New semester, new me- this is something that many collegiettes tell themselves as they look towards the next chapter in their college experience. While there are so many things that life seems to be telling you that you need to do in order to be successful, being involved on campus is one of them that you really should consider. It brings all kinds of benefits and makes your semester that much more fun and productive.
1. It helps you make new friends.
Freshmen are not the only people who want to make new friends and being involved on campus is one of the first things people advise you to do. The University of Utah has over hundreds of clubs, Greek Life, and sports opportunities that help you connect with students with similar interests. Campus Leaders and Club Presidents organize these events so when you do meet someone you have a “friend crush” on, the “date” is already planned and ready to go. The first of the semester is a great time to jump in to something because all the clubs are looking for new members and spring recruitment for Greek Life is just beginning.
2. Studies show the busier you are, the higher GPA you have.
This one may at first seem counterintuitive, but when you really think about it, it makes sense. I cannot tell you how many times I sat in my room watching Netflix telling myself that I have so much time to do my assignment but told myself that I could do it later. Two hours later, I find myself five episodes deep in to Scrubs, tired and nowhere near done with my homework. When you are busy and have other activities, you do not have the time to mess around and therefore you complete your assignments or readings as soon as you can in order to do it all. Your activities teach you better time management skills, which is something that will do you well throughout your life and is very marketable to future employers.
3. Looks good on a resume.
While we think that you should be motivated to be involved for other reasons besides a resume builder, it doesn’t hurt to know that employers and graduate schools like to see that you are involved. It tells them a little bit more about you and your interests, proves that you can handle multiple things at once, and separates you from the other hundreds of applicants. One Her Campus member even pointed out that if you are involved enough, you find yourself having options to pick and choose what you put on your resume— that sounds like a luxury we would all be grateful to have!
4. Networking, networking, networking.
Networking goes hand-in-hand with resume building but is a serious benefit to being involved. What is networking exactly? Think of all the times you asked someone for a letter of recommendation or borrowed your classmates’ notes. Chances are you ‘networked’ by using someone you know to help you out in a situation. Networking is a powerful tool and one that can help you get a job, be noticed in a crowd of people, or even just get your foot in the door to an amazing opportunity.
5. All the extra side-perks.
In addition, to the four things above, being involved has tons of extra side perks that cannot be lumped in to one named category. Some organizations offer deals to places they have partnerships with or maybe some club is having a movie night to see the premiere of the new Star Wars? The possibilities are endless but you will never know if you don’t try.
We hope we have you convinced to at least check out some of the opportunities (or have you encouraged to keep being involved) the University of Utah has on campus. Check out University of Utah Student Leadership and Involvement on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/leadership.utah/?fref=ts for tips and tricks for how to get involved on campus.