Finding the Student Groups for You!
By Vanshika
During orientation there will be a day when you’re walking out of Usdan and you see a bunch of tables on the field and a whole bunch of people surrounding each table. Don’t be overwhelmed– this means that it’s time for you to find your student groups! Student groups are an integral part of the Wesleyan culture because as you might slowly learn, Wesleyan students are always busy and this is because they are always involved in some extracurricular activity! Being in an extracurricular group helps students continue what they started in high school, helps them find new areas of interest and passion, helps them gain a serious understanding of time management and scheduling and helps them find new friends who share the same perspective and have similar interests!
The ‘Rule of 7’ is something that most faculty and upperclassmen would suggest a first-year to abide to. This means that, overall in a semester, you should only be doing 7 things. For example, if you are taking four classes, you only have room to join three student groups. Or, if you are taking 5 classes and are working, you should only be committed to one student group. 7, the magic number, helps you ensure that you are not laden with stress and you don’t burn out by the end of the semester. However, an important thing to keep in mind about this rule is that you don’t have to start following it at the very start of the semester, you can start abiding by it after the third week. This is because the first three weeks of college are meant for exploration and trying out new things– you are allowed to go crazy and try everything out during the first few weeks of the semester!
In order to be able to try out everything you are interested in, make sure you sign up with all the student groups who interest you during the open house. Once you sign up with a student group, they send you an email regarding the first meeting where they typically introduce the mission of the group and the kinds of things it has done. It is crucial to attend the first meeting of the group to get a feel for whether it is a good fit for you or not. If you didn’t feel the vibe during the first meeting and don’t wish to continue to be a part of the group, email someone from the group and tell them to remove you from the listerv. As the first few weeks pass, you’ll start to feel for a few groups more than others, and by this time, you can start following the ‘Rule of 7’!