College Success Tip – Get Involved and Become a Leader

Getting involved in campus activities and organizations is not a good idea – it is a great idea and 100% essential for your success as a student, then eventually as a professional in the workplace.  Student organizations will give you the following:

• Real world experience that you cannot receive in the classroom
• A great boost to your resume
• Interesting stories to share while being interviewed for internships and careers
• Will force you to become much better at time management
• Access to organizations’ advisors and alumni
• Much more!

So what types of organizations are available?  This obviously depends on the size of your campus, but pretty much anything you can image will be available to you. Groups can be fraternities/sororities, academic advisors groups, intramural sports, student senate, the university alumni association, political groups and many others.

How do you pick the right organizations to join?  Simply figure out what you are passionate about – what do you enjoy doing?  What activities will help you learn the skills and get the experience necessary to be successful in the real world?  You may choose one activity that is really fun and another one that will focus on the field you wish to get into after school.  Make sure to get involved in multiple organizations and that they serve you in a variety of ways (such as personal and professional growth, rather than joining three organizations that are all social based).
Initially, you may not be a leader in the organization, but you need to strive to have a leadership position as quickly as possible.  If you are going to be part of an organization, you might as well be a leader and get the most you can out of the experience.  This will be a great way to separate yourself from the “average” people.  The experiences you receive from being a leader is the kind of real world stuff that will earn you a great career opportunity and give you a head start over others after college.

The Bottom Line: You are missing out on a huge opportunity if you don’t get involved in at least two organizations on campus.  You will have a great time, meet new people, add to your resume, learn and become a better person who is more capable of getting off to a fast start after graduation.