College is already stressful, so why should you bother adding another activity to your school life? Why does it matter or how could it help you in the long run? Are dues and attendance really worth joining an organization?
I cannot stress enough why it is SO IMPORTANT to join a club or student organization in college, even if you are the busiest person alive. There are so many benefits to joining and being around people that share the same interests or have similar educational backgrounds. Whether it be a fun club such as Video Game or Culinary Club or a more focused organization such as doing service or a degree oriented club, each has their own benefits and opportunities for a student to grow and learn from their experience within socializing. You don’t even have to worry about not fitting in because there is a club for every student considering each university has hundreds of them. Having a place to socialize with a specific group of people whether you are more of an introvert or extrovert can easily give you a way into being involved on campus!
You need time for yourself and time to socialize on campus to get a feel of what your home will be for the next four or however many years you decide to stay. Yes, some students never join an organization, but if you want to meet new people or find some new friends, this is a great way to meet some super excited students that want to meet you as well! Organizations love recruiting people and the whole point of them is to bring students together to make them feel welcomed and excited for activities that lie ahead. With some organizations, working with the community is a huge concept, but for others just getting to speak with other students about your day to day life is also possible.
A big part of college is getting to know yourself and getting to know how to socialize in “the real world” with different types of people. Going to class does expose you, but let’s be real, most of those people you are only talking to them about the next assignment for the class and probably won’t talk to them again after the semester is over. Organizations keep the same group of people and more get added each semester! You’ll find every personality type in an organization and although you may not know which organization is perfect for you, you have plenty of time to go to different ones to see what you like!
Besides making lifelong friends, there are organizations to help with networking for future jobs, creating a stress free environment, a creative space and anything you want your club to be! All I can say is that joining different organizations in college has helped me find the most amazing people I would have never been friends with if I hadn’t branched out and tried to get involved. There are different time commitments to each organization and finding the one that matches your schedule, interests, and motive should be the reason you try getting involved!