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GETTING INVOLVED ON CAMPUS

What is involvment?

Involvement may be playing an intramural sport, joining a student organization, or participating in activities in your residence hall. It is whatever you do to get connected on campus! Involved students tend to be more successful in college. Even if you don't live or work on campus, there are many opportunities for you to explore to help enrich your college experience.

Students get involved for a variety of reasons:

• For awards, recognition, or a resume builder
• To fulfill a need they see on campus or in their lives
• To meet people or belong to a group
• To have fun!
• To learn new skills

Benefits of being involved:

• Developing leadership skills needed in the real world
• Exploring and gaining career related experiences
• Working with groups (running effective meetings, learning delegation skills, using public relations, parliamentary procedure)
• Interpersonal skills (communication, conflict management, adapting to others)
• Making a difference on campus
• Learning and practicing leadership skills (delegating, communicating, time and stress management, goal setting)
• Having fun & maintaining a balanced lifestyle

The best opportunity for you:

With so many choices, it might be difficult figuring out which involvement opportunity fits your needs and desires.

The first step is to ask yourself the following questions:

• What have I been involved with in the past?
• Why did I get involved in those particular opportunities?
• Are there new types of involvement opportunities I would like to explore?

If you want help answering these questions, stop by the Office of Student Life, located in the College Center, and let us help you!

or contact:

Levi Esses
785-826-2610
lesses@k-state.edu

The next step:

Select activities that will help you reach your personal & career goals. Once you know what type of involvement you are looking for, put a plan together to take that first step.

Some suggestions are:

• Talk to your adviser or the adviser of one of the organizations.
• Find out as much as possible about the organization.
• Go to a meeting with a person already involved in the organization.
• Grab a friend and go to a meeting together. If you can't find anyone who wants to go, go by yourself.