Chinasa Iseogu '05 majored in English and works for the New York State Assembly as a committee assistant to the standing Committee on Health. She was active in many campus organizations, include our student newspaper.

Get Involved!
Joining organizations, teams or clubs can be a valuable part of your college education. Starting them can be even more valuable.

By Chinasa Izeogu ’05

Graduating from high school does not have to mean giving up all the activities in which you were involved.  In fact, in college you’ll probably not only continue many of them, but also take up new ones.  One thing you’ll want to ask while looking at colleges is whether they make it easy for students to form new organizations and interest groups.

At St. Lawrence University, where it’s easy to start new groups, we see involvement as another way to learn (that’s why we talk about “co-curricular” activities).

Dedicated to community service? We have groups for that (see sidebar). You’d be surprised at how many students are EMTs and/or members of the local volunteer fire and rescue department. And through the volunteer center you can arrange to tutor students at local schools, take service trips during Spring Break to homeless shelters, or participate in an annual service project in Canton making a difference in the lives of local residents and businesses.

Into creative expression? Join the staffs of the student newspaper or one of our literary magazines, or any of several chorales. Or, we have a theme house where it’s OK to paint on the walls – Mom won’t yell at you.

Are you an athlete?  St. Lawrence offers 32 intercollegiate sports teams, more than most similar colleges; see the sidebar.  If you’re not into that level of intensity, look at club (intercollegiate, but on a much more modest scale than varsity) and intramural (intra, within, plus mural, the walls, meaning your first-year college might form a team to compete against the service fraternity), such as flag football, sand volleyball, basketball, broomball (you’ve got to try this one) and ultimate Frisbee. They change from year to year, with student interest.

Or maybe you consider yourself a social activist: at St. Lawrence you’ll find clubs with focuses on everything from the environment to multiculturalism to women’s issues. Again, check that sidebar.

Maybe you are captivated by student government.  You can keep that involvement up at St. Lawrence, from the First-Year Council to class officer positions to the Thelomathesian Society (from the Greek for “love of learning”), which is St. Lawrence’s version of a student council.

Be sure to look for a college where you can not only set up groups but also run them yourself.  At St. Lawrence, most organizations have a high degree of autonomy. In my time on campus I observed the establishment and independent operation of juggling and cricket clubs. Running them was part of the fun!

If for no other reason, “joining up” is a way to test-drive how involved you will be in the communities you become a part of after you graduate from college.  It is also an opportunity to continue to build discipline and character.  Clubs and organizations are where you can put what you learn in the classroom to the test.  They can push you to your limits in your work ethic, leadership, dedication and deepening sense of self-worth.