2008 Woodie Awards
Groups are important in college, but they're worth only so much
By: Jess Hylton
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Forum
College, as some would say, should be the time of our lives. It's the time to get involved, to do new things, to have an overall outstanding experience.
I am a huge advocate of involvement in school. Taking part in an organization or other activity can be one of the most rewarding aspects to your college career.
Sometimes, though, there can be an unnerving value placed on an individual affiliations.
Many people, including myself at times, allow the activities they are in to shape a part of their lives or to influence the people they associate with. I touched on this issue briefly in my column last week, but there was one integral underlying fact that I forgot to mention.
The fact is when we graduate college, people are not going to care about what organization we were involved in or who our friends were.
There are, of course, exceptions, such as an employer who looks at a resume, or another individual who was involved in the same organization.
But, the majority of the time it is not going to matter if most of your college friends were good-looking or well-known.
What will stick out to new people coming into your life is who you are as an individual, not who you have been made into by others.
I do believe that each person you interact with in your life plays a role in shaping who you become. But there is a fine line between allowing a person to have an impact on your life and allowing a person to have control over a part of you.
When a person impacts your life it is usually your decision as to the degree of their influence.
But letting a person control a part of you, no matter how small, can drastically change you as an individual.
I have met multiple people who have told me why they socialize with certain groups and why they avoid others.
In most cases, it comes down to maintaining an image, or upholding a criterion for their organization.
Is it really worth it to steer clear of certain individuals for four or five years merely because a certain faction says that's what you should do?
I am a huge advocate of involvement in school. Taking part in an organization or other activity can be one of the most rewarding aspects to your college career.
Sometimes, though, there can be an unnerving value placed on an individual affiliations.
Many people, including myself at times, allow the activities they are in to shape a part of their lives or to influence the people they associate with. I touched on this issue briefly in my column last week, but there was one integral underlying fact that I forgot to mention.
The fact is when we graduate college, people are not going to care about what organization we were involved in or who our friends were.
There are, of course, exceptions, such as an employer who looks at a resume, or another individual who was involved in the same organization.
But, the majority of the time it is not going to matter if most of your college friends were good-looking or well-known.
What will stick out to new people coming into your life is who you are as an individual, not who you have been made into by others.
I do believe that each person you interact with in your life plays a role in shaping who you become. But there is a fine line between allowing a person to have an impact on your life and allowing a person to have control over a part of you.
When a person impacts your life it is usually your decision as to the degree of their influence.
But letting a person control a part of you, no matter how small, can drastically change you as an individual.
I have met multiple people who have told me why they socialize with certain groups and why they avoid others.
In most cases, it comes down to maintaining an image, or upholding a criterion for their organization.
Is it really worth it to steer clear of certain individuals for four or five years merely because a certain faction says that's what you should do?
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