Students should stay involved all year

Michaela Fujita, Staff Writer

Linfield College has always prided itself on its vast array of clubs and organizations on campus.

Alongside the infamous motto, “the power of a small college,” Linfield strongly encourages student involvement.

But is there actually strong leadership participation on campus?

We often concentrate on the larger organizations such as athletics, which is 28 percent of the student body, and Greek life, which is 30-33 percent. By doing this, the smaller clubs that hold equal amounts of leadership opportunities get overshadowed.

Sophomore Peri Muellner, president of Greenfield, has also notice a decline in club and organization participation.

“The reason is probably because students sign up for a lot of activities at the beginning of the year, and by second semester they are just burned out.” Muellner states, “A lot of students, and I am not excluding myself from this, just want to relax and watch Netflix after classes.”

We can all relate to the constant inclination to hide away from our responsibilities and binge watch the most recent Netflix series.

We work so hard academically, why would we commit even more time for an extracurricular club or organization?

Getting involved on campus is an all-around beneficial experience.

Heidie Ambrose, ’16, president of Circle K, thinks that student involvement is essential.

“Involvement prepares us to be active citizens. It is a way to connect to people over common interests and collective goals.” Ambrose said.

Ambrose stated that Circle K has allowed her to build friendships, given her valuable leadership experience and taught her about the power of service.

Muellner had similar positive experiences. “Greenfield has impacted my college experience by connecting me with passionate people. They taught me how to expand my mind and realize that I can be a part of this movement that is bigger than myself.” Muellner said.

We are at an interesting chapter in our lives where we have the opportunity to create an impact on our community and ourselves.

We are never going to have the chance to be surrounded by our peers and possess accessible resources to make a movement.

Why would we disregard that occasion for the new season of House of Cards?

Therefore, I challenge Linfield students to take advantage of these resources.

Get involved in all that you can, beyond academics, athletics and Greek life.

Take the chance to better your community.