Originally written on August 28, 2013.

Yesterday I met with some of my old high school’s high-achieving seniors to help them with their college applications. Before long, a one hour meeting became a three hour meeting. It was awesome. I love connecting with ambitious students; it’s so much different to work with a hard-working student than just a student that’s smart. Being smart isn’t good enough. There are tons of smart people in the world. It’s more important to be willing to stick your neck out there and to ask for help than it is to be naturally smart. I’ve always strongly believed that those who work hard attract good things. I’m a huge basketball fan. I think back to 2007 draft night when Kevin Durant brought up the quotation, ”Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

At College Creed, we’re huge proponents of presenting college admissions as a journey as opposed to a process. Sounds cliche, I know, but college admissions is exponentially more educational and valuable to students when you present it to students as an opportunity for personal growth.

From tutoring students throughout high school to mentoring high school students applying to college, one thing I’ve identified as a critical success factor for any student when it comes to mastering a class or getting accepted into a great school is their willingness to ask for help.

So many people are afraid of vulnerability. They don’t like asking for help because they think it makes them look weak or inferior to others. In my opinion, that’s just silly. Once you realize that every single expert out there was once a novice like you and needed the others to learn from, you start to realize the power of asking for help.

Sticking your neck out there and asking for someone’s help is by far one of the best ways to accelerate your own growth. Hearing others’ stories, experiences, and insights makes it so that you become better educated on what you want to learn more about. As a result, you equip yourself with the necessary skills and advice you need to make a smart decision when it comes to doing something.

You need to realize that no matter what, there is someone out there that is willing to help you out. You just need to find them. Sometimes it won’t be easy; people are busy. But from your position, you just need to do the ask. You’d be surprised. When people see your ambition and resolve to learn new things, they get excited as well and are more than willing to help.

It brightens my day when a student sends me a message or calls me asking for help because I know from my own experiences that that student had to take a deep breath, stick his head down, and just press send…not knowing whether or not he would even receive a reply. You won’t always get a response but keep hitting the boards hard. I promise you that you can always find someone out there willing to help. All you have to do is ask.