The best thing you can do for yourself at RWU is join not one, but two clubs during your first two years here. Before I was the Herald’s Opinions Editor, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I acted in high school pretty much all four years, so the first thing I was a part of here was StageCo. I was introverted more or less so I thought that this club would be my main community.
At the end of my freshman year, I caught wind of the Hawks’ Herald from some friends and made it a goal to join it come the following fall semester. Writing for the paper was the best choice I could have made because now I had to follow along with campus events and contribute work to my editors at the time.
When you take classes for your enjoyment, you can branch out to new spots on campus to work and meet new people as well. I took Foundations of Drawing with Michael Rich last year for example and revisited the Muffin building outside of class frequently all because it had a nice atmosphere and gave me the space to enjoy making art.
If you’ve ever taken a design class, there are excellent spots on campus to go and work on projects with likeminded design students. Design projects can get highly demanding so it’s better to suffer with classmates than in silence!
Find clubs attached to classes in your interest area too. Continuing my design example, I joined the Design Club which meets in the same room I do work in (SE 122) and you might just gain some knowledge that could save your class project.
The best thing about the Design Club (in case that is interesting to you) is that it is a club where you create your own little craft each week, so on top of socializing with others, you get to bring back your own souvenir. Always go for an incentive.
If reading every new Herald publication is interesting enough to encourage you to learn more about us, I would also recommend WQRI as a good start as well. You can choose to have your own radio show or even just participate in music-related events. It is a highly expansive organization here. Its community is very welcoming.
I may sound crazy, but setting yourself up to be super busy in college is ideal. I would rather overbook myself than be stuck with nothing to do. Give yourself a schedule to follow in and out of classes. When you go to a club week after week, the process just becomes natural and could even be a break from the stress of everything else. Take advantage of this especially if you’ve been here for a short time, because before you know it, you could lead a club you like. Just look at me! I love writing about my own opinions as you can tell.
All things considered, take my advice for next semester. The fall is so much more hectic in my opinion. Start getting your foot in the door next spring, you won’t regret it.
