Being a student leader in college is an incredible opportunity and can truly be for anybody, as long as they are willing to work for it. When the words "student leader" are heard, most would automatically think of the confident, extroverted president of an organization, natural with public speaking. What many incoming students aren’t aware of until they’re in their later years is that there is no special cookie-cutter image of a student leader.
When getting involved on campus, believe it or not, you're already a student leader! Getting involved and looking to better yourself more than just inside the classroom is an incredible first step into becoming an upcoming leader on your campus. When moving forward in your leadership journey, some things that you'll gain from being involved include incredible time management skills, higher grades, a new level of professionalism and useful networking skills.
One of the biggest struggles for new students in college is working out their schedules and learning to effectively use their time management skills. Getting involved and taking leadership roles in your organization will require you to attend more events and meetings on a regular basis, helping you learn to really map out your weekly, monthly and entire semester's schedule. Being involved and having the responsibility to attend so many events can be draining, but this is where you can truly learn to balance your life and gain more experience using your time-management skills. Future employers are constantly looking for individuals who are proficient in good time-management skills, so gaining more experience in college could definitely help you in the long run.
Many organization on college campuses require that you have a certain GPA to join an organization and to maintain that GPA, or a higher one, to stay a part of an organization. Being involved and having a group of people supporting you and cheering you on to get better grades during your college career can be an incredible motivation. When you keep moving your way up to larger student leader roles in an organization, there often times can be an even higher GPA requirement. Being a student leader in this way can often be a blessing and a curse; you constantly have people looking up to you and expecting you to get better grades, so it's important not to disappoint yourself or anyone else.
When being involved in an organization, more often than not, you'll be working with staff and faculty both on and off your college campus. When you're booking rooms, organizing events, asking for help and looking to get advice, the staff and faculty of your campus are your go-to professional helpers. Working with staff and faculty is not the same as working with student staff. Being a student leader and working with staff and faculty will help you with your professional skills and being able to work in a different environment with people that have authority over you. Similar to a job outside your college world, any staff and faculty should be looked on as a resource - someone you could go to, even if it isn't work related. The perk of working with professionals on your campus is gaining an incredible work ethic and knowing you will always have someone on your campus you can go to for help.
When graduating college, one of the number one things employers are looking for when hiring is a glowing recommendation letter. A perk of being a student leader and working with staff and faculty during your college career is that they are always trying to help students succeed. If you truly put your all into what you're trying to accomplish and the faculty notice that, who better to write you an incredible recommendation than the ones that have seen you grow over the years? When looking for a job after college, some of your best networking connections will be the people who have seen you work in a professional setting: Your staff, faculty, and advisors.
Being an involved student leader on your college campus will come with several other perks that have not been listed here. Going to your classes everyday and getting good grades is awesome, but are you really getting everything out of your college if you aren't doing anything more than that? You will gain an incredible amount of skills, opportunities and relationships by getting involved on your campus that you would never learn inside a classroom. Your college career should be treated as a blank resume; all students start at the same point and it's up to you to get involved and make your resume stand out from all the rest. Become a student leader on your campus today. What do you have to lose?
