The Nerd’s Word: Finding the Right Extracurricular Activity for You and Your Future

bradwellen@precioustimeny.com

If you want to be a well-rounded college student, then you should consider adding some extracurricular activities to your campus lifestyle. Excelling in school is more than just going to class and achieving good grades; it is being able to handle class, work, and other activities without overwhelming yourself.  No matter what your interests are, there are activities, clubs and Greek organizations that you can join. Every campus is filled with a wide variety of things for college students to engage in. Its activities such as these that can get you more involved with your school and are great for acquiring leadership experience.  The trick is to choose wisely. Find the activities that you enjoy the most, and that will fill other functions as well – like helping you build a resume.  It’s always helpful if you find something you love and stick with it. On a job resume or grad school application, you can demonstrate commitment by getting involved in one activity for a long time.  Let the Nerd direct you to the perfect fit.

Types of Extracurricular Activities

Whether you are the science geek or the football captain, there is a club for you to join:

Sports: The most popular types of activities are sports organizations. Most schools have football, baseball, tennis, basketball, and hockey. Some schools have even more to choose from. There are also cheerleading groups for these sports as well.

Clubs: Each school has different clubs that you can join. They of course vary by school but some popular ones are the poetry club, political organizations, writing club, current events club, advocacy groups, theatre club, and even clubs related to your major such as math club, accounting club, science club, etc. If your school does not offer a specific club that you may be interested in, then you can always follow the steps to start one on your own.

Organizations: Consider joining different organizations such as the on campus newspaper, or the yearbook staff. Some schools even have specialty organizations such as the Black Student Union or the Hispanic Club.

Go Greek: Of course you can pledge to a sorority or fraternity on campus as well. Most schools will have “freshman rush” where students can pledge to join the Greek organization of their choice.

Benefits of Extracurricular Activities

By joining clubs and organizations on campus, you are setting the stage for your future. You are learning how to multitask, which is an important asset in the workplace. It also looks great on your resume if you can show your potential employers that you not only were involved in different activities on campus, but you maintained your grades as well and possibly even worked a part-time job. Just be sure not to overwhelm yourself or stress yourself out with too many obligations.

Be a Leader

Instead of just joining a club or organization on campus, why not start one? You will gain leadership experience by doing something you love to do. You will also make the college look better by adding more variety to their extracurricular programs. Best of all, when you graduate, you will already have the leadership and organizational experience on your resume that a lot of entry-level professionals strive for.

By becoming more active within your college and joining clubs you will not only be learning more things, but you will gain multitasking experience, fill your time with something more constructive than partying and meet new people who share the same interests as you; which is extremely important as a college student.

The last piece of advice that the Nerd can offer you is to understand the time commitment that campus organizations require of you.  Time is a very valuable commodity when you’re a student, so before joining to a campus organization, figure out how much time you’re going to need to commit, and how much time you actually have to give. Ask people in the group serious questions, and try to get some tangible numerical answers if possible (like “5-10 hours a week”).  Tune in next week for the Nerd’s take on whether or not you should join a Greek organization.

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