No one but your mother cares that you’re the Student Government Association president.
No one cares that you’re the editor of the Maroon, or the event chair of your multicultural organization. No one even cares that you’re Greek.
At the end of the day, none of these things matter. After you walk across the graduation stage, no employer is going to hire you based off of the number of groups you were involved in; the number of days you stayed at school after classes to help out in various organizations or the number of public service, merit or other insignificant awards you have won over the course of your college career.
Your employer is going to hire you based off of what you know how to do. It’s that simple.
The purpose of many on-campus organizations, according to various mission statements, is to “introduce you to leadership,” “increase your communication skills,” “introduce you to diverse working environments,” and all of that stuff. And yes, many of these organizations do just that. I have been involved in several campus organizations that I found very rewarding, particularly ones that have been directly related to my major.
But the problem with many of you org-junkies is that you don’t know when your time has passed. After a maximum of two years in any organization, it’s time to move on, and let the next eager freshman or sophomore step up to the plate. I’ve seen too many juniors and seniors hang on for dear life in these campus groups, each scrambling to make it to the top leadership position like yard birds scrambling for feed. It’s pathetic, and quite frankly, it’s only hurting you in the long run.
Consider this. If you are a freshman at Loyola who picks one or two groups to be involved in, you can commit to these groups with a guilt-free conscience. By the end of freshman year, you could even pick out a summer internship related to your major. By your sophomore year, you could take on more responsibility within your chosen campus organization, and possibly even lead it.
During this time, you could also obtain a spring semester internship and market yourself for future employers. By junior year, you would have experienced the bulk of what Loyola campus life has to offer, and would be either only involved in a campus organization that directly relates to your chosen major, or not involved in anything but a part-time internship. And by the end of your senior year, you should have a job.
Naysayers could try to make the argument that the economy is bad right now, and that hustling won’t always guarantee work after graduation. This is true. However, I say that those who hustle for the workplace while in school fare far better than those who wait until their senior year to score an internship.
I say that those who choose one campus organization instead of four have more time to devote to finding internships that will train them for careers. I say that if the economy is bad, then why are you wasting your time being Loyola’s social butterfly?
Go to class, go to work, and go home. It’s that simple.
Jessica Williams is a mass communication senior.
She can be reached at
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