Hello everyone and welcome back! Now, for all the upperclassmen who have been through this a couple of times already, you might not be as happy to read those first words and are possibly dreading everything that “Back-To-School” brings with it, but to all the freshmen out there who are about to start what could become the best years of their lives, buckle up! 

With this being only my second year, I can’t say I have enough experience to be considered a veteran, but I would still like to offer one piece of advice to the freshmen. 

Whether you are coming into college excited to be out on your own for the first time with the expectation of all your hopes and dreams coming true or you are coming to college simply because you weren’t really sure what else to do and it was a means to an end, my biggest recommendation to any freshman is to get involved. 

At the beginning of last year, I told myself that I would be fine not doing anything on campus and that it would be good for me to just take a break, but when I tell you how real FOMO is and that I’ve never regretted something more, I mean it. I’m just grateful that I had friends who pushed me to try at least one group because I sincerely found my people. 

Later in my freshman year, I joined a Christian group called Chi Alpha, and my life was changed forever. Don’t get me wrong, having just one friend is nice and can be exactly what you need to get started in new social groups, but truly being involved on campus is something you will look back on as one of your greatest choices.

Now that I’ve given you my entire life story, let’s get back on task to the purpose of this entire article: getting involved on campus. I know it can be scary at first, but like I’ve been saying and will continue reiterating, getting involved can be the difference between a great freshman year and an average one.

The first way I encourage you to get involved is by going to Welcome Week events and doing your best to meet new people. This can be difficult for some people because it might be a few steps outside of their comfort zone, but getting to know different people and their interests and finding common ground are some extremely important steps.

Throughout the year, there are also a lot of different outreach activities that clubs will host. These are great ways to take advantage of an opportunity whether you’re interested in the actual club or not. Either way, you’ll get something out of it whether it’s a new friend or even an improvement in your social skills.

Going to the club fair on Wednesday, August 30, is honestly the best way to dip your toes in the water because you can pick and choose which clubs you’d like to based on your interests but you can also have a quick chat with literally anyone there and maybe find something you’d like to learn more about.

You can also take a look at your MyNDSU account or the CORQ app where you can find all the events taking place on campus from sporting events to club meetings.

Another page to check out would be the Student Activities or Student Involvement pages on the NDSU website. These pages have lists of not only the 300 student organizations that NDSU has to offer but also other student events you can attend to make more connections and find more people like you! If you’d like to talk to someone in person about these different organizations, feel free to stop by the Student Activities Office where you can find contacts to get connected with people.

It might be extremely tempting to just keep to yourself and avoid doing anything you don’t absolutely want to do, but it will benefit you so much more to put yourself out there. Who knows, you might just meet your lifelong friends!

From student government to athletics to Greek life to faith-based groups, NDSU will undoubtedly have something for you.

Alrighty, now that I’ve talked your ear off or more worn out your eyes and intellectuality, I will let you go with this last bit of encouragement:

NDSU is proud to bring to the table a variety of different people who love a variety of different things so that everyone can find their place at NDSU. You belong no matter where that ends up being and getting involved is the first step to finding that sense of belonging.