Finding pursuits and community: the benefits of student involvement

Gracie Parkhurst is a third-year communication studies major and writes 'Parkhurst's Pencil' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. One of the many excitements first-year college students look forward to is 'starting a new life'; making new friends, hitting 'side quests' at midnight and, overall, finally having some freedom that may not have existed before. However, sometimes it can feel as though the actual college experience does not fulfill those visions and expectations. Like most of my peers, when I was an incoming first-year student, I was eager to be in a new environment and gain new experiences. Throughout my first semester, I attended sports games, parties, campus events and more. I figured this was what the 'college life' was about. Yet, as the months passed by, I felt something was missing. Although I was lucky to have people in my life that I could hang out with on game days and weekends, what I realized I did not have was a sense of community, something that is not uncommon for first-year students to feel.. According to a 2025 study from TimelyCare, 57 percent of incoming college freshmen felt lonely at least occasionally in the week prior, and 30 percent were concerned with their ability to form meaningful connections. In my high school days, I was involved in multiple performing arts clubs, some of which I was part of throughout all four years. Although the late-night meetings and rehearsals of these extracurriculars could be draining at times, they gave me something to look forward to: traveling, bonding with my closest friends, performing my favorite songs and more. I knew when I graduated and prepared for my first year of college, I wanted to be part of something like that again. I knew there would be dozens of clubs and organizations to choose to be a part of, but when I attended my university's activity fair the very first week of my first year, which featured clubs and organizations such as Greek life, performing arts clubs, language clubs and more, nothing really caught my eye.I never took the time to go out of my way to find a club that matched my interests. I figured it was not that big of a deal to not be involved on campus. It was not until the second semester of that same year that I finally heard of a campus organization that immediately caught my attention: student media. The director of Ball State's Unified Media Lab, Corey Ohlenkamp, had come to give the students in my Introduction to Journalism class a brief description of all the different student-led, multiplatform storytelling media available on campus. As soon as class ended, I sent him an email about how I was interested in joining The Ball State Daily News. When I attended my very first meeting with the head and associate editors for The Ball State Daily News, I was definitely a little bit nervous, as most of the people in the room had already been involved with student media for at least a semester, and many were older than me. However, the editors and reporters were very open and welcoming. I felt they believed in me, as they had a story idea for me that same day. After the meeting concluded, I felt a sense of belonging that I had not felt before while being at college. Throughout the second semester of my first year, continuing into my second year, I consistently attended the weekly news meetings, picked up bylines and even learned how to use a camera, something I thought would take months for me to learn. Every story I wrote, every person I interviewed and everyone a part of The Ball State Daily News helped me elevate my journalistic skills, deepen my interests and even gave me a sense of purpose. Being involved in an extracurricular that feeds my studies, interests and social interaction, I can learn hands-on, in-person skills I do not always get to experience in my classes, such as how to conduct an interview appropriately, capture and edit photos, to name a few. Gaining some real, career-focused experience has increased my confidence and reassurance regarding finding a job after college. An Ohio State University study found that highly-involved students were three times more likely to be considered by employers than those who were uninvolved. Involved students were also 18 percent 'more career ready' than those who were not campus-involved. Although I chose to join a student-led organization that paired with my studies, college campuses almost always have clubs that revolve around activities and/or hobbies for dozens of interests, whether they are directly organized by the college or just by students on campus. Some of the clubs, organizations and associations that Ball State offers include the Black Student Association, Spectrum — an organization for gender, sexual and romantic minorities — in addition to community service groups and the anthropology club. All 519 of Ball State University's clubs and organizations can be found on BeConnected, a platform for Ball State students to search for involvement opportunities and information regarding campus events. Not only has being involved in extracurriculars on campus given me helpful experience for my studies, but it has also improved my social life and real-world skills, something that many college first-years struggle with as they enter an unfamiliar atmosphere. According to a 2024 study in the Journal of Education and Humanities and Social Sciences on how college organizations and clubs affected the development of first-year students, nearly 84 percent of student respondents felt that they, as individuals, had significantly changed since joining clubs on their universities' campuses. The majority of the respondents also agreed that their cognition and/or social skills improved after becoming involved in a college club, union, etc. As an introvert, it took a lot of strength to put myself 'out there.' Even simply talking to people in my classes made me anxious because I assumed they had already found their group of people. As much as I felt annoyed every time my extroverted siblings and friends would talk about how 'it is not that scary to just go up and talk to people,' I realized they were right all along. It is easy to say at the end of the day, 'Maybe I just do not fit in,' or 'Maybe I will find my people somewhere else,' but what is not easy is sitting with that feeling month after month. Although it takes effort to search for an organization or club that feeds one's interests and/or studies — and although it can definitely be nerve-wracking — it takes more mental effort to hide away from opportunities where one can learn new skills, travel to new places and find people that can diminish that potential feeling of loneliness that no college student should have to feel. Contact Gracie Parkhurst via email at gracie.parkhurst@bsu.edu.