Knowing Where To Look

A student came to me with an issue the other day. I didn't have an answer...right away. But I knew where to look.

Do you know where to look?

In our information-saturated society, it's impossible to keep every bit of information right on the tip of your tongue or the tip of your brain. We tend to forget things as quickly as we learn them. But I'm discovering that I don't have to remember everything. I don't have to have an answer to everything. I just need to know where to find the answer.

Do you have a system in place that helps you organize information so that you are able to find it when you need it?

I think that's why Google is so popular.

I'm inspired today by another post by Michael Leddy. He encourages students who don't have the answers to ask someone who does. He tells students not to be afraid to ask for help.

It’s useful for students to keep in mind that a college campus is in many ways a vast, standing offer of help. That offer doesn’t always come in the form of a personal invitation. But it’s there. So if you’re baffled by a microfilm machine or by the arrangement of the library stacks, ask a librarian. If you need to get in touch with a professor who’s on sabbatical, ask a department secretary (secretaries are often the most helpful and well-informed people on campus). If you’re trying to cope with an impossible roommate, talk to a resident assistant. If you’re in emotional or financial difficulty that threatens to overwhelm you, make an appointment with a counselor. If you’re wandering the labyrinth of a classroom building in search of a room number, ask someone who works there. And if you have questions about the work of a course, talk to your professor. There are questions that in retrospect might seem naive (or even stupid), but it’s better to ask them and get them cleared up than to let them go unanswered. I can remember as a college freshman mistaking the vast library reference room for the main stacks. I’m glad I asked for help.

Read the entire article here.

Just because you are a student leader or serve in a student leadership position, it doesn't mean you have to have all the answers. It's okay to say, "I don't know." But what's even better is when you say, "I don't know, but I'll help you find someone who does."

Sometimes helping someone find an answer is better than trying to appear to have all the answers.