By Noah Neeley —
The first few weeks of the semester are a hectic time for everyone on campus. What can students do to find their footing?
Finding classes and learning to balance a course load can be challenging and overwhelming, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the campus. To help ease new students into campus life, many of Miami Regionals’ student organizations organize events that give people opportunities to meet each other and find out about campus activities.
The Regional Activities @ Miami, or RA@M organization, puts significant focus on the “Weeks of Welcome” to get students engaged with events on campus. Run by students with help from faculty advisors, RA@M organizes some of the largest events on campus, including the upcoming Fall Fest, which assists students as they seek out clubs and other resources to help them succeed both academically and socially. Fall Fest takes place on September 3rd in Hamilton, with the Middletown Fall Fest on the 4th.
Though Fall Fest and other Welcome Weeks events serve as a good way to spread the word about campus resources, many of them still go underutilized. Julia Pond, the Regional Director of New Student Programs & Engagement, thinks that the campus as a whole is underutilized. “A lot of students aren’t getting as much out of their tuition as they could,” she said. “For example, a lot of people aren’t aware that they can use the gym without having to pay a membership fee.”
The gym isn’t the only underutilized resource either, according to staff. The Regional Coordinator for Student Activities, Derek Rice, said that Career Services is underused by most students. “They’re not just good people to go to for internship help, but to help build towards a career as a whole. They can help you build skills that target specific types of jobs to help you stand out as an applicant.”
Rice also strongly urges students to check out clubs and student organizations using The Hub. Trying out clubs might feel daunting, but most clubs don’t involve a formal commitment, and don’t require constant attendance. Also, most clubs meet on campus, but some clubs, such as The Outdoor Club, do activities off campus as well.