Freshman year: a time for new beginnings, personal growth and
awkward social situations. If you’re like most freshmen, finding
yourself in a sea of strangers can be jarring, and making friends
is one of the most important things on your mind.
Freshman year: a time for new beginnings, personal growth and awkward social situations. If you’re like most freshmen, finding yourself in a sea of strangers can be jarring, and making friends is one of the most important things on your mind.
Parties are fun, but it’s hard enough to hear yourself think, let alone get to know anyone else with the music thumping. One of the surest ways to find friends who share your interests is to join student groups.
At many schools, there’s a group for nearly every interest from government to gardening. Keep reading to learn about some of the most popular choices, as well as how to find more offbeat options or start your own club.
Intramural sports
If you love sports, but you are not exactly a Division I (or II or III) athlete, that’s no reason to give up your athletic lifestyle.
Intramural sports programs offer a terrific way to meet people, stay in shape and have a great time all in one.
And even though fun is the first reason to join an intramural sports team, being involved in one also can provide broader benefits, even helping to improve your overall satisfaction with college life.
According to “The Value of Recreational Sports in Higher Education,” a study conducted by the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), involvement in recreational sports provides a wide range of benefits for students, such as:
– Improving emotional wellbeing
– Reducting stress
– Improving happiness
– Improving self-confidence
– Building character
– Aiding in time management skills
– Improving leadership skills
Katherine Otten, editor and assistant director of marketing for the NIRSA, said most schools will have a main recreational facility with information on recreational sports.
“Stopping by this facility and talking with staff there is the best way of getting to know what a school offers,” Otten said. “Many have a staff member dedicated to intramural programming.”
Otten said the most popular intramural sports are typically flag football, basketball, soccer and volleyball, though these are certainly not the only sports offered at most schools.
If you want to scope out the intramural scene at your school before you arrive on campus, Otten suggests checking out your school’s Web site and searching under recreational sports.
Greek life
Greek life carries a certain stigma with it, yes – but skeptics, don’t count it out just yet. If you aren’t part of or planning to be part of any other groups, Greek life can be a great way to get involved in a group at school.
“It is a wonderful way to meet people,” said Kris Bridges, a member of the National Panhellenic Conference Executive Committee and chairman of the College Panhellenics. “It makes the college campus seem a lot smaller to make those connections and get to know people.”
The thing to keep in mind is that the experience differs greatly depending on the school. Greek life certainly may not be for everyone. If you detest being surrounded by large groups of girls on a regular basis, for example, joining a sorority might not be your first choice. If you love being involved and active and working in groups, maybe it’s just for you.
Here are a few general recruitment tips for incoming freshmen from thesororitylife. com, a Web site powered by the NPC, though these tips also apply to guys and fraternities as well:
– Be yourself.
– Have genuine and honest conversations.
– Spend time really getting to know the members.
– Expose yourself to the chapter experience.
– Seek accurate information from the college or university.
– Look for the group where you feel the most comfortable.
– Keep an open mind.
– Trust the process.
– Have fun.
To learn more about whether Greek life is for you, you can visit www.thesororitylife. com or www.fraternityinfo.com for general information on sororities and fraternities, respectively.
Student government
For aspiring politicos, student government is a logical choice, and chances are there’s one at your school.
Butch Oxendine, executive director of the American Student Government Association, said his organization tracks about 5,000 institutions – about 4,500 of which have student governments.
College students often complain that student government has little ability to change the school, but Oxendine says the key is to have realistic goals.
“Can they build a new parking garage tomorrow? No,” he said. But the government might be able to make smaller changes like adding a copying machine or extending library hours, he said.
“Stuff like that, it sounds silly, but for a lot of students, it really matters for their lives.”
Although officer elections are typically held in the spring, many schools elect senators in the fall, he said. The difficulty of winning an election depends on the school.
“Some schools go begging for candidates, and you can get elected by being alive,” he said. “But at other schools, it’s much harder and you have to campaign aggressively.”
If you want to get a taste of student government before running for office, you may be able to fill an unelected position – as a committee or cabinet member, for example.
Time commitments vary widely, Oxendine said. A student government president at a large school may spend 40 hours per week on the position and may receive monetary compensation. Meanwhile, senators can put in just a few hours a week.
The makeup of student government is different from school to school, Oxendine said. Governments at large state schools may be full of political science majors prepping for a career in politics, while at smaller schools they might be made up of nursing majors just looking to improve the campus, he said.
Clubs and special interest groups
If Greek life is not for you, you don’t like sports or have no big dreams for your student political career, don’t worry – you have not exhausted all your options.
Special interest groups and student clubs are a great way to meet people that share your interests that you might not otherwise run into.
“The best thing to do is to go to a student org fair at the beginning of the year,” said Tatum Enslin, a junior at the George Washington University and student employee for undergraduate admissions.
There you can find anything from chess club to various religious groups to ballroom dancing societies–the bigger the school, the more groups they are likely to have.
“The first week or two of freshman year just go to the first meeting of any and all clubs that you might be interested in, then choose the ones you really want once you experience it all,” Enslin said.
And what if you can’t find a group that fits your niche?
If somehow you are the only one brilliant enough to realize that what your school really needs is a cheese tasting club or a bird watching group, then you can always take control and start your own.
The process will not be exactly the same at each school. Enslin suggests that those interested in starting their own group visit their school’s student activities center to learn about the proper steps.
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to branch out. Let’s face it, college might be your only chance to assemble your own personal army of cheese-tasters – so take advantage of it while you can!
Campus media
For motivated students, working for campus media can provide a unique thrill.
“Breaking a story or turning around a great newspaper creates a feeling that does not compare to anything else,” Emily Glazer, editor in chief of The Daily Northwestern at Northwestern University, wrote in an e-mail.
Whether you’re interested in standing in front of a television camera, sitting behind a microphone at the radio station or grilling sources for the newspaper, campus media give you the chance to develop your communication skills and pick up some valuable professional experience.
Campus media come in a variety of flavors. Some college newspapers print daily; others print weekly or monthly. Some media organizations receive school funds and oversight, while others are completely independent.
One of the benefits – and one of the challenges – of working for campus media is a learning experience that can’t be replicated in the classroom.
“No amount of classroom instruction can truly prepare someone for the experience of being on the mic and ‘on the air,'” Scott Maxwell, general manager of the University of Maryland’s radio station, wrote in an e-mail. “It’s trial by fire – you have to sit down and simply do it – and that’s how you learn.”
The work can be time-consuming. Allie Grasgreen, editor in chief of the Oregon Daily Emerald at the University of Oregon, estimated the average staff time commitment is about 25 hours per week. Some media organizations pay their staff, but don’t expect to rake in the cash – most students do it for the love of the job.
“I wouldn’t be doing it – especially to this extent – if I didn’t love it,” Northwestern’s Glazer wrote.
