{"id":24778,"date":"2023-11-01T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T07:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/?p=24778"},"modified":"2023-10-26T12:11:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T11:11:12","slug":"never-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help-my-experiences-with-bus-student-support-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2023\/11\/01\/never-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help-my-experiences-with-bus-student-support-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Never be afraid to ask for help: my experiences with BU&#8217;s student support services"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Admitting that you are struggling and may need some advice, or just a chance to vent is not as easy as it sounds. As a university student, it&#8217;s difficult to actually stop and realise that you are finding things difficult.<\/p>\r\n<p>The multitude of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouth.ac.uk\/students\/health-wellbeing\">student support services available at BU<\/a> have helped me through some personal and academic obstacles throughout my time here, and I&#8217;m grateful they were there when I needed them.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_25063\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-The-Sir-Michael-Cobham-Library-Talbot-Campus.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25063\" class=\"wp-image-25063 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-The-Sir-Michael-Cobham-Library-Talbot-Campus-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Sir Michael Cobham Library\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-The-Sir-Michael-Cobham-Library-Talbot-Campus-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-The-Sir-Michael-Cobham-Library-Talbot-Campus-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-The-Sir-Michael-Cobham-Library-Talbot-Campus.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-25063\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sir Michael Cobham Library: Additional Learning Support<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>From my experiences in college during A-levels, I knew I would need extra support when it came to exams during my undergraduate degree.<\/p>\r\n<p>Fortunately, when applying to BU, I was able to provide the same evidence from my college days to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouth.ac.uk\/why-bu\/student-wellbeing\/additional-learning-support\">Additional Learning Support (ALS) team<\/a> and receive the same adjustments for my undergraduate exams.<\/p>\r\n<p>This was such a huge relief for me as <a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2023\/08\/01\/going-back-to-full-time-study-three-years-after-college\/\">transitioning to university is difficult enough<\/a>, but now I also had further support in place for my exams.<\/p>\r\n<p>In my first year, my favourite thing about the Freshers Fair was the marquee set up by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouth.ac.uk\/students\/health-wellbeing\/faith-reflection\">Faith &amp; Reflection team<\/a>. They were the most bubbly and heart-warming group of ladies I had ever met, welcoming new and returning students with free herbal tea, good food, arts and crafts, and a yoga session. Even though I am not part of any faith or religion, they still welcomed me with open arms, a friendly ear and a mug of tea, which in tough times was all I needed.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_25064\" style=\"width: 223px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/IMG_2026-e1697473302267.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25064\" class=\"wp-image-25064\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/IMG_2026-e1697473302267-242x300.jpg\" alt=\"A person's hand holding a takeaway reusable Starbucks cup in the Herbal tea at the Faith and Reflection tent (Freshers Fair)\" width=\"213\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/IMG_2026-e1697473302267-242x300.jpg 242w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/IMG_2026-e1697473302267-825x1024.jpg 825w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/IMG_2026-e1697473302267-768x954.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/IMG_2026-e1697473302267.jpg 1159w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-25064\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Herbal tea at the Faith &amp; Reflection tent (Freshers Fair)<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>My second year proved a little tougher than first year; I started to develop terrible chronic wrist pain from excessive phone\/computer use. So I panicked (of course), thinking it was carpal tunnel syndrome or something, and decided to see a doctor about it.<\/p>\r\n<p>Luckily, I was already registered with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouth.ac.uk\/students\/health-wellbeing\/medical-centre\">BU Medical Centre on Talbot Campus<\/a> and arranged an appointment for a couple days later. The doctor I saw was patient and gave me detailed advice on how to cope with the pain and ways to lessen it. Since then, the pain has vanished and hasn&#8217;t come back, thanks to his support and guidance.<\/p>\r\n<div id=\"attachment_25062\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-Talbot-House-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25062\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-25062\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-Talbot-House-1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-Talbot-House-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-Talbot-House-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2023\/10\/PPT-or-Word-Talbot-House-1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-25062\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Talbot House: Faith &amp; Reflection, the Medical Centre and Student Wellbeing<\/p><\/div>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>My third and final year was definitely the year I struggled to cope, as my workload reached critical. I had already experienced low mood, anxiety and mild depression in the past, so I was glad that BU had a service I could contact.<\/p>\r\n<p>I called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouth.ac.uk\/students\/health-wellbeing\/health-wellbeing-services\/student-wellbeing-service\">Student Wellbeing team<\/a> and received regular check-in calls which became a pleasant part of my week. One piece of advice they gave really stayed with me to this day: build a network with your family, friends, boyfriend, etc., whoever you feel comfortable talking to about negative things, and don&#8217;t be afraid to ask for help. If you don&#8217;t tell them, they don&#8217;t know.<\/p>\r\n<p>Taking this advice to heart, combined with all the support I&#8217;ve received from BU&#8217;s support services, my student life became a whole lot brighter, and I hope it will for you too.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Admitting that you are struggling and may need some advice, or just a chance to vent is not as easy as it sounds. As a university student, it&#8217;s difficult to actually stop and realise that you are finding things difficult. The multitude of student support services available at BU have helped me through some personal&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2023\/11\/01\/never-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help-my-experiences-with-bus-student-support-services\/\">Read more &raquo;<span class=\"sr-only\"> about Never be afraid to ask for help: my experiences with BU&#8217;s student support services<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3688,"featured_media":25064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1643,2777,1663,12,704,1649,1638],"tags":[574,2898,1233,3510],"class_list":["post-24778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellbeing","category-mature-students","category-postgraduate","category-student-blogs","category-student-life","category-top-tips","category-undergraduate","tag-additional-learning-support","tag-faith-and-reflection-services","tag-health-and-wellbeing","tag-student-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3688"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24778"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25153,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24778\/revisions\/25153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}