Being honest, perhaps it could be said that some people may think that getting involved on campus is slowly starting to become a cliché.

Everyone seems to be lecturing on how you have got to get involved to get the most out of college. It’s spread around like bees around honey; it’s almost drilled into people that they got to partake in a club, organization or community.

I love honey and we’ve got to raise awareness for those bees, mate, so I hope you enjoyed the cheeky metaphor. I guess you could say the fact that people seem to constantly talk about getting involved undervalues the possibilities that could be attained through actually participating and getting involved.

Unfortunately, you’ll get those involved who are only a part of something that directly links with their major, or those who are solely invested to build their resume.

Whatever happened to getting involved in something because it’s fun and you want to try something new?

Maybe these days society or the work-world has such a pressure and influence on us that we as students are becoming more concerned with what’s on our portfolio or resume, hence why we are perhaps more inclined to get involved with the organizations that are necessary for your post college career. Even though this isn’t bad, as you are still getting involved, it’s not really making the most of experiencing college for its variety of possible dimensions and avenues.

On reflection, joining an organization that consists of a variety of different personalities and majors is without a doubt, the first step on the ladder to a real college fulfilment. Whether that be a fraternity, sorority, a club team or even with us at the Chronicle! You want to steer away from being the same as everyone else, arguably, this is what employers want anyway after college!

Joining only a select few clubs which consist of the same major, in my opinion, isn’t really an exciting way to dedicate all your efforts too. You can join those clubs, but you could compensate by trying to find other activities that you’ve always considered attempting but never bothered to attend that first information session.

You’ll regret it a lot if you never at least attempt to approach trying out with an organization. Who knows, you may even discover a new passion and create yourself a new post-college path you wish to pursue.

I joined the radio station, WQAQ, last semester, I never saw myself hosting a radio show before. To be honest, the idea of hosting a show never even sprung to mind. I only considered it because a friend, involved in the radio station, said I would be good at it because I had the personality for it and that I would have fun.

If they saw something in me that I didn’t, I figured I’d at least give it a shot, if I turn up once, try out for the show, then end up not liking it, what’s there to lose? What people think of me? My dignity? No, because I went out and tried something out that I thought I would be good at and if I failed then at least I tried and know that I’m not good at it, rather than having done nothing about it.

So, on the first day I tried out hosting a show and since that day, my ambitions within college completely changed. I want to do so much with my show and I have become increasingly passionate within this amazing, friendly, genuine, sincere, helpful organization.

I’m not trying to just promote the radio station, because you could probably find this kind of community of people in other organizations that you may feel more tailored to. For me, on that first day I hosted my show, it was fantastic, because I realized, I didn’t feel pressured to speak, I could just play music during the whole show.

I certainly didn’t end up doing that and spoke a good amount along with playing current EDM (dance) music. Today, I now host a show which consists of EDM music and interviews with people ranging from student veterans to athletes. I personally like to focus on popular songs that have been remixed into such incredible, unique ways, although I am open to other dance music that I feel the audience would love to start listening to. These kinds of experiences have helped refine my college life whilst being here. I am a junior and I wish I got more involved earlier.

Not only is doing these activities useful to develop you as a person, but it is also an amazing way to meet new people. If you’re struggling on meeting like-minded, motivated and fun people, then I really suggest getting involved. I was very fortunate as I had an amazing freshman year joining the rugby team, which exposed me to many new, different avenues in college that I hadn’t even thought about before. From rugby, I was led to join Sigma Phi Epsilon, then from there I branched off to join the Chronicle, WQAQ, the international student’s association, and I soon plan on trying out the investment club.

There are a lot of amazing opportunities at Quinnipiac University, and we should truly be really grateful to be at such a university that has the capacity to provide students with so many possibilities and variety of pathways to offer.