It may not seem like much, but a bit of volunteer work or joining a club may pave your way to a better future. Here are 6 reasons why!
1. Putting it on a resume. This is the classic reason why most people tend to join a club. Even if this idea in concept may seem good, that’s not the core reason you should chose to join a club! It is however, a great opportunity and it permits you to gain experience! You can get involved on campus as a member of a club or as an executive, both roles are very valuable either way.
2. Meeting new people. This one is a given. Whether you’re choosing to join a club or take part of a volunteer committee, you will interact with many different people. Trust me on this one, you get to make friends that you might never have interacted with if you hadn’t involved yourself. This is true if the members of this group are not in the same major or college as you! It’s honestly quite refreshing to talk to others that aren’t talking/stressing about the same deadlines as you as it results in allowing you to be overall less stressed! Plus, this way, you’re less likely to get on each other’s nerves!
3. It allows you to gain life experience. Of course, university or any post-secondary education institution will allow you to gain experience course-wise and enhance your knowledge. Although this is very important, it does not allow you to be prepared for the “real-world” or how to deal with regular life situations. Once again, getting involved on campus will allow you to be exposed to many new challenges that will help gear you with the necessary tools to power through life as an adult. A volunteer opportunity will help you learn to assist others from the goodness of your heart (and not necessarily helping someone for the sake of getting something in return). As well as exposing oneself to the reality of life as many opportunities are to help those in need in the community. A club will allow you to learn time management, more business-related instances such as learning how to budget, organize events and even on how to manage responsibilities.
4. It opens the door to other opportunities. We’ve all heard it: life is just a game of knowing people and allowing this to help you achieve certain positions at a job. Meeting guests at clubs, organizing events around campus as well as simply knowing the club members can be very beneficial in the future. I once had a teacher who ran a wrestling club in high school and by simply inviting guests and such, they were able to get the students to make connections with important wrestlers. This can prove very useful and as I’ve previously mentioned, also allows you to meet new friends!
5. Experiencing new things and discovering a new passion. This one is something I’d never even think of happening before I got involved in many extra-curricular activities. With my own volunteer experience, I’ve learned that I have a passion for many different types of animals, especially farm animals. If I hadn’t chosen to test the waters and try different involvements, I would have never figured this out about myself. (Or would have figured this out much later in my carrier path). There are tons of opportunities on campus that involve sports, volunteer opportunities and clubs I’d never even heard of or dream of existing so there’s bound to be something for everyone!
6. It keeps you on your toes! Having an extra responsibility or commitment makes you keep your head in the game when you’re procrastinating on school. It also permits you to keep your mind off the stress of assignments and other school-work related things you have to do. Even if it’s only a few hours of commitment a week, it’s great for your mental health and helps you keep your mind from ruminating. (Well, at least for me anyway!)