There’s bound to be any number of snags a student will encounter while pursuing a college diploma and it’s hard sometimes, when problems arise, to admit you need help. As a rule of thumb, in the academic world it’s always better to get help at the first sign of trouble rather than decide to eject at the last minute. However, when you realize you’re in trouble, it can be equally tough to find the right resource to enable your success. Sometimes the very professor who gave you the task of figuring out the seemingly indecipherable math equation is the last person you want to talk to. The good news is that there are other resources out there; people who eagerly await your visit and can give you the edge you need to say “adios” to that “efe” in Spanish and help you put the A in Algebra.

In most campuses there’s one resource room but the Downtown Milwaukee campus has a dedicated resource center for each area of studies including a communication center, a computer production center, a science center and a writing center. These are all on the second floor of the C Building except the computer production center which is in the M Building.

Once you’ve figured out where you’re going, you’ll need to decide what level of participation you’re most comfortable with.

The first option available is walk-in tutoring, which is for the student who has a few questions that need answering in order to get back on track. This type of tutoring is open only during certain hours which you can find on matc.edu in the student resources section. If you can’t make it into school to get tutoring due to a busy schedule, distance tutoring is available. This is especially compatible with students who are getting the majority of their education online. There is also a homework helpline available Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 – 7 p.m. during the fall and spring semesters.

For those who need more hands-on help there is one-on-one assigned tutoring, which is a scheduled meeting between you and your tutor at a fixed time every week, as well as open-group tutoring where you and a smaller group learn and study together. It is a known fact that most students learn better in this capacity.

In the college setting, no one’s going to help you unless you come forward and ask for it. The tutoring centers are a good place to start looking for that helping hand.