Illinois Weslyan’s Homecoming is in full swing with a week full of events for students, alumni, faculty and staff.
For alumni, homecoming acts as a time to return back to the university they called home for years to participate in events.
But, for students what are the incentives to participating in a packed week of events when people are already overwhelmed by academic and extracurricular commitments?
The obvious answer is to get all the free stuff between pizza taste-off where you can sample food from local places and all of the family fun activities on the quad.
But for many students the week poses a challenge of trying to find the time to attend all of their necessary events, while entering into midterms.
This feeling of being overwhelmed can make students question why they should be involved on a campus that requires such rigorous academic work.
Involvement on campus can take several different forms from involvement in athletics, greek life or a variety of registered student organizations (RSO’s).
“This feeling of being overwhelmed can make students question why they should be involved on“
According to a 2015 article by the Odyssey, an obvious benefit of becoming involved on campus is that it creates an atmosphere where students can maximize their learning.
For students who are involved in multiple organizations this education can take the form of efficiently managing free time and being selective with your commitments.
The Odyssey explains education expands into learning leadership skills, understanding team dynamics and building social skills.
Although education is important, this does not mean students should join every RSO possible nor should students attempt to going to every event on campus.
Students should not opt for joining every organization represented at the RSO fair and instead try to focus on activities or events that might be the most engaging experiences.
In Dr. John D. Foubert’s 2006 study he researched if student success could be indicated by the amount of organizations a student was involved with. This did not hold true as his findings showed only one or two valuable involvement experiences helped the success of a student.
For IWU students, limiting the quantity of involvement on campus can seem like an impossible task as many students fill their resume with as many activities that can fit on the page.
A solution to address the need to join every RSO possible can be looked at in two ways, through assisting students in finding their niche and preventing program overlap with other events.
Solutions for students can be reaching out to academic or organization advisors for advice when feeling overwhelmed about the amount of commitments that are coming up.
A less popular option is assessing the amount of commitments and attempting to trim down the list by either taking a step back or finally getting off an email list.
One larger institutional solution would be to actually look at an events calendar and try not to overlap event times so students don’t feel added pressure.
As midterms begin and students become more overwhelmed by commitments and academic pressures, dropping commitments is bound to happen.
So when heading into a week as hectic as homecoming can be for some students, go and have fun at events and join alumni in celebrating school spirit.
But, remember while it’s important to be involved and can improve your success as a student, don’t be afraid to choose the quality over the quantity of experiences you can have.