been having such a hard time.
If you have so much going on in your life, it does sound like you need to let it out somehow so it doesn't bottle up and explode.
Before you approach your teacher, be sure that you can trust in her on a personal level. When I was in high school, there were teachers I trusted to talk to about personal things, but since college, I haven't found even one instructor that I could really consider a mentor or someone that I could be honest with about personal problems. I'm glad that your experience has been different.
Carefully consider if she will feel the same as you do about talking about personal things. She may be great academically - with helping with school work and being a generally nice person - but just be sure that she isn't so distanced that she won't sympathize with you. I think that's the difference that I have found - the high school teachers I had weren't so distanced from their students that they didn't care about how their students were doing personally. At the college level, my experiences have been that the college instructors have been, for the most part, polite and nice, but they distance themselves from the "personal" element.
You know your instructor, so just consider that.
Another thing to think about... you are dealing with some painful issues; would it be more beneficial to you to make an appointment in the counseling office, under the provision of confidentiality, so your academic matters can be separate from your personal matters? There is no stigma with this, and all you have to do is call and say you want to make an appointment with the counseling center. These professionals are there to help.
If you do decide to speak with your instructor, I would just ask her if she has some time to speak with you in private during her office hours, at a time that is convenient for her.
Good luck with whatever you decide; I hope everything gets better for you.
Okay well I don't know exactly what you're going through but I had a similar issue I had to deal with so I'll tell you what I did.
I was really depressed & was cutting myself. I also had a teacher that I liked and trusted. At first I had no idea how to talk to her but one day I stayed after class and started with "I have something I really need to talk with/to you about if you have a second". It went really easy from there. I'm sure that if your teacher is as good as you say then I'm sure she'll understand.
I hope this helped. If not then I hope someone will be able to help you.
This teacher sounds caring and would be pleased to listen to you. Try to overcome your reticence and just simply approach the teacher and ask her if you could have a word with her about some issues you have been having. Failing that there are usually designated people in unis whose job it is to counsel students. You sound as if it would help you to talk. Pluck up courage and make the first move and you will instantly feel better. Good luck.
It situations like this, I would write her a note or send her an email. That removes the pressure of having to say it perfectly the first time.
At the very least, even if she cannot help, it's likely she'll know someone who can and refer you to that person/place for guidance on these matters.
I wouldn't go to a teacher of the opposite sex, however. Not that he might not care or give good advice, but it opens up a potential for trouble - people can interpret that the wrong way if they ever found out.
Its ok i need help too im almost10