This past week, several organizations, including both Bucknell Student Government (BSG) and the Undergraduate Executive Internship Program, reached out to the student body to communicate new opportunities for involvement in their respective organizations. This came just a week after the Involvement and Community Service Fair, an event that mirrored First-year Orientation’s staple Activities Unlimited Fair, but was instead open to all grades. Taking a step back from these recent efforts, however, and looking at general student involvement in the University’s vast array of organizations and activities, several things become very clear.

The first is just that—there is a vast, eclectic list of student groups and organizations on campus. There seems to be something for everyone to get involved in, regardless of their interests or personality type. On any given day, student groups line up on either side of the LC Mall, working to engage student interest to either join them or help them reach their organization’s goals. Additionally, nearly every Message Center email includes a list of organizations looking for individuals to fill particular positions or merely get involved.

Although the opportunities to get involved are seemingly aplenty, many people are still unsure of how to get involved. While at first it might seem as though individuals who feel this way are either paying absolutely no attention to their surroundings or truly do not care about joining these organizations, it is important to keep in mind that sometimes too much information might be overwhelming. The innumerable organizations advertising positions on the Message Center and the lines of tables in the LC mall might leave some with as little knowledge of how to get involved as before. Additionally, the activities fair that many attend at the beginning of their freshman year often tends to be the first and last time students hear about a lot of the smaller organizations on campus.

For the lucky few who manage to successfully sign up for organizations, it can often be overwhelming, especially when they find themselves face-to-face with a few too many commitments. Two outcomes often result from this over commitment. Typically, first-years get so overwhelmed by the slew of emails they receive following Activities Unlimited that they end up dropping nearly all of the organizations they joined either immediately after the first set of emails or a few weeks into attempting to balance them all. The other option is that the student actually undertakes all of the roles, keeps up with them, and becomes what many hold to be the typical Bucknell student: constantly stressed and at another meeting on any given weekday.

Another point to keep in mind is that even if you cannot find an organization that seems to be the perfect fit at first, you can always create your own niche within it. It is much easier to relate your passions and hobbies to a seemingly unrelated topic than it seems. You can join a publication and make it a website, figure out a way for the 7th Street Studio to optimize their resources and space, or become the primary photographer for a cultural organization. The possibilities are endless.

Regardless of whether an individual is hyper-involved or barely a part of that one club sport they signed up for during Orientation two years prior, it is important to keep in mind that there are still always very tangible, potentially extremely rewarding opportunities available. Sometimes, it might be worth it to stop and read a little into the organizations that you have remote interest in being a part of. It might be worth going out on a limb and joining an organization that has nothing to do with what you normally participate in. It might be worth it to push yourself and add that one more group you think you don’t have the time to commit to, but in reality do if you cut back just an hour or two of FIFA or Netflix each week. The opportunity to join an organization dedicated to almost anything you can think of will not always be available.