5 Ways to Get Involved on Campus

College is about learning in a classroom, just as we all expected. But an important thing for students to remember is that there can be much more to a college education than what goes on in the classroom and the lab.

For just four years – sometimes more, sometimes less depending on how you go about it – we are all in a new stage of our lives where we live among thousands of others just like us. This means that college has much more to offer than what we can learn in a classroom, and this can’t be seen without jumping into things and getting involved in a variety of ways. Here I have compiled five ways that students should consider getting involved in campus life.

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1. Join a community service organization

From Amnesty International to Habitat for Humanity, college campuses are home to an enormous amount of charitable opportunities. These organizations often have information available online and will be glad to welcome new members at any time of the year.

Participating in a community service organization will possibly include group projects, petition signings, and other teamwork oriented tasks. This will build relationships, strengthen communication skills, and reveal qualities you have which you may not have noticed before. Joining a community service organization will make you feel good about what you do with your time and look great on a resume in the future.

2. Get a part time job on campus

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This is something that many students do for pay rather than to get involved on campus, but there are benefits to working a campus job other than the financial reward.

As Dale Julson, a fourth year electrical engineering major at Texas A&M and former employee at the Rec Center, said, “You can make friends in your major by going to class, but you can make friends outside your major by working on campus.”

By getting a job on campus you will likely get to know a team of students who are there with you which will build relationships that last after hours as well as possibly beyond your time in college.

In addition to making friends with those who work around you, depending on the job you take you may interact with many more students than you normally would in everyday life. All of the friendships and acquaintances you make will help foster a greater appreciation for the campus atmosphere you live and work in and you may develop a deeper connection to the college you attend.

  3. Join a political organzation

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Because college is where many people first form political opinions and become devoted to their causes, campuses usually have numerous political organizations where you can learn about, support, and help advance whichever political ideas you adhere to.From Democrats and Republicans to Students for Liberty and groups that take on specific political issues, there is often an organization for anyone with a strong opinion who wants to support a cause.

Liana Gonzalez, a fourth year political science major at Texas A&M and a member of the club for Democrats, said ”you are bound to find some group that is so integral to your college experience that you realize finding yourself is not always about education you receive but the experiences you have with other people.”

With these organizations you can meet other people who share your beliefs and together you can educate each other and develop your opinions even further. This is also an opportunity to network with people who may be willing to help each other with political goals in the future.

4. Plan on an intramural sports team

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Not everyone who plays sports in college has to be good enough to compete against other schools. Most colleges have intramural leagues for a variety of sports including softball, soccer, flag football, and volleyball, which anyone – male or female, intermediate or beginner – can join. These sports will make for a great workout to keep you healthy, give you the challenge of competition and possibly the pride of winning, and also create friendships with your teammates. You will finish the season feeling like you learned about yourself and the game you played, improved your physical fitness, and made friends that you otherwise wouldn’t have.

5. Start your own organization

If you see a way that groups of students could get together over a common interest, activity, or goal, you may want to go out and start your own new organization on campus. Colleges offer resources and support for how to do this and you can likely find information about how to get started either on your college website or at a student resource center.

Starting an organization could have any of the benefits from the ways to get involved I mentioned above and will also offer you a magnificent feeling of accomplishment by watching your organization succeed. This is the type of campus involvement many employers will be happy to see in the future and you will most certainly have something good to talk about in an interview.

These are just some of the ways to get involved on campus during your time in college. There are many more, and these five I’ve presented here can even be combined in various ways with each other or new ideas. It’s important to remember that what we learn from professors and in the library as we cram for tests are valuable and what will be represented by a degree, but some of the greatest takeaways from college life aren’t what can easily be shown on paper.

How we make the most of our experience in college can come from how we interact with other students and the lessons we learn by getting involved with our peers. College life is what you make of it and campus involvement is something you don’t want to miss out on.