There is nothing to do!

On my light weeks, when I have all my homework done by 5pm, I am so bored. People don’t say “Hey want to go downtown and eat tonight” or “Want to go to this movie or this place” because with the price of tuition nobody has money. In addition, with a small campus typically comes a small town where there is nothing to do. From my observations, most small towns, downtowns literally consists of sketchy, run-down shops and restaurants that don’t spark a college student’s interest.

There is NOT something for everybody.

Sure there are clubs and activities on campus, but what you do not know when you commit to a small college is that you have to apply to join certain clubs, get interviewed and then get accepted to the club. And yes, you very well might get rejected to the one club you are interested in or maybe all the clubs you are interested in. If you do get rejected from the clubs you are interested in, especially as a Freshman, it is very discouraging. It almost seems like you have to put in more effort to get accepted to a club than you do to pass a class and you are here primarily for the education.

Sports clubs are typically easier to join if you have the connections, for example, all you need is the email of the person in charge of the club and more likely than not they will share with you practice days and times. However, club sports are very involved. Depending on the sport, you may practice two to three times a week, which is a bit too much for those of us who just want a little something to do in our free time. Some people simply cannot commit half of the week to something during those weeks that you are slammed.

So that is where intramurals come in. They are not all year and not all the time. They are not super intense or time consuming. They are ideal for many college students who want something to fill up some time, but not too much time. The problem is, you have to again apply for the activity and be “drafted” by somebody. You are supposed to use a special app exclusively for intramurals, but nobody really uses, so again you have to know somebody or find a group of people to play with. It is hard to join a team solo.

Colleges usually have a rule where, if there is a club you wish to join that does not exist, then you can start it. However, there is a catch to that too. Yes, you can create a club yourself, but you must apply for a charter, which entails finding an advisor and describing the club in a paragraph including a mission statement. Then, if you complete the first step, it takes a semester to get accepted – with the possibility of rejection – and you also have to re-apply for a permanent charter after another semester or so. Needless to say, starting a club is a lengthy process. And you cannot always just put up flyers and have people meet and have your own un-chartered club because some colleges have harsh rules on where you post flyers. Many times you need permission.

As for on campus activities, sometimes you will come across a decent or entertaining one from time to time, but many of them are just boring. However, they are something to do that gets you out of the room, but they are very rarely during the week. Most of them are on the weekends, when you have more options to begin with because you can go out-of-town.

Going to a small campus has its advantages, such as small class sizes, better career services and you are more likely to know everybody on campus. However, there are limited options for clubs, activities and off-campus opportunities.