Being involved as an active student on campus allows you to avoid isolation, make friends, grow as a person, build your campus reputation, and find opportunities that will boost your academic and professional career. But what does getting involved actually look like ? Here are the best tips and strategies for getting involved in college.
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Get involved with your major's college. Not just the university, your college.
Apply for an on-campus job. Make money, meet new people, and learn more about the university.
Check out lectures, performances, and presentations on campus.
Make an effort to talk to faculty and staff. It will open doors for you to get involved in unique ways.
Utilize gym facilities by attending fitness classes or recreational events.
Go to a sports game. But don't go alone. Ask your friend, your roommate, a classmate, literally anyone to go with you.
Take initiative, and search for what you want. If you can't find it, create it yourself.
1. Visit as many clubs as you can. Then, join two or three.
At the beginning of each semester, your university is probably going to host some sort of fair where student organizations can post up and advertise themselves to students. Clear your calendar, and go. Talk to the students running booths, even the ones that you think you might not be interested in. Find out when their interest meetings are, and just show up.
Let's say you miss the fair. Maybe you had class, or you just totally forgot. That's okay. See if your school has an online portal that lists all of its clubs. Check for those clubs on Instagram. Almost all of them will post about their upcoming interest meeting(s) for the semester.
Here's what to look for and figure out before picking a club to join.
If you're looking to expand a personal hobby or skill: Does the club actively teach new members how to do something, or do they assume that you already know what you're doing? Are all of the events held on campus in a classroom, or does the club also meet in other, perhaps off-campus locations?
If you're looking to make friends: How often does the club meet? What type of meetings does the club host? Is it more informational, like hearing from guest speakers every month, or is it more social, like potluck get-togethers?
If you're looking to improve your academics: Is it related to your major, your minor, or some educational subject that you want to learn more about? What's the scope of their club? Do they focus on one part of a subject (Ex. English Club actually only focuses on creative writing, rather than the entire discipline of English) or do they cover a wide breadth of the subject (Ex. Horticulture Club covers everything from learning about plant types to growing your own garden)?
If you're looking to boost your career and professional development: What networking opportunities does the club offer? What workshops do they host? Are they involved in the larger campus and city community?
If you're looking to participate in community service: How hands-on are club activities? What area of community service does the club specialize in? Where are opportunities for the club to grow?
💡 Pro Tip: Who creates the club's events? The leaders or the members? That will tell you a lot about a club. (One isn't necessarily better than the other, but this will likely let you know how active this club is and what opportunities there are for you to pull from).
2. Attend campus events. The big ones and the small ones.
You're going to see advertisements plastered EVERYWHERE for these, especially for the big ones that the university will put on. Larger schools will host campus-wide block parties or giant events where they offer games and giveaways. Not only do you get free stuff at these events, but it's a chance to just explore the campus and see what your school offers.
I'm not gonna lie, you're probably not going to make friends at the larger events. There's just too many people milling about doing a bunch of different things, and most people attend with people they're already friends with, anyway.
But the smaller ones offer you a better opportunity to make more personal connections and stay in touch with others. These include workshops and seminars, many of which might focus on leadership development, personal finance, resume building, mental health initiatives, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) discussions, and more. You'll most likely find advertisements for these in emails and on Instagram.
3. Get involved with your major's college. Not just the university, your college.
The university is the larger institution that you go to. Your college is the overarching department that your major lives in, such as Clemson's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences or UNC Wilmington's Cameron School of Business.
These colleges will often hold events where you can learn more about their programs, connect with faculty and other students, and get the support you need throughout your time as a student. Make an effort to attend these events; you'll meet great people.
A lot of individual colleges within the larger university will also have ambassador positions that you can apply for. This allows you the chance to potentially sit on student-led discussion panels for incoming students, visit university-sponsored networking events, run info booths about your college, and pursue other unique opportunities to promote your major and college. Not only will this help develop your leadership, public speaking, and networking skills, but you'll also build relationships with faculty, staff, and students within your college.
4. Join an intramural sports team, and play regularly.
Club sports require a higher level of skill and commitment, while intramural sports are just for casual fun. Look online to see how you can get registered with one of your university's intramural sports. You'll be able to join a team and play games once a week in the evening after classes. This is a great way to stay active, make friends, and have fun being competitive without the pressure to actually play "top tier" like they do in club sports.
A lot of larger student organizations, like honor or service fraternities and sororities, may also have their own intramural sports team that you can join.
Being a part of an intramural sports team is a great way to feel more connected on campus. You'll not only bond with your team, but you'll have the chance to make connections with others on the opposing teams, too.
5. Apply for an on-campus job. Make money, meet new people, and learn more about the university.
There are plenty of on-campus jobs that a student can apply for. Sure, there are the standard mail desk, dining hall, help/service desk, bookstore, and restaurant jobs that students can easily get started with. But there are also more niche jobs on campus like social media marketing, photography, event planning, career development, newspaper, and communications jobs that exist for students as well.
The benefits that come with an on-campus job are pretty high. You'll make money with a job that will respect your schedule as a student, you'll regularly see and interact with new people who all live and work on the same campus as you, and you'll gain a ton of knowledge about the university through the lens of your job (how it operates, the ins and outs, and what advantages you can pluck out since you'll be a part of the workforce that contributes to it).
6. Check out lectures, performances, and presentations on campus.
These types of events are offered all the time in college, but of course no one attends. If you take a look online at your university's events calendar, you'll be able to see when these are happening.
I know some of them might seem boring, and you shouldn't attend one if you aren't even the slightest bit interested in it. But these events offer the opportunity to connect with experienced and skilled speakers and performers. It's your opportunity to expand your knowledge about fascinating topics and build your campus reputation.
When the event is over, go talk to the speakers or performers. Share your thoughts. Ask questions. Learn from them. Find them on LinkedIn. This will help you create a repertoire of connections that you can refer back to in the future. It might not seem that valuable now--in fact, it might even feel pointless--but you never know what or who could help you later on.
7. Make an effort to talk to faculty and staff. It will open doors for you to get involved in unique ways.
They're people, too. And, assuming you don't catch them at a bad time, they're usually more than happy to chat with you. Obviously, don't be weird about this, and have a plan for conversation if you intend to try and talk to them.
This could be as simple as sending your professor an email expanding on a lecture they gave yesterday, or asking a campus worker how their day is going. Don't overcomplicate it. If you do this right, you'll make someone's day and possibly be given opportunities and insights to boost your academic and professional journeys. Research work, university grant applications, mentorship, letters of recommendation, and deep personal growth can all stem from the connections you make with faculty and staff beyond the classroom.
This is honestly such a solid way to really get involved on campus as a student. It's not just about who you know. It's about who knows you.
8. Utilize gym facilities by attending fitness classes or recreational events.
You're already paying for access to the university gym in your college fees, so you might as well take advantage of it. Go find a weight-training class, a cycling class, a yoga class, a rock-climbing class, a CPR-certification class, or any kind of class-outside-of-regular-class that your university gym offers. For a lot of people, this is going to be the only chance they get to attend a bunch of health classes like this (with people their own age) while they still have the time to do it.
With this strategy of student involvement, you'll not only improve your health, but you'll also get to see people on a regular basis in a setting where it's not weird to ask them if they want to "hang out outside of class" (although, people should normalize asking others to hang out outside of class, anyway... really, it shouldn't be that weird).
9. Go to a sports game. But don't go alone. Ask your friend, your roommate, a classmate, literally anyone to go with you.
Football and basketball are probably the most common sports games that students attend. But don't forget about all of the other sports that exist at your school. Soccer, volleyball, rugby, swimming, water polo, wrestling, gymnastics, track and field, cross country, the list could go on and on. And they all have games or matches or tournaments that are open for students to attend. If it isn't football or basketball, you'll also have an easier time scoring (free) tickets.
So, why not go alone? Because honestly, you might not have a good time if you go alone. Sure, you'll be cheering on your team and showing tons of school spirit, but sporting events are just as much social as they are entertaining. Most of the time, people will attend these games with friends, so it's highly unlikely you'll be meeting any new people while at these events. You'll want your own buddy to sit next to and chat with while the game is going on. Besides, asking someone you're already acquainted with to go with you might bring the two of you closer together!
With that being said, if you can't find anyone to go with you, don't let that stop you from going by yourself. You really never know what could happen. The games are usually free for students anyway, so you aren't losing much, and you can always leave if you're bored.
10. Take initiative, and search for what you want. If you can't find it, create it yourself.
There will be times when you're just sitting in your dorm room asking yourself, "Okay. Now what?" College is an exciting time, and there's almost always something to do... as long as you know how to look for it. If you got to this point in this post and are still unsure of what to do to get involved, then my best advice for you is to just step outside and start walking around. If you're on a larger campus with tens of thousands of students, then I can almost guarantee you will find something that you can be a part of. And if you're at a much smaller, more intimate school, then making connections with people should be easier, and you'll find loads of ways to get involved.
The point is, you have to put in strategized effort.
But let's say your college doesn't seem to offer exactly what you want when it comes to getting involved. Why not create that thing yourself? Chances are, others might want it too. And look, I promise it's not as hard as you might think. I bootstrapped my way into making a club one time by simply starting an Instagram account for my club and following a bunch of students. The next day, I had over 20 people interested in getting it up and started. Finding ways to get involved and make an impact on campus is much simpler than you think. Start with what you're looking for, and then go after it.
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