Community Involvement Helped Me Graduate From College
Posted by Chloe Chavez | October 9, 2009
Guest Blogger: Evelyn Wang, former OrgSync Marketing Intern, Student at the University of Texas at Austin
As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I have come to the conclusion – communities matter. Before coming to college, I never fully comprehended the importance of having a group of friends and belonging to a community. Not to say, I didn’t have friends before college, but from elementary to high school my classes were filled with the same 30 students. Everything was familiar and structured; I knew where I belonged and fit in.
However, everything changed after graduating high school. We all went our separate ways – different colleges and different life paths. From my class, I was one of the three people that went to The University of Texas at Austin. When I arrived at UT, things were certainly different. I felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and I was definitely not “in Kansas anymore.” Like most freshman, I had a difficult time adjusting to college. Actually, that might be an understatement. I had an extremely difficult time adjusting to college. Everything about it – the unfamiliarity, the people, the campus size, the crowded sidewalks and hallways, all the idle time I had, and the absolute lack of freedom from not having a car in Austin, it spun my world around.
As a freshman, I would have never thought I’d stay at UT long enough to graduate, let alone miss UT. But here I am, attending my last semester at UT, a bit disappointed that my college career is almost over.
So, how did I manage to turn things around, succeed and have a different opinion about UT? In hindsight, it was definitely the people I connected myself to through the communities I joined my first year in college. By joining a Freshman Interest Group and an organization called Christians On Campus, I was able to meet and befriend people who shared my interests that would ultimately be the support I needed to succeed at UT.
Student groups provide a sense of belonging.
With encouragement from these friends, I soon joined a business club, the McCombs Diversity Council and was able to expand my network and become more involved in school. I can say with absolute certainty I would NOT have continued my studies at UT if it were not for my involvement in these groups. I would be living at home in Dallas, attending UTA, never leaving my comfort zone, and definitely not growing as a person.
The three student organizations I joined early on helped me form a group of friends and become a part of a community. I met peers that helped me enjoy my college experience, and who have probably influenced and impacted my life in ways I will never know. This was essential to my development as a student and in many ways saved my college career. Student organizations and communities on campus matter more than most people realize. Connections keep people growing and developing, and I was certainly no exception.
