The second week after winter break has officially passed. The Ohio Union was filled from side to side January 14, with hundreds of people scoping out the hundreds of student organizations. For this one afternoon, every student organization, ranging from dance teams to academic honoraries to club sports to Greek life, are all camped out at their tables in hopes of finding new members. They hand out fliers and work their hardest to get email addresses of prospective members.
Getting involved on campus is something students do to make this large campus feel smaller. With more than 64,000 students enrolled at Ohio State, it can be a challenge finding a smaller and more personal community to belong to. It is never too late to join an organization, and it is a way students use to feel like a part of something amazing as well as find a group to connect with.
Ally Himes, coordinator for Student Involvement, talked about how the Student Involvement Fairs are excellent opportunities for interested students to connect with a lot of different organizations all at once. There are hundreds of opportunities for students to become involved in professional and social organizations at Ohio State that are specialized for students’ interests and career ambitions.
“At a campus the size of Ohio State, student organizations provide hundreds of different communities, which makes our big campus feel smaller,” Himes said.
The Involvement Fair is a fun and potentially overwhelming way to learn about all of the numerous organizations on campus. Ohio State junior Sarah Johnson said she found herself at the Involvement Fair just a few years ago. She too visited the Oval in hopes of finding some interesting clubs to join.
Johnson said she is an out-of-state student and wanted to find a smaller community at Ohio State so she could get more acclimated to campus. She is now a part of Kappa Delta National Sorority, the Greek Programming Board, Sigma Alpha Iota (Greek Music Fraternity), the Student Talent Agency Experience, Ohio State Art Scholars, National Society of Leaders, and was recently elected as the new Panhellenic Association President.
“I feel like the closest friends I have in college are the ones I’ve made through the organizations I'm involved with,” Johnson said. “If I wasn't involved, I feel like I wouldn't have a purpose at Ohio State.”
Johnson said that she has had several opportunities from the many organizations she is a part of and has received awards and honors as well as internships and travel opportunities across the country. She also said that it is great to see the work she’s done in these organizations reflected through these many opportunities and recognition.
“The earlier you get involved on campus, the more opportunities you have,” Johnson said.
There are over 1,200 student organizations at Ohio State, providing a wide range of opportunities for students to get involved, according to the Student Organizations page on the Ohio Union website. According to this page, these organizations help to build lifelong friendships with shared interests.
Sophomore transfer student Samantha Dean joined many organizations at her previous college, Northwestern University, but said she realized that joining clubs at Ohio State would help her find her own personal community. Dean said she tries to jump on every opportunity that presents itself and still constantly meets new people because of the many organizations she has joined.
“Without these organizations I’d be pretty lost on choosing classes, other activities, and I would just be pretty lonely,” Dean said.
