Did you fail a midterm? Or maybe you just didn’t get the grade you were hoping for? Perhaps you just want do better? Or dont know what resources the school offers?

You have options. TRU offers so many services to students to help them achieve their goals and more.

8 tips to better grades:

1. Do you have a writing assignment? Do you need help with organizing your ideas, managing issues of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, documentation, revision and editing? Then you should visit the Writing Centre. Just that extra step that will ensure a better mark. To make an appointment call the centre at 371-5689, or stop by and check the Writing Centre’s bulletin board outside OM 2674.

2. There are also many help centres specific to classes and programs. The Help Centres are free services for students and are staffed by faculty and upper level students in the specific area of study. Students can work alone or together with other students in a relaxed, informal environment, with help readily available. This is a resource that absolutely should be used. Get the help you need or your questions answered by professors waiting for your questions and happy to help! Available help labs include Econ Help Centre – IB 1021, Math & Stats Help Centre – OM 1781, and Supplemental Learning (provides structured, informal opportunities to study with your peers.  Sessions are led by a student who has previously studied the course and done very well. Visit the Supplemental Learning site to find a session.)

3. Taking advantage of your own professor’s office hours is another extremely helpful resource. They are there to help. Also who better to talk to then the person marking your assignments and making your mid-term and final. This is a resource that is not used enough with students, but should be. Meet your prof during their office hours and ask them to look over an in progress assignment, answer some questions that you were looking at in the text, or further explain a point discussed in class. Know that offering their help is a part of their job and you have a right to this assistance so don’t be afraid to ask questions.

4. Visit the TRU library or the library website and view workshops they are offering. Maybe you are having trouble citing information, using literary databases, or finding academic books and journals articles for research assignments? That’s where the library comes in. It is easy to sign up for their many workshop and they are free. So why not have a look? You have nothing to lose, but lots to gain.

5. Along with library workshops, TRU counsellors also provide free and confidential personal, crisis and career counselling services to TRU students. Some of the issues that you might want to talk to a counsellor about include adjustment to TRU life and culture, anger management, anxiety and stress management, clarifying your thoughts, feeling and values, and poor study skills and test anxiety. Contact counsellors at (250) 828-5023 or in the counselling centre in OM 1631.

6. Find a tutor. Maybe a friend who previously did well in the class, a student currently in the class who has a good understanding of the material. Or find a student offering tutoring services. There are often posters on the bulletins around school of students who have finished a degree offering their help.

7. If your prof offers tutorials, make sure to attend as many as possible! Tutorials give you extra pratice and time to ask any questions. They are great for reviewing for tests and for double checking that you know all the required material.

8. And your absolutely final option if you feel you have no other choice and you will not pass, then you may withdrawal from classes before October 29. You will not receive a refund; however the course will not be on your transcript.

So all in all you may be frustrated and feel like there’s nothing more you can do to get through a class, but TRU is here to help you! All these available resources will get you through your education so take advantage of what they have to offer! A course is only four months and you just gotta push through it! With the amount of help offered at TRU there is no excuse or reason you cannot achieve your goals and excellent marks. You will take as much out of your classes and education as you put in.