College is the transitional period from childhood to adulthood, from being a dependent of your parents to being an individual member of society. It is a long, yet enigmatically brief, few years of your life. My parents–as I am sure yours have too–continuously tell me to make the best of this chapter because it will be over before I know it. With such an emphasis on the cruciality of obtaining an education and growing as a person, it is hard to think of ways in which one might simultaneously enjoy their college careers and further their growth, both in a career field and as a person. One way to do so is by getting involved on campus through student organizations. 

Finding a student organization to join can feel overwhelming, especially with the wide variety that Stetson has to offer. However, it does not have to be as daunting as it feels. Being part of an organization should not be anxiety-inducing. In fact, it should be one of the best parts of your college experience. But, for it to be so, you need to find the right fit. Allow me to give you a few starting points. 

• To find a full list of all possible extracurriculars, look at the Student Organization page on the Stetson University website. This page offers links to a list of student organizations, club sports, the media and publication board, the Student Government Association, and Greek life. Take time to simply browse these pages, and click on whatever piques your interest. You can also use these links to find out more information about the organizations and obtain contact information.
• It is also helpful to use the official Stetson University Instagram, @stetsonu, as a starting point. The college follows a majority of the organizations that have an Instagram page, so by browsing Stetson University’s following list and finding an organization’s page, you can view their posted content and see visuals of what they are about. Additionally, a lot of organizations follow their own members and tag them in posts. You can reach out to past and current members via direct message and ask them questions.
• If you find yourself wanting to join several organizations, do not hesitate to do so. Your first year is a perfect time to experiment with different opportunities and find your niche. However, you should know that as your workload increases and your free time dwindles, you may find yourself forced to commit to a select few organizations. Take the time to find the balance between excitement and growth.
• Once you have found an organization that you wish to join, attend the Involvement Fair held at the beginning of each semester or simply reach out by finding their contact information on Engage. Most organizations accept new members all year round.
• If you cannot find anything that interests you, there is always the option to form your own organization, too. The Office of Student Development and Campus Vibrancy handles all requests. According to them, all you need is a few members and a faculty sponsor. The Student Organizations page on the Stetson University website has more information.
• Engage will be your Mouskatool when it comes to getting involved around campus. It is worth investing time into learning the platform at the beginning of your first year.

Engage is Stetson’s central hub for anything and everything related to student organizations and campus involvement. However, the application is rather confusing, so much so that even after a dedicated Focus week tutorial, the instructions are still unclear. My parting gift to you is a simple list of instructions to access the platform.

1. Sign in to your myStetson
2. Find and click on the Engage shortcut by either using the search bar or scrolling to find it
3. To view a list of campus organizations, click on the sidebar and select the Organizations tab
4. Select an organization to learn about it, obtain contact information, and social media links

This is truly the only advice I can give you. You could talk to every person in the world for guidance about college, but I guarantee you that you still would not be one hundred percent ready (trust me, I talked to dozens of people and was still thrown for a loop). Your experience is going to be different from every other person and that is one of the reasons it is so exciting. But I believe the most exciting part about university is finding yourself and a safe place where you can do that. Joining a student organization can help you achieve both of those things; that is certainly what joining Hatter Network has done for me. I can only hope that the same happens for you wherever your journey takes you.