Hello! Just want to start off by introducing myself, my name is Erin and I am a current junior attending Rutgers University. I can 100% relate to the feeling of starting your first year in college and not knowing what the next step is as far as building your resume. It can be so overwhelming, especially if you’re attending a bigger school where it's up to you to find activities. My first word of advice is to join the club that coincides with your major/career path. I personally am in the Pre-PA (Physicians Assistant) club, since that is my intended career path. In order to find information on the club you are looking for, I recommend searching the name of your college, followed by “clubs” or “extracurricular activities,” and a web page should pop up with a list of organizations for you to join. Now a majority of students are online, most of it will be on zoom, so just make sure to set a reminder with the time of the meeting and go attend! It is a little intimidating at first, but remember that the key to surviving college is utilizing your resources (especially resources involving students your age who can help you out.) Joining a club that is entirely focused on your major is super important for many reasons.
You’re all going to be taking the same courses which will be SUPER helpful when it comes to study resources (study guides, group study sessions etc). Going through your difficult prerequisites will be much easier and less scary if you have other people to go through it with and ask for help.
It’s a great way to get information that will help you in building your resume. The Pre-PA club at my school always informs us of the volunteer opportunities we can take part in that will help us get hours and even letters of recommendations from a non-professor if needed for applications. They also had a whole workshop with us on how to go about writing our personal statements, and some people even offered to take a look at ours if we needed help!
Moral of the story… JOIN! You will thank yourself later. :)
If you’re looking for another club to join, I recommend joining one that focuses on service trips. If you don’t know what these are, service trips are trips you take with a group of people (led by an organization) to a third world country with the goal of providing healthcare to the less fortunate. This is a GREAT way to build your resume, since it not only shows your commitment to the field, but you also get some hands on work in a unique scenario! These trips can be quite pricey, and with the pandemic, I definitely understand why people would choose not to go. However, even just being a part of the club and looking to recruit others and inform them on trips like these could also spice up your resume and be a great talking point at interviews! Once again, you can find clubs like these on the website of your school OR if you are already part of a club, text in the GroupMe and see if anyone can give you information on this!
Lastly, I recommend looking into greek life. It is an awesome way to meet other people who have the same major/career path so you can both guide each other. I am currently in a sorority and have definitely benefited from it since I have been in contact with other girls who are the same as me. We send each other notes, study guides, and coordinate study sessions before big exams! I understand that this also may be really intimidating, but I can assure you that college gets 20 times easier if you surround yourself with people to go through all of it with. You got this!
- By Erin Kaplan
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