The Endicott Experience, Week 9 - Getting Involved

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

This weekly blog will document my firsthand experiences as a student at Endicott College. Additionally, I will attempt to offer advice to fellow college students or those looking to attend college down the line.

As stated in many of my previous posts, you will have an abundant amount of time on your hands while in college. The key is to use that time wisely and to your advantage. Of course, you won't be doing school work all the time, and once you are finished with it, you'll be looking for something to do. If it is in the middle of the week, going out with friends might not be possible, especially if their schedule differs from yours. Another option is to take up an extracurricular activity, which there is plenty of at most universities.

There might have been an intramural at the school that you are currently attending that convinced you to choose that college to begin with. Sports, obviously, is a huge factor in every college, but if you played in high school and aren't looking to play in college, then maybe it isn't for you, especially if you don't want to dedicate most of your time to it (I know of a few kids on the football team who arrived at college two weeks prior before everyone else did). You want something to take up your time, but not something that will take up all your time. That is fine and completely understandable. It is either that or you don't play sports to begin with (or they just don't interest you), like me.

---

When I was younger, I played baseball in my town's league for several years. However, I only played to keep me active as a child, so I stopped when I got to high school because I didn't have any passion for it. As I became more of a fan of WWE and UFC, I decided to give mixed martial arts a try in January 2010 and instantly fell in love with it. I went to MMA classes and participated in a number of tournaments right up until I left for college this past August. I also decided to stop doing my radio show SAVE US GSM as well. Without that occupying my time, I decided to find something else to keep me busy.

So, in the first week of school, I contacted the director the radio station here at Endicott and started up my own wrestling radio talk show a mere month later. I also joined the school newspaper and having been submitting stories to that for every edition. Not only do these endeavors give me something to do to avoid doing nothing with my time, I have fun doing them. That is the most important thing, too. You have to take pleasure in what you are doing. If you aren't having fun, then you might as well be wasting your time.

Don't take up an intramural simply to give yourself something to do. If you want to try something new (which is another thing you should constantly do while in college), then by all means go ahead in sticking with it if you find you are enjoying yourself. If you aren't having a good time, however, then don't even bother with it. There are countless activities to take up in college. It is just up to you to find which ones spark your interest and to pursue them.

I constantly hear complaints from people saying they have nothing better to do with their time than to play video games all day or to sit on the computer and do nothing noteworthy. It is one thing to waste all of your time doing said activities, but to whine and complain about how you know you are aren't doing anything productive in your spare time and aren't doing anything about it, then you have a problem. You must be proactive in finding clubs and organizations that you can spend your time taking part in while also learning something new and having fun while doing it.

I have discussed this in a past post, but if you are still looking for friends or someone who has the same interests as you, then joining a club is the perfect solution. You would be surprised how many friends you might make if you join a club, as it is very possible they might be into the same things as you. There is also the off-chance that someone you meet while doing an intramural could end up becoming your best friend (for life, perhaps?), so you never know what might happen.

As I write this, it is the first week of November. Normally, students starting looking at the school's intramurals and extracurricular activities in the first week of school (as I did), but if you didn't, then it is never too late. Don't use the fact that the semester is halfway over to not join any clubs or organizations. These clubs are always looking for new members, regardless of what time of the year it is. If you haven't already, go out and check out all the activities your school offers and get involved now!