For my first two years at the University of Michigan, I wasn’t very involved with what was going on around me. A part of me was still trying to figure everything out, but another part of me was scared to go outside my comfort zone. My first year was exclusively online, so I didn’t get the chance to make any friends or join any clubs with other freshmen. I was isolated and the isolated experience of my first year continued throughout my second year. I mainly hung out with the people I knew from my high school who also went to U-Mich, but I felt like something was missing from my overall college experience. I knew what I was missing but I didn’t know what exactly to do about it, I felt a missing sense of belonging to a group I was passionate about. I tried some different activities around the school like recreational sports that I was good at, like volleyball and soccer during my sophomore year. But I didn’t make any real connections with the people there. This was frustrating because it made me think that I was the problem and incapable of making any new sincere friends.
Starting my junior year I was determined to change this, so I went to festifall and signed up for any remotely interesting clubs. I signed up for a total of 13 different clubs varying from weightlifting to debate. My goal was to go to the first meeting of each of these clubs and find the one I vibed the most with. Doing this wasn’t easy, because I had to do everything alone. Usually, when I try new things it’s sort of a piggybacking experience where I would try something in a collective group. However, this time it was just me, so the meetings for the most part were uncomfortable. There was one club I was the most interested in from the start and that was Quadball. Quadball is a sport taken directly from Harry Potter and converted into a way people without magic can play. After the first meeting I didn’t feel uncomfortable because the sport in itself is so ridiculous even if you have been a part of the club for a while it is still very funny from all perspectives. I continued to participate in this club and tried to attend as many events the club held in order to get to know everybody better and through that, I was able to make sincere friendships that I wasn’t able to make in my first few years.
I think joining a club or organization that you’re able to put a lot of time into is very helpful in multiple ways. For me, it allowed me to grow as a person while also making new friends. When you’re surrounded by passionate people, you can’t help getting passionate about the subject as well, and I feel as though that was what I was missing. Clubs are very important to colleges and I’m glad I was able to find the perfect one for me even though I’m already in my 3rd year. Everyone is trying their best to find their purpose in life because that is what gets us out of the bed every morning. If you don’t have a purpose life becomes much more difficult. I’m grateful for the challenges this club has brought me and the tools it has equipped me with to deal with the future.
Published: 3/17/23