Fun on a Budget- On Campus

Okay so you made it to campus, now what?

Well, for starters leave your room lol.

Especially if you're a freshman. There are usually (don't quote me on this tho) lots of events happening around campus in the beginning for new freshman. They have mixers and meet and greets and events to get to know campus and the clubs they have to offer. Freshman week events are always an easy way to get out and maybe meet someone. Also pay attention to campus events throughout the year. At some campuses they will have activities calendars. On it will be different dates and times for several activities that are backed by the school. At my campus for Spring 22 I went to glow in the dark mini golf and a canvas and coffee that was put on and paid for by the school. They also hosted movie nights, comedy shows, and brought in guest restaurants for lunch in the cafe. Sometimes student created orgs will join together with a university led org like student council to host an event.

Maybe you could join one of the orgs. Every college campus I know of has a wide variety of clubs and organization already established. So you definitely should take the time to find the master list of all orgs and see what interests you. Search for social media accounts attached to the different orgs. That's a great way to stay up to date on what's happening in that organization. Some schools have a type of organization database online where the different university recognized orgs have to put contact information and meeting times. Make sure you check that as well! Not every org will use social media and some will just be hard to find. That database/online sever can be very helpful. It can list contact people, meeting times and rooms, requirements for joining, if there's a cost to join, sometimes you can even see how much of a time commitment it takes. When you pick and org, make sure you feel comfortable in that community of people. If you're not, then look somewhere else.

Example, when I was at Howard University, there was this organization on campus to give back to the young girls in the community. They even had a sisterhood aspect which was appealing to me as someone who was just getting to campus and wanted to meet new people. Once starting the application process, I realized that wasn't the place for me. So I took my name out of the process and looked elsewhere. Not everything you think is for you will be. And you have to be willing to walk away from things that you know won't serve you and the path that you're going on.

Now at alot of universities, they encourage students to start organizations if they can't find one that suits them or fits what they're looking for.

Example, at UCA there wasn't an organization for praise dancing when I arrived in Spring 22. However for Fall 22, a girl I met back in middle school decided that she wanted to start one. So she looked up the requirements for starting an org at our school and started the process. She got enough students to verbal commit and she found a faculty member to be our advisor. There are other steps after that to be an official student organization and she's taking them, but its not super hard. The org has already started doing performances just in our first semester! And I say that to say, if you can't find an org for you, maybe consider staring one. You'd probably be surprised at how many other students are also interested in what you wanna do. And if you're planning to do more school after undergrad, it may look good to put 'founder of blank organization at my university' on your resume. Especially if its an org that relates to your future masters/doctorate.

So, I've given you some places to start. But there are so many more ways to have fun in college. The budget of a college student typically isn't super outrageous, but there are affordable ways to have fun. And university orgs are just the place to start. Getting in these organizations also connect you to different people, show you different places on campus, and so much more. Once you've done all your looking through student organizations, then you can start looking off campus. I'll make another post about things to do off campus in more detail later. I hope you find this information useful. It was all helpful info for me being a new student as a freshman and when I transferred during my sophomore year. Remember to have fun and be safe! Life is short, make sure you're actually living, not just being alive.

Love ya muchly!!!

~Riah~