The first semester living on campus can be a hectic time for a college freshman, but it is essential that students use their free time to get involved with an on-campus student organization or club.
It will be very easy and tempting to fill that free time with naps, Netflix and video games, but new students will soon realize how much free time they actually have.
The number one reason students especially freshmen, should join a club, is that it is easy to make friends. Walking into the first meeting and seeing it filled with unfamiliar faces can be very intimidating, but remember the many experience that can be gained by participating in clubs.
Students often realize they have at least one common interest with everyone there. Whether someone loves to ski and joins the Ski and Snowboard Club or has a thing for computers and checks out the Computer Science Association, chances are any student will connect with another like-minded individual.
That single shared interest with a stranger could spark a lifelong friendship. Along the same lines as making friends, getting involved in a student organization helps create career connections that can last long after leaving Oswego State with your degree.
Many of the clubs on campus are designed to bring together students interested in similar career paths so they can use each other as a resource to advance their careers.
Networking is essential in today’s job searches and organizations like WTOP-10, the campus’ student-run television station, and the Accounting Society provide valuable opportunities to make those contacts. In addition to building connections, involvement in student organizations can help build valuable skills that can be used to set yourself apart from competing job seekers.
Professional organizations such as the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) allows students interested in a Public Relations career to gain realworld experience. Writing press releases and crisis simulations through the PRSSA can prepare students early on in exercises they would not experience in the classroom until they were juniors or seniors.
Enactus is another club on campus offering opportunities to students interested in business and entrepreneurship. Through Enactus, prospective entrepreneurs can work hands-on with businesses in the Oswego community. Finally, another way to get involved on campus is through club sports.
There are over 30 different competitive, instructional and recreational club sports, and that number does not include intramural sports. Joining a club sport can allow students to continue playing a sport they have always loved without the full time commitment of the school’s Div. III team.
Some students also use the opportunity to play a sport they had always wanted to try, but could not because their high school did not field a team, for example rugby. From Club Soccer to Del Sarte Dance Club to fishing Club, there is likely a club sport waiting to be joined.
The opportunities to get involved on campus early on in one’s time at Oswego State are countless. Over 200 diverse clubs and organizations tabled in the Marano Campus Center on August 30.
Go out and try any club that could be of interest. If the first club visited is not the one, do not quit. The perfect fit could be waiting.
Photo: Taylor Woods | The Oswegonian
