Get Involved on Campus
Find Your People. Explore Your Interests. Build Your Skills.
Getting involved can help you meet people, feel more connected to campus, explore interests, and gain experience that supports your future.
You don't need to join everything.
Look for opportunities that are meaningful to you and realistic alongside your academic, work, and personal responsibilities.
Explore Your Options
Campus opportunities may include:
- Academic and professional organizations
- Student government
- Cultural organizations
- Service and volunteer groups
- Arts and performance groups
- Campus media
- Intramural and club sports
- Recreation
- Residence-hall organizations
- Fraternities and sororities
- Special-interest groups
- Leadership programs
Your academic department, student life office, career services, orientation programs, campus events, and student organization directories are good places to start.
Connect Involvement to Your Interests
Activities can also help you explore careers.
A professional organization may introduce you to people in your field. Student media can build communication skills. Service opportunities may help you explore education, healthcare, nonprofit work, or public service.
Ask yourself:
What interests me?
What do I want to learn?
What skills do I want to build?
Who would I like to meet?
Then look for experiences that help you answer those questions.
Build Skills Through Experience
Campus involvement can help you develop skills such as:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Leadership
- Problem-solving
- Organization
- Time management
- Event planning
- Budgeting
- Conflict resolution
- Professional networking
Pay attention to what you're learning—not just the title of the organization.
Look Beyond Campus
Your community can offer opportunities, too.
Consider:
- Volunteering
- Community organizations
- Professional associations
- Local events
- Part-time employment
- Internships
College involvement doesn't have to happen exclusively through a campus club.
Quality Matters More Than Quantity
Don't fill your schedule simply to build a résumé.
Choose experiences you care about and give yourself enough time to participate meaningfully.
Over time, you may take on additional responsibility, lead a project, mentor another student, organize an event, or serve in a leadership position.
Those experiences often matter more than belonging to a long list of organizations.
Keep Track of What You Do
Record:
- Organizations and activities
- Dates of participation
- Leadership roles
- Projects
- Volunteer service
- Accomplishments
- Skills developed
This information can help later when you're preparing résumés, internship applications, scholarship applications, graduate school materials, or job applications.
