The first week of classes every
semester, Penn State hosts an involvement fair (this fall: Wednesday, August
22, 2018 from 11AM-4PM on the HUB Lawn). The Involvement Fair is an opportunity
for all students to see and learn about the groups and activities they can be a
part of during their time at Penn State. Activities from Sororities to Club Sports
to Hobbies to Religious groups will all have booths set up at the Involvement
fair.
The HUB lawn will be filled with
rows and rows of booths and it can be hard to sort through all the clubs in
such a mayhem, so I’m going to give you a few tips to help you get through it
all. The good news is, with over 900 clubs at Penn State, you are bound to find
one that interests you!
1.
First of all, you do not
need to be at the involvement fair the entire time. You will probably have a
class or two during that time, so GO TO CLASS. It is only the second day and
you don’t want to miss that.
Hopefully
you will be able to spare at least 30 minutes between classes to stop by the
HUB lawn to take a look at what Penn State has to offer. If not, you can look
up all of the clubs on the Penn State Student Affairs website and contact the club directly to learn more about it.
2.
A lot of the booths will
be handing out free swag as you walk through, so be sure to stop by the
information booth first and grab the freebie that they are handing out and take
a look at the map.
3.
The fair is organized
based on activity. Take a look and decide what you are interested in. For
example, there is no sense in walking down the club sports aisle if you have no
interest in playing a club sport. I suggest starting out heading for a row that
has some clubs that interest you.
4.
I personally like to stop by each section and
try out something new that interests me. There will be a THON Org section,
academic/professional club section, religious groups section, and miscellaneous
hobbies. Don’t be afraid to put your name down to be added to their email list
to get some more information, but don’t feel pressured to if you are not
interested. All of the clubs will be having their first meetings the same night
inevitably, so you may not be able to do everything that you want to. But if
you get on their email list, you can decide to go later in the semester or
still participate in that club’s events. And you can always unsubscribe to the
list later.
Miscellaneous hobbies are my
favorite aisle. I always find some new interesting hobby that I want to try
out. Though I don’t always end up being able to attend their meetings or
participate, I sign up for the email list. You can always unsubscribe later.
I’ve been on the email list for Model Trains, Beekeeping, Tai Kwon Do, Club
Croquet, the Polish Club, and many more. Though you may not want to sign up for
as many as I did, I’m sure you will find a new activity that interests you!
Most important is finding that
balance between school, health, and social life. I am a firm believer in doing
things that you are passionate about rather than doing them because they are a
“resume builder.” If you do what you are passionate about, that will build your
resume much better than just trying to do what you think recruiters want to
see. Find out what balance works for you so that you take care of yourself, get
your schoolwork done, and stay happy doing what you are passionate about. So
get out to the involvement fair and try something new, find your new passion,
or find others who like to do what you like to do!
Shameless Plug: Please stop by
the SWE Benefitting THON Org booth and visit me! Maybe you will find your new
passion raising money for pediatric cancer and dancing FTK alongside fellow
engineers!!
