Do you like learning new languages? How about screaming your head off while cheering on your peers at games? What about dancing the night away with friends?
Utah Tech University offers many opportunities for its students to get involved and meet new people while doing these things.
Getting involved at school has endless benefits, but one of the biggest benefits is socializing. Students need to have social interaction in order to be happy and healthy. It is scientifically proven that having constant social interaction with others can help improve an individual’s mood, serotonin levels and stress levels.
This, in turn, can translate into school activities, especially at college. When students go out and socialize at events, they can meet new people and relate to them and their situations, therefore feeling less alone, which can relieve stress.
Being able to socialize with others, especially in class, is beneficial as well. Getting involved on campus can help students practice their socializing skills. This can then transfer into the classroom by helping to get the confidence to ask questions, make group projects and meet new friends.
Skye Jones, a junior media studies from Heber City, said she met some of her best friends while being a part of the Utah Tech Rock Climbing Club.
“I think getting involved is very important,” Jones said. “It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you go to one or two events. It’s a great way to meet friends.”
Erin Ortiz, associate professor in the department of communication, said: “I think it is essential for a college student to get involved. One of the markers for success in college, and when I talk about success, I mean not just success in graduating but also success in developing as an individual, is a sense of belonging.”
Utah Tech offers hundreds of ways for its students to be social and have the opportunity to find those who have similar interests to them.
There are many clubs and organizations that are available to students such as the American Sign Language club, Birds Aren’t Real and DECA.
Clubs are often a great way to start out, but they aren’t the only way to get involved. Typically, this is the first thing students think of for involvement on campus, but there are other events like school dances, festivals, concerts, sports games, on-campus jobs and more.
Throughout the year, the Utah Tech Student Association puts on three dances: the Foam Dance, a beginning-of-the-year party; Chaos, a costume party for Halloween; and Inferno, an end-of-year bash.
These dances are parties that get the student body involved and allow them the chance to let loose and have some fun. This is a great opportunity to get a group of classmates, roommates or friends together and go listen to music, dance and get to know each other better. Even if you don’t have anyone to go with, it is still a chance to get involved and meet people.
Jones said, “I think it’s been a great way to meet people and get out of your dorm, and it’s something to get your mind off of school.”
Code Red is another way for students to get involved. This is a student-run organization. They are in charge of planning events each week during every semester on campus. They plan things from concerts, like the Benson Boone concert, to events in the afternoon for students to quickly participate in while going from class to class.
The student body has been consistent and enthusiastic about going to a good majority of these events throughout each semester. That being said, it is almost a guaranteed fact that there will be people to get to know. Volunteering to be a part of a group like this could help expand social circles, therefore inviting the chance for more friends and relationships.
“College is more than just simply going to your classes, doing the work, getting A’s and then getting your diploma,” Ortiz said. “It’s a lot more than that. It’s about building your character, and it’s about becoming a learner, and you do that in a variety of ways. A lot of that is by getting involved.”
