You've heard this before, right?
When you were growing up your mom pushed you to join ballet or soccer. Your dad thought basketball or tennis would be good for you. Your high school teachers raved about how rewarding french club, theater or student government was. And now you're in college and you're hearing it all again. Get involved. Join a club. Go greek or try out for the team. The campaign hasn't changed- "Get involved." But the moral or reasoning behind that pressure to do more has grown into something more than what it was meant for when you were a child.
When you were a child you got involved because it was fun. You played sports because growing children need interaction and maybe you'd learn some early life skills- but you probably just had fun standing in the goalie net and picking grass for a while.
When you got older you joined teams to make friends. Maybe you wanted to see how athletic you were or how creative you could be. You only knew the kids who rode your bus and you thought cheerleading always looked fun.
When you hit high school you played that sport or got involved in that team because you wanted greater skill or knowledge of it. Volleyball was the love of your life and you actually had a shot to play in college if you kept up.
Now here you are as an adult, and though you've been in school for years, they're still telling you to get involved. You're still pressured to do more with your time. But this time, you're not necessarily joining to make friends. You already learned those early life skills and now you know how athletic you are. This time, you're joining something to become a greater person. You reap all the rewards you got growing up, but now these rewards can take you somewhere in life. Getting involved in college can take you to places you never imagined. Sure, you've met 50 new friends from joining that group. But this time, joining that sorority or drama club has given you a network full of possibilities because of those people you met. You're able to build your resume because you even accepted an executive position in that organization. You became a philanthropic person and now giving back to the community is your passion. You were able to travel the United States because your team was able to take you there. When you get involved with any group, you learn things about yourself. You grow as a person and you become a greater you. You're opened up to so many new experiences and your life can be infinitely changed just by making the decision to get involved.
So I challenge you. I challenge you to join a team. Join one more organization and really get as invested as you can in it. Whether it's your first year or college or your last few months--get involved in what you can and you'll always be glad you did.
