<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I'm wondering what activities college students keep up with when they get to college, and how those fit into their busy college schedules. What's your favorite activity in college? How is it organized at your college? Is it a continuation of something you did in high school, or something new to you?</p>
<p>The organization that I am mainly involved in is UPC, the University Program Council. We bring all the different forms of entertainment to our campus. We have 10 different committees:
Films
Speakers and Comedians
Major Entertainment (does the major concerts)
Special Projects (does mainly things like different workshops such as pilates and cake decorating and swing dancing for example, and holiday celebrations like giving away things on Mardi Gras and Valentine's day, etc)
Public Relations (does press releases and hospitality for artists that come to our campus)
Research and Evaluation (does surveys)
Fine Arts (does things like Open Mic Night, Dinner and Dancing, Chinese Acrobats, and the Song-writing contest)
Tiger Nights (which puts on a carnival-like night once a semester called Tiger Nights)
and Publicity-- my committee-- which does all forms of publicity for the different events put on by the other committees, including making and distributing flyers and hanging banners, painting windows, table tents (little three-sided "tents" that sit on the table in our student union food court), marquees at businesses, the advertisement in our campus paper, etc. </p>
<p>I'm an assistant on Publicity going for director of Pubs for next year. It takes some time (we're required to do four hours as assistants plus times for meetings, but I usually do more), but I love it. There was nothing like this at my high school but I got involved with this org. my freshman year and I've been here ever since (I'm a junior now).</p>
<p>The University Program Council sounds like an interesting activity.</p>
<p>Well, I'm only a freshman this year but I got involved with a literary magazine on campus and I'm one of the editors. It's a small group and it has a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere which I really like. I didn't do anything like this in high school because anyone who wanted to write/take pictures for our newspaper had to take some journalism class and I did not have very much room for electives and I didn't want to take those classes anyway but I decided that I would join the staff of some newspaper or magazine when I got to college so I did. I think that I'm going to run for coordinator next year and hopefully I'll get it.</p>
<p>The literary magazine sounds like an interesting activity.</p>
<p>Depends on the definition of "meaningful"</p>
<p>In terms of people I worked with - being a Student Ambassador for the College of Arts & Sciences (great sponsor, fun activities, got to know the Deans of the College VERY well - was even asked to be a listed reference for our Dean when he was interviewing at another school for a similar position)</p>
<p>In terms of impacting something I care about - being president of Greek Ambassadors and talking at most HS Senior Campus Visit Days over the course of nearly 3 years about fraternities and sororities - benefits, why they're awesome, how to join. It was kind of cool to have people I never "met" come up and say that I was the reason they joined a fraternity or a sorority. </p>
<p>In terms of personal growth - taking and being a TA for a leadership class.</p>
<p>In terms of friends for life, great memories, and being who I am today - my fraternity. Best single decision I've ever made.</p>
<p>Where does the funding come from for these activities?</p>
<p>CAS Ambassadors - from the College of Arts & Sciences
Greek Ambassadors - from the Office of Greek Affairs
Leadership class - Department of Educational Psychology/tuition/separate "lab" fees
Fraternity - Membership dues</p>
<p>Hi, Bigredmed, at my alma mater there was a system of funding a lot of student organizations through a student fee that all students paid above tuition. Is that the ultimate source for the funds your organizations see, or are the funds more directly from the general university budget? How expensive are the membership dues (approximately) for the fraternity?</p>
<p>I was involved in mainly organizations that were closely tied to a department (ie Alpha Kappa Delta is the Sociology Honorary - I actually wasn't involved, but I was/am a member) or college so the money came from them.</p>
<p>For a couple of the non-affiliated/sponsored organizations like Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honorary, we had to do fundraising. There might have been some small allocations from our student funds but I don't recall that ever coming up, but then again, I was never a treasurer of any organization. Our University Program Council (who I believe was the biggest recipient of student fees) did give out grants to student orgs to enable them to put on big events that they would not otherwise be able to do. Same thing for our Student Alumni Association (funded by the official Alumni Association), as well as the Student Foundation (funded by from the University Foundation). </p>
<p>In the case of CAS Ambassadors, we were involved in student recruitment and our organizer was the Director of Student Recruitment for the college and we were part of her budget (which I don't think we were very expensive - it wasn't like we were getting paid).</p>
<p>Greek Affairs has a sizable budget including staff that comes from the University (roughly 3000 students were in the Greek System, about 15% of the student population), but I guess I should technically say that Greek Ambassadors budget was through IFC and Panhell funding that the Greek chapters paid to those boards. </p>
<p>Fraternity dues - depended on living in or out of the house. In house fees were about 4600/yr while I was in the house - they've gone up in the time since, but no where near the rate at which University Housing costs have gone up. That included 10 meals a week, all the social fees, all the intramural costs, and all membership dues to be paid to our national organization, the local IFC and anything else. Live out's I believe were about 1200 a year, and you could get the meal plan for ~$250/semester. It's been a long time, but that sounds about right.</p>
<p>I don't do too many things, but I find them all to be quite rewarding. I am a tutor for the AmericaReads program in a local elementary school. Also, I serve on two Faculty Committees--one on Student Life, the other on Admissions. This semester I may be beginning several other things, including Tango, and a Steel Drum ensemble.</p>
<p>Co-president of the math club. I basically come up with ridiculously difficult problems and present them to club members. I also present theory thats not covered in classrooms. </p>
<p>Its not really organized per se. As you can infer by its title, not many people would be interested. Thus keeping the berucratic details to a minimum. Mostly, its just a small meeting between friends and occasionally some new people.</p>
<p>Continuation from high school? You kidding me? I barely graduated high school, let alone indulging in an non-existent passion in mathematics.</p>
<p>Not really involved in typical extracurriculars, purely from time constraints.</p>
<p>I'm in the ski/snowboard club, did some downhill races, rail jams, and went on two of the 3 big trips last year but that's about it. Attend the "meetings" which are basically get togethers at a bar or club to watch ski movies, eat free food, and talk about upcoming trips.</p>
<p>I have two jobs, one that pays regularly and one that doesn't--I get a small scholarship and meal stipend.</p>
<p>At my paying job, I work 10-15 hours/week during the school year, and 35-40/week during the summer. It's super easy--check people into the rec center, distribute equipment, etc.</p>
<p>At the non-paying job, I work 40-45 hours/week (not including travel time) during the fall, 20-25 hours/week in the spring, and 25-30 hours/week in the summer.</p>
<p>I find both of my jobs very rewarding and great opportunities for a college student. I've managed to uphold decent grades while carrying 15 credits every semester, while learning/working on things that are important for the real world or life after college--dedication, time management, sacrifice, dealing with rude people, working late, interacting with older authorities in atmospheres that can be laid back one minute and very serious the next, etc. Oh yeah...and it's FUN</p>
<p>1) I'm a hardcore NetHacker.
2) I tried starting the NetHack club, but only one guy showed up, and he was a creepy grad student. Didn't help that I was dumb and held it on the grad student side of campus. I might try and organize a clan for the June NAO tournament if I can find enough people who actually play.
2.5) MIT has a NetHack</a> class, the lucky bastards. Why oh why did I go to that other institute of technology?!
3) I've ascended once or twice here, but I was more into it back in high school when I actually had time to Not Do Problem Sets.</p>
<p>Swimming is by far the most meaningful activity to me. It's not as much of a commitment as it was in high school since I used to be on a competitive club team, but it's still time-consuming here to be on a varsity sport. I love the competition and being able to continue the sport I enjoyed the most in high school. It did mean an instant group of close friends that I had coming in, which meant a lot since I go to a school where I knew no one. The bonds on our team are very tight, much more so than those on my high school team. </p>
<p>I also just joined a fraternity a week ago, but it's obviously too soon to be able to say anything about that, but I'm sure it will move up there if I stay with it and get initiated.</p>
<p>I really appreciate the description of the varied activities. I was a treasurer of the English as a Second Language Club back when I studied that subject.</p>
<p>I started in DPB (Dorm Programming Board). We schedule movies, Casino Nights, coffee houses, Mock Rocks, dances, you name it. I had a love for film, and it gave me a chance to learn how to lead and plan--which led me to change my major to theatre arts.</p>
<p>I also got involved in Residence Hall government. After I complained to my Resident Director about something too many times, she told me I could do something about it if I attended the next hall meeting and brought it up. I did and then ended up running for office to make our hall a better place to live. </p>
<p>In my junior year I was no longer an English major, nor the ill-fated Business Major, but had changed my film minor to a theatre major. The next two years were consumed with working on shows from "Main Stage" productions to small student-run 10-minute collections. My involvement in theatre is what gave me the most joy and the maturity and skills I needed for my current job as a director of theatre.</p>
<p>My main college activity is LGBTA, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Alliance. Being involved with it has been a really amazing experience--I get to work with other clubs and departments, advocate to administrators, educate the campus, offer support to LGBTQQI students, plan events like poetry slams, drag shows, Guess the Straight Person Panel, classroom panels, a weekly discussion group, documentary screenings, workshops in dorms, guest speakers, Day of Silence, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and so many other types of programming. I even get to talk to prospective students about queer life on campus, which is always a lot of fun. Leading LGBTA has made me a much more confident speaker, activist, and event coordinator.</p>
<p>I wasn't out as queer in high school and I went to a private religious school, so I wasn't involved with anything that focused on the same issues, but I did a lot of other similarly activist projects back then.</p>
<p>It's hard to make fit with everything else in my schedule (work, class, friends), but I just schedule around the absolutely necessary things like weekly meetings, and let the other work fill the cracks between the other stuff in my life. It's fun, so I don't really mind the time commitment until it gets to be midterms and there are three events on the calendar driving me crazy with work :)</p>
<p>Probably the volunteering I do. I'm associated with a group that does kind of "random" volunteering - all different things. I only volunteer when I can, which is nice with my busy schedule, but it still keeps me feeling involved with the community and less of a self-centered college student.</p>