College is filled with so many opportunities. It is a time for you to get out of your shell and try new experiences. Those new experiences can begin with joining a club. A lot of your days may be the normal routines of classes, homework, and meals. You should have some fun outside of class and meet new people. Your high school may have had a couple dozen clubs, but your college will probably have a couple hundred clubs. There will most likely be a club fair at the beginning of the school year that will help you check these clubs out. There is a lot of variety in these clubs which means that there are a lot of decisions to make. Join a couple clubs, enough that you can have some variation in your activities, but not too much that you get overwhelmed. You can make some great friends in your clubs and bond over what you have in common. If you all joined the club, you are bound to have some things in common. Here are some of the types of clubs that you can join in college, each of them bringing something special to your college life.
When you start out college, the first thing you are thinking of is what classes interest you and what you want to major in. Even if you don’t start school knowing exactly what you want, you may have a general idea of what you like. While you may start to pursue those interests in class, that exploration does not have to end there. If you want to follow some of your passions, or some possible ones, outside of class, there is probably a club that will help you out. Colleges have plenty of clubs that connect with the majors that are offered. For example, if you are a chemistry major, there will probably be a science or Stem club that will connect with what you are learning. Or if you are an English major, there might be a book club or a creative writing club to sharpen the skills that you have. These will be great additions to your classes to make the most out of college. Classes are for learning, clubs are for exploring.
Some people like to stay in the crowd, and other people want to shine. If you are one of those people who wants to shine, then you should join a performance club. This is a place where you can express your creativity and enjoy the spotlight. The tip to finding a performance club in college is to look for the clubs that have wacky names that don’t really make sense, which is meant to show that these clubs have fun. There are many types of performing that you can do. If you are an actor, you can take part in one of the school plays or do a club of skits. Or maybe you are someone who prefers improv comedy, in which case there will probably be some crazy improv clubs that you can join. Maybe you are more of a music person. You could join an acapella club and sing with a group, or you can play an instrument with a school band. Or maybe you are more of a dancer, and the genres of dance that you can perform in college are endless, from ballet to hip hop. If you want to express yourself, performance clubs are the places to be.
Do you want to make a difference in the world and help out your community? Then you should join an activism club. These are clubs that will help you do some good and perform some selfless acts. There are many different ways that you can be an activist in college. You could join a charity club, donating items like soup cans and clothing to the poor, performing an important act of service. You also could join a club like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and mentor a child and give them someone to look up to and help them in their life. There are also clubs that are in support of a general cause or idea, like feminism, environmentalism, etc. These are clubs where you can plan a variety of events throughout the year to spread awareness. Whatever activism club you join, it will always lead to you spreading some positivity around your college. You will be taking time out of day to support people who need that support the most. Take a stand and lend a hand to the people around you.
No matter what career you end up having, you will probably need to be skilled in writing. That means it is important to practice this skill and get some writing done. It is good to practice in something that you find interesting, and maybe you can find that interest in a newspaper club. There could be just one newspaper at your school or maybe you will have to pick one. Newspaper clubs at colleges won’t care about your reason for joining, they just want you to write. You could be an aspiring journalist who wants a couple articles to your name, or you could be someone who just wants to work on their writing, or there might be a few topics that you really care about and you just want to write about them. There is so much you can write about for a newspaper. You could do some hard hitting journalism about a big news event, inform people about something that is happening on campus, or you could just write a review about a movie that you saw. Or maybe you will write all of these articles. Some people say that print media is dying, so if you are willing to write, how about you help bring print media back.
It is always good to get some exercise and to get your heart beat racing. It helps you stay healthy, live a long life, and give you energy. Not to mention that exercise can sometimes be a lot of fun. That is why you might want to join an athletic club. This does not necessarily mean a sports team. If you were going to join a sports team, this would probably be something that you have known about for a while as they are a lot of commitment and there is a lot of pressure. However, there are other athletic groups for you to join. There might be some intramural sports teams at your school, where you play just for fun. There may be a sport that you have always enjoyed, but you never thought you were that good or you didn’t want to commit. That is what intramural sports are for, just goofing around. There might also be some other athletic groups that don’t even do any competing. You could join rock climbing or frisbee, groups that are just about getting active. You don’t need to lay around all day, get out there and get pumped.
Do you want to take part in making sure everyone has a great school year? Then maybe you should join a leadership based club. These clubs are behind the scenes on all of the action at your college. They come in many different forms and plan many different things. Some clubs may be involved with the big financial decisions at your school as student representatives. You could also run for a leadership position, like president, vice president, secretary, representative for your grade, and more. These people will help take charge with making sure everything runs smoothly for the students and makes sure that everyone has a relaxing year. There are also some fun leadership clubs that plan events. These are the people responsible for game nights, parties, and more exciting times that are a break from studying. Share your voice at school and take part in helping your college thrive.
College is a place where you should be able to find your people. Everyone has an identity, maybe more, that is an important part of their character. This could be where you came from, your ethnic background, how you identify, and more. Colleges have a lot of clubs based on identities, and there is a good chance that yours will have a club. Maybe you are in the LGBT community and you want to meet other people in the community. You can find a GSA(Gay Straight Alliance) or similar club. Maybe you are Jewish and want to meet other Jewish people to bond about your culture. A lot of colleges have Hillel, a club that connects Jewish college students and plans all sorts of Jewish events. Or you could join a club based on your race to meet people who have a similar background as you and you can talk about similar experiences. If you want to meet people who have lived a life like yours, your college can help.
Greek life is a whole different type of club than most of the ones on this list, but they are still quintessentially college. There are rounds of bidding you have to do to get into a sorority or fraternity, with the former being for women and the latter being for men, to determine if you fit. Your college will probably have a couple. There will probably be weekly parties you have to go to, along with dinners with the other members, fundraisers, and big events to plan. It will probably take up a lot of college life and force you to get out and mingle. Greek life has different levels of importance at different colleges. If you go to a big southern university, not joining a sorority or fraternity could mean that you will have no social life. If you go to a small liberal arts college, it could lead to some fun parties but it won’t dominate campus. Some people may not like the rigid structure, cliquey culture, and dangerous activities, but that can depend on where you join. If you are someone who loves to party and meet people, Greek life might be for you.
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