We all knew that person in high school who was overly involved, knew the principal on a first-name basis, and ate lunch with the teachers because they were just that close with their club advisors. I was definitely one of those people in high school. Maybe not to such an extreme, but the administration knew me by name even though I'd never been in trouble. A friend of mine high from one of those leadership clubs in high school looked at me today and ask, "I've gotten rejected from everything I've applied to. I'm only doing Greek Life, can you believe it?"
In order to get into a "good" college, it seems you have to be in every club and be an officer of at least three. Oh, and don't forget about being on a varsity sports team - or two - and maybe even having a part-time job just to spice things up. But college is very different and no one prepares freshmen for that. There are so many people who come into college thinking that they'll get everything they apply for because of their high school involvement like my leadership friend. They also think they should get involved in every organization on campus.
There are two types of organizations on campus: ones that you apply for and one that you can join as a general member. The former is the most difficult for our overly involved high school graduates to deal with. Going from a school where they were top of the class or at least well known for being the "involved kid" to being rejected from Forum or Connect is a big blow to their ego. All of a sudden they're not top dawg on campus. For the clubs that they can join as general members, there's still the limitation of time so they're not able to join all the clubs they're passionate about.
The thing to remind these first years is that they don't have to be the top. UGA is a school of top students. Yes, of course, they should get involved in things and be an active member of the UGA community, but they don't have to be at the top of the whole school. They can be highly involved in one or two parts of campus as their college career develops, but they don't have to be president of a club by the second semester of freshmen year. Four years is a long time. There will be plenty of opportunities to make their mark on one area or another. But that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be on a first-name basis with President Moorehead.
