You might think the time for clubs is best left in the past during your high school days. However, clubs in college are important for understanding who you are, making friends, gaining experience in your desired field, and making connections with your professors and future employers. Besides these benefits, you might want to have fun, which is extremely important to your overall physical and mental well-being in college. Clubs can make you an overall better and well-rounded student.

Some benefits clubs have for college students is to help them understand who they are, especially during a stressful time in your life. Moving through college will mark a time of significant transformation. Being without your family and in a new city creates an atmosphere that may change what you know to be true about yourself and the world. Joining a club can help you navigate personal changes within yourself. You might take an interest in something you had never thought about before. Who knew that bird watching could be so entertaining? There are many clubs and organizations for your faith, political affiliation, gender/sexual identity, and many more!

Since you will get the opportunity to join clubs and organizations that match your identity or beliefs, you will have the chance to build friendships with shared interests. Whether the club is small or large, with some exceptions, students of all ages and classes will form it. You might even make friends with a senior who you would never have met otherwise. Not only do you meet many classmates and peers, but some clubs often open membership to people in the community who do not attend college there. Meeting some locals can provide valuable insight for learning about the areas or cities around the college. Community members might also be able to offer you opportunities that extend beyond your college’s reach.

Clubs can help you gain useful experience that can eventually go on your resume or CV. Joining a club specifically for people in your field of study can present you with many opportunities that future employers look for in their applicants. It can also make you stand out from other applicants. Clubs within your field can help get you study abroad experiences, internships, volunteer work, and jobs while you are both in college and out. You might even get the first choice at these opportunities compared to people not within your club. Gaining experience in your field might be necessary for the simple fact that it will help you determine whether you like your field. Many college students find out they do not want to go into their field through real-world experiences in these clubs. Joining a club within their field saved them time and money from making a decision that wasn't right for them. If this is the case, you can decide sooner rather than later to change majors.

However, let’s say that joining the club within your field solidifies the fact that it is the field you wish to pursue work. What is next? More than likely, the advisors of these clubs are professors and professionals within this field. This can be helpful for several reasons. They might teach you the ins and outs and the tips and tricks to being successful and surviving in your field. They will guide you toward experiences that are useful for you.

Most importantly, club members are there to help you build your network. Knowing people within your field is what will get you jobs. They might help you find a job or write you a letter of recommendation that is extremely personable and looks good to employers and graduate admissions—if that is what you decide is the next step. The advisors might also be your future professors and can help you take the suitable classes for what you want to do while completing your degree.

Joining a club in college is highly beneficial to any student, both professionally and leisurely. Clubs can help grow your interests and foster opportunities for you to be successful. Experiences and people are the two obvious benefits of joining any given club. Maybe you will get to campus and find that there is not a club for your specific interest. Therein lies a perfect opportunity to be a self-starter and create it yourself! Start advertising, talking to professors, and talking to fellow students to help along the way. You never know where joining or even making a club might lead you.