Finding your place at BC

           One of the first things I heard about during my freshman year at Boston College is the student involvement fair. At this fair, just about every group or club on campus will have a booth, and the lines and lines of students will all be yelling, complimenting, throwing candy, and doing anything they can to get you to sign up for their club. And as a freshman, you won’t know how to say no (aka, you will be on about 30 list servs (group email lists) for dance shows, acapella groups, art clubs, service trips, business academies, and maybe even student admissions). The good thing is that this fair allows you to sign up for so many things, and as a freshman you will start to cut through the emails and attend first club meetings, striving to find your place.

            As a sophomore looking back on this experience,  my advice is to allow yourself to try out all of these crazy, new, clubs freshman year,even if you aren’t great at singing or don’t have time for a service trip. This is because freshman year is all about experiencing new things, and college is the best time you will have to do this. In the end, trying a lot of activities will enable you to find your your place on campus. And once you do, it will feel great to have something to be passionate about outside of classes with a group of people probably outside your circle of roommates or friends.  Therefore, putting the effort in at the beginning is worth it – and fun! Go to meetings alone or try out for something or work hard on a long application because you will not regret trying, but you will regret not trying.

            One of my experiences with this has been with BC charity:water club this year. Last year I had wanted to be a part of the club, and attended meetings here and there, but never really pushed myself to get involved. This year however, I decided to apply as sophomore rep for the club and was accepted! Now I get to really help with the events the club puts on, fundraise, and have made friends with the board! It is really special to have a group to feel a part of and work toward a common goal with my fellow students at BC!

- Erin Fitzpatrick ‘17