FIU offers a plethora of clubs, organizations, honor societies and Greek life to its students. It’s the opinion of the FIUSM editorial board that students must take responsibility to get involved on campus in order to reap the benefits of personal and professional development that campus involvement has to offer.
Joining a group on campus allows students to explore different worldviews, avenues of thought and is an opportunity for students to gain practical life skills. Getting involved on campus is central to an enriched college experience.
Students may find themselves intimidated to join an organization in which they have no previous experience, but many student leaders at FIUSM began their involvement without much prior knowledge. It was through hard work and practice they were able to develop their abilities.
Clubs welcome new members with open arms, no matter how familiar the student may be with the material or procedures and it’s unfortunate that students may not take advantage of that.
Intramural sports are a gateway to trying a new activity or sport you’ve never played, and there is no language requirement to sign up for the French or German club. In fact, some of the current writers and directors for FIUSM joined without ever having written in a news setting before.
There are ways for students to transfer their experiences from club involvement into the post-university world. It promotes responsibility by granting students the chance to take up leadership positions.
Leadership experience, the ability to work in teams and communicate successfully with those around you and more club-cultivated skills such as networking and event-planning are all things students can add on a resume. Having networking connections as a result of campus involvement is important to stand out as a potential employee, considering the current job market and the predictions for its future. The more qualifications and connections, the easier it is to beat the competition.
Spreading yourself too thin by joining too many clubs will be counterproductive, so it’s important to be pragmatic about what kinds of organizations can benefit you long-term. A focused, interconnected resume will impress interviewers far more than one with haphazardly added points in an attempt to make it look fuller.
As internationally focused as FIU is, commuter culture plays an overwhelming role in FIU’s reputation. According to U.S. News, 92 percent of FIU students are commuters, leaving a mere 8 percent as residents in student housing.
By default, these are the students who will be most likely to be involved on campus because of the flexibility that comes with living on campus. Commuting students fall into a pattern of arriving, going to class and then leaving.
The idea of campus involvement to a commuter student diverges from the ideas an on-campus student, which is the minority, may hold. For a commuter student, campus involvement looks like tables lining the walls of the Graham Center and flyers on their way to class.
Commuting to school makes it harder to make friends and can lead to a more lonely college experience. In high-school, students just needed to show up to make friends. But college, especially a commuter college, is a completely different ball game. This is why campus involvement is so critical to the commuting student, even more so than the on-campus student.
Whether you drive from your apartment or parents’ house every morning to classes, or roll out of bed already on campus, the editorial board at FIUSM urges you to get involved on campus.
Go see the new movies the Council for Student Organizations regularly shows with friends from class or roommates. Attend a lecture on a subject close to you and you’ll find like-minded students and potential job positions or internships.
Try out a new sport or language. Support a particular philanthropy through a sorority or fraternity. Seek out an organization with corresponding traits to your major and climb the ranks so that your resume flows nicely and stands out.
Don’t let your college experience consist solely of your transcripts; there is too much to do on campus, too many people to meet and too much to learn outside of a classroom.
Image retrieved from Flickr.