There are only a handful of days left until the start of the next four years of your life. It is incredibly daunting and you are either incredibly ecstatic, second-guessing your life, or somewhere in between (like I was). As a rising junior myself, I get it. It is an incredibly stressful time. It was not that long ago that I was moving in with a stranger, trying to navigate my way through campus and welcome week and trying to find who I connected with the most. If you are also anything like the typical newcomer, you are probably somewhat intimidated by the upperclassmen. They probably already seem like some foreign, untouchable entity if you have already seen them in action at your orientations and such. I promise, we do not bite.

The most common fears that I saw with my classmates just as we were gearing up to start our first semester was the fear of not finding our people. Making friends is difficult enough, and if you are going to college a decent-ways away from home, then you most likely are not the only one who is searching. But finding your people is not as hard as you think. From an upperclassman to to a lowerclassman, this is the best piece of advice that I can give you: GET INVOLVED!

Now, you probably have it made up in your mind that you do not want to be involved anything your first semester because you want to adjust to the college life or you are already certain that you will not have enough time to get involved in a club, group, sport, etc. This is probably one of the biggest lies you will ever tell yourself. Throughout your entire life (not just your college career), you are always going to be adjusting. Wouldn't it be a lot nicer if you could have people with similar goals and interests right along side of you to help you with that adjustment? Joining a club, Greek life or a group on campus are just some of the many options you have to find people who share some of your same interests and values. Immediately, you have connected with many other students in different stages of their academic career and faculty. You will learn quickly that the biggest asset you have are your connections. Plus, you make friends you never would have made otherwise that truly understand who you are and what you want to do.

Getting involved also allows you to build your resume, which is just one of the many perks besides finding the people you connect with. For example, if there are any executive board (e-board) positions available in the group that you decide to join and you are chosen for the position, not only do you gain high ranking within that group, you also obtain valuable leadership experience and opportunities that can carry over into your future career.

Finally, if you happen to be at a loss for what kind of club or group to join, pick at random! Again, you never know what kind of people you could meet, nor what new passion you could stir up within you. I joined a group at random, held two e-board positions, make incredible connections within the university and with other universities in the region, got an award named after me and met some of my best friends, something I would never have been able to do if I had not given it a chance.

So as you are making these seemingly life-or-death decisions your first days on campus, I hope that you will consider getting involved or even starting up a group of your own! The sky is truly the limit. Good luck!