Joining a registered student organization, or RSO, in college is one of the best ways to meet other people who share the same interests as you, and you can also learn so many new skills that’ll help you find yourself as a person. So many factors come into play when choosing which clubs to stick with, including the overall vibe of the community, how easy it is to make friends in the club, your level of interest in the activities, how time-consuming it is, etc. With many universities (including ISU) having multiple RSOs, it can sometimes feel daunting to pick and choose between the wide variety of options. After all, the possibilities are seemingly endless, and we only have so much time on our hands. If you’re someone who simply can’t decide which club you’ll resonate the most with, you likely have one question in mind: How do I find an RSO that is the “right fit” for me?
picking and choosing
Your first step to finding the perfect RSO for you is to look at all of the different student organizations your university has, and there are many ways you can do this. Towards the beginning of the school year, most colleges have a tabling event where students can walk around the quad and go to the tables set up by every RSO. At Illinois State University, our event is called Festival ISU. This event lets you talk to various club members and get a “feel” for what the RSO will inevitably be like.
However, that event might’ve already passed depending on when you’re reading this article. Luckily for you, you can easily search up all of the different RSOs that your college offers, and I highly recommend scrolling through each and every one on the list. After all, you never know what might interest you in the end. An important thing to note is that you shouldn’t limit yourself in any way when you’re signing up for different clubs. Does the RSO’s name sound like something you’d be interested in? Sign up for it! Have you always wanted to try out for a dance team but have previously been held back by your self-consciousness? Just sign up for it! Have you already signed up for more than five clubs and don’t think you have the time to actively attend another one? Who cares? You can always stop attending meetings if you don’t have the time for it, so I say sign up for it!
Attending meetings
Once you’ve decided which clubs to try out, the next step is to attend a meeting for every club you’ve signed up for! The most important part of this process is to see where you fit in and if you want to become an active member. You might find that a club you thought you’d enjoy was different from what you expected, which is what happened to me with a few of the clubs I tried out. Remember, you aren’t tied down to an RSO just because you signed up for it towards the beginning of the year. If you didn’t have an enjoyable time at your first meeting, or if you find that you don’t have the time to commit to an RSO that meets frequently, there’s no harm in crossing it off of your list.
What makes this part so fun is that you can meet so many new friends when you join different clubs, primarily if it mainly serves a social purpose. A tip from me is that it’s much easier to make friends in an RSO where fewer members know each other compared to one that already has an established friend group. The most essential part of clubs (in my opinion) is to have a community where you feel you have a safe space, and building friendships with people who share your interests is one of the best ways to do it!
Narrowing down your options
After going to one meeting of every club you’ve signed up for, here comes my favorite part: picking which RSOs you’ll commit to and which ones you’ll drop. In my opinion, it’s best to stick with 1-3 clubs depending on how frequently meetings occur and other such circumstances. I recommend joining at least one academic-oriented club and one social/cultural club. For example, I am an active member of both Her Campus and Redbird Kpop club. Her Campus is more on the academic side since we have to write articles consistently, and there’s more work to do outside of our bi-weekly meetings. Compared to a social RSO like Kpop club, which mainly serves the purpose of making friends with others who listen to the same genre of music as I do, Her Campus has much more of a time commitment.
As you’re thinking about which clubs you’ll stick with, here are some things you should consider:
- How frequently does the club meet, and what day(s) of the week are the meetings? If the meetings occur on a day when you’re busy, are you willing to set aside some time for it?
- How enjoyable were the activities in the first meeting?
- Did you like the club members, and how easily were you able to befriend other members at the meeting?
- If the club requires you to do so, do you think you have the time to commit to the work outside of meetings?
If you’re still having trouble deciding which RSO is a good fit for you, the best advice I can offer you is to go to one meeting of as many clubs as possible, as long as the name of the RSO interests you in the slightest. After all, you’ll never know where you’ll fit in the most if you don’t try it out in the first place. I didn’t think I’d become a member of the Redbird K-pop club, but I signed up for it at the beginning of the year because I wanted to try it out. After attending the first meeting, I ended up having a really fun time and decided to commit to it. Similarly, I didn’t know how much I would enjoy being a writer for Her Campus when I signed up for it; I only decided to submit that sample article with the intention of growing my writing skills. Little did I know I’d found a safe space where I could freely speak my mind through my writing, and now I have an outlet to share my passions with others! I’m so grateful to have found two RSOs in which I feel a sense of belonging, and I hope you can find those RSOs for you as well!