As the back to school campaigns ramp up and the new school year lurks right around the corner, so do the opportunities for involvement. You know the ones. The clubs, the teams, the small groups, the philanthropic organizations, all of them are vying for our time and commitment. Because we are all varied in our interests and talents, there are multitudes of organizations catering to each of our wants. Though each one promises us a unique and different experience, they also offer us one, underlying prospect: community. These groups offer us a community of people that we can join and align ourselves with. Once we nail down the community we see ourselves fitting into, we establish our place of belonging.

Belonging is where the importance of community begins and ends.

Preached from the pulpit of hopefulness, excitement, and concern, parents, professors, friends, etc., all vehemently spread the message of "getting involved!" While they barrage us with infinite reasons to sign up and "just check it out," the first one is usually ALWAYS, "It'll be a great way to meet people!" This is very true, and maybe, one of the most important reasons. The communities these organizations have established can immediately fill the void of belonging. If we so choose to join, we're instantaneously swept into the lives of others and begin the process of forming new relationships. These relationships are imperative because they ultimately determine whether we will stick out our commitments or not.

To better illustrate my point, I can think of no better situation than when I decided to join my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. Before getting to college, I already had it in my mind that I would "Go Greek," but that's about all I knew. What I didn't know, or anticipate for that matter, is what I would actually get in joining. Sure, I got the over-sized tees, coveted bumper sticker, and cutesy game-day pins, but I also received the one thing that made my decision the most worthwhile. When I joined Alpha Delta Pi, I found a place to belong. I know the girls who joined alongside me felt this need to belong as much as I did; after all, it's why we all really braved recruitment.

This connection has impacted me so deeply, in fact, that I thought about it nearly every single day over the summer. Due to the nature of my major and college being as hectic as it can at times, I feared I might have to rescind my membership after two meaningful years. The decision-making was bleak. I was torn. No fiber of my being wanted to leave. I knew that to leave meant leaving behind two more years of nurturing and strengthening the bonds I had built. When it came time to decide, I just couldn't rip myself away.

As the great sorority recruiter and motivational speaker, KJ McNamara, once told me, "people join people." As simple as it may sound, it holds a very weighty truth. People do join people because people offer us the sense of belonging that we're all desperately searching for. I knew that if I walked away, the regret would immediately kick in full force, and I would be giving up what I had so easily belonged to. I couldn't leave my people.

Even outside of Greek Life, I know that there are countless amounts of clubs and organizations, especially on LSU's campus, that hold the same place in the hearts of its members. I know every member, since joining, has built his or her special place. This reason, alone, is what ultimately convinces us to remain within these communities. The truth is that we may initially join these associations for what they can offer us, (i.e. community service, résumé builders, parties, etc.), but we stay for the connections we establish there.

I think that can be said about anything we join, whether it's a new school, a new job, a new church, or a new gym. If you feel welcome, you'll feel comfortable staying within the establishment and rooting yourself there. Likewise, we don't stick around an environment where we don't feel wanted, or appreciated, or like we belong. At the end of the day, I think we all just really, really feel the need to belong. I don't necessarily think it matters what we join; it's whom we join.