How to Get Involved on Campus

Hello Future Illini,

Here at the University of Illinois, we have over 1,000 student organizations, so there’s bound to be something to spark your interest. If there isn’t, good news: all you need is a President and a Treasurer to create your own organization.

Coming to a large campus, I was confronted with the task of how to get involved. One of the first few days of school, we have an event called Quad Day where representatives from all of our student organizations are invited to have a booth out on the main Quad to let students know what they are all about and how to attend their next informational meeting. This is a great way to get involved on campus; simply walk around and stop at booths that interest you to sign up for a few clubs.

If the idea of deciding between 1,000 student organizations on the Quad sounds a little overwhelming, don’t worry! There are plenty of other ways that you can get involved. Look for brochures or flyers posted in your residence hall; you may find out that one of your neighbors would want to go to the same meeting with you to check it out. You can visit the second floor of the Illini Union, at the Registered Student Organization complex to see what may interest you. Another way of getting involved is right within your own college, either through the student council for your college or pre-professional clubs for individuals who share the same major as yourself.

Honestly, being involved is what I cherish most about these past four years at Illinois. It is what I have accomplished in those experiences that will remain with me throughout life and what made a large school seem like home.

-Anjali