When you first enter college, it's likely that you are one of two types of freshmen.
You're extremely excited to get involved in school. You went to the organization fair – probably early – and signed up for everything that sounded even remotely interesting. You get to classes early, you study hard, you talk to your parents regularly, and you constantly talk about how much you miss your family pet.
Or, you're too cool for school. You came to college to party and be independent. You aren't very involved on campus because you don't like to get up early, and you already know how you're spending most of your weekends. You likely make fun of people that are involved.
Most of us start as one of these two types of people and settle into a position somewhere in between. But the truth is that both of these types of people will end up being less involved in school than they should be.
Even if you sign up for every club in existence, you have to actually show up to meetings and be an active member to get the most out of a student-run club. Often, the idea of being a part of 27 clubs is great on paper, but much harder to stick to in practice. The hazard with signing up for all of them is that you will be bombarded with so many emails that you may lose track of which ones are the best for you.
And the explanation for why the second student isn't involved is simple: they aren't trying to be involved.
As a student that is highly involved in college, I admit that it can be a lot at times. But life is what you put into it. I firmly believe that people who don't get involved in college early will regret it later in their college years.
The thing that I struggled with the most, whether it was getting involved going to school, or taking on additional work that wasn't a part of my studies, was the fact that no one was there to really encourage me to do it. In high school, parents or teachers or siblings are usually around to nag you about going above and beyond. When you're left to your own devices, it can be really tempting to just lie around until the next class starts.
So, my advice to you would be to be your own parental figure. I want you to nag yourself into getting involved. Pretend your role model is there, wanting you to take on a leadership position or attend an opening meeting. Because you won't regret the skills you learn and the people you meet.
You may not want to, but eventually, you'll realize that all of these things you used to hate being told to do in the past are actually key components to your future.
Sometimes, it may even be a good idea to guilt yourself into other things, like washing your clothes, doing the dishes, and finishing – or maybe even starting - your vegetables at dinner.
