Jump in and join: getting involved on campus

They often wind up shaping your undergraduate experience as much as your curricular activities.

Why? Because they’ll expand your networks. Grow into leadership opportunities. Help you build time-management skills. They might even lead you toward a whole new career.

Want proof? Just talk to Sid Thatham, a University of Cincinnati graduate student from India, who had never even set foot on a plane before enrolling.

After engaging with several UC organizations, Thatham found that involvement had become addictive. He was interested in learning Spanish, so he joined a Latino student organization. There, he made a friend involved in RAPP, the Racial Awareness Program. From there, Thatham met someone involved in the university’s TEDx program – and after a few years volunteering for that, he wound up on a TEDx stage himself to talk about Hyperloop, the speed-of-sound, tube-based transportation system proposed by Elon Musk, founder of both Tesla and SpaceX.

Thatham, by the way, wound up meeting Musk as part of his work with Hyperloop UC, one of 30 finalists in the competition to build the best prototype for the project.

“You have to ask yourself – what are you going to take away in addition to your degree?” Thatham says of his perpetual participation. “There are so many opportunities at a university like UC, and so much room for personal development. Getting involved on campus can really fulfill your potential.”

Being brand new on a big campus can be intimidating, though. You likely won’t know a lot of people when you arrive – and you may not even know what activities you’re interested in.

That’s okay, promises Nicole Ausmer, Cincinnati’s director of Student Activities and Leadership Development. Most institutions host an activity fair at the beginning of every academic year giving freshmen a chance to check out many different groups. And even the smallest colleges and universities have a healthy selection of clubs and organizations to try on for size. At UC, for example, there are more than 500 student groups, a number that is growing all the time. And even with such a vast array of choices, Ausmer says, students are encouraged to develop new groups.

Ausmer points out that urban institutions like UC are doing more than ever to partner with the communities they’re part of. “We owe it to our students to create this well-rounded experience – to create global citizens out of them,” she says. “If we are just showcasing what we’re doing on campus, we’re doing them a disservice.”

But it’s not just the serious, change-the-world kinds of activities that pay lasting dividends. It turns out that any kind of committed involvement – intramural sports, hobbies, fraternities and sororities – can move the needle when it comes to student success.

“It’s about finding community, whatever that looks like,” Ausmer says.

Finding community can help you gain professionally, too. Employers are increasingly intent on hiring individuals who have real-world experience. At an institution like UC, experience is guaranteed. One hundred percent of its students participate in some form of experience-based learning. Which only makes sense – UC invented cooperative education in 1906. And while co-ops and internships are obvious résumé boosters, club and activity involvement can be just as important.

“Employers want someone who can think critically,” Ausmer says. “They want someone who knows what it’s like in a group dynamic, and who has the soft skills to solve organizational problems.”

For Thatham, his extracurricular experiences actually changed his career goals. Though he graduated with a dual MBA and master’s in chemical engineering, he found his real calling while mentoring undergraduates in a campus leadership group.

“It amazed me how much of a difference you can have just by sharing your experiences with someone,” says Thatham. So, for now, he’s shelving his engineering ambitions and looking to find a job in academic affairs, working with other students.

His advice? Unsurprisingly, it’s to jump in, and be open to meeting new people and trying new things.