We live in a world where the possibilities are nearly endless; a world where you can do and become whatever you put your mind to. Here at UMBC I have witnessed and taken advantage of many opportunities that have been presented to me, and I feel as if these opportunities are ones that people either don’t know of or take for granted. Here are a few examples of what our campus has to offer.
Leadership
There are dozens of organizations you can be involved with that will give you the opportunity to work with a group of individuals who share a common interest with you. There is RSA if you want to dip your hands into the inner workings of the student side of residential life. If you wanted a little bit less to bite off, you could also be a member of your resident hall’s Community Council to plan events and programs for your building. If you wanted to be involved with student clubs and organizations or student life, in general, you could join SGA. No matter what organization or group you join, leadership opportunities will seem to throw themselves at you whether you want them to or not.
Education
Opportunities in the form of education seem to be obvious: “I had the opportunity to get a college education and I’m here.” Educational opportunities are a bit more in depth than that. Not only are you getting an education while at college, you’re also getting an education on a subject that means something to you. In college education is sort of like an outlet for you to discover more about yourself. You might find you’re interested in something else completely and want to switch majors or minors. At that point, you have the opportunity to take classes outside of your declared major to find what other subjects you enjoy learning about and doing. Education in itself is an opportunity to experiment with who you want to be.
Hobbies
Whatever it is you like to do, be it photography, dancing, watching anime, rock climbing, poetry or even zombie hunting, I can almost guarantee there’s a club or group for you to entertain yourself. If you’re an intellectual type, there’s chess club, debate club and Model UN, to name a few. Looking to be artsy and get your creative juices flowing, there’s WMBC, photography, creative writing and so much more to choose from. More of an athlete and need to get involved with sports on campus, there's a myriad of martial arts clubs, fencing, and ultimate Frisbee among countless other options to keep you active and busy. If you just want to relax and need to de-stress from a long week, there’s clubs like Anime Society, Humans vs. Zombies and UMBC Gaming to forget about all of your academics and responsibility for a little while. No matter what kind of individual you are there are plenty of opportunities for you to find a group that fits you perfectly.
Friendship
Making friends and forming long lasting relationships is something you’ll have more opportunities than anything else. From move-in day to graduation you’ll be given endless chances to make friends that can end up feeling more like family. The day you move-in there are all of the people you’ll constantly pass by in your wing. If you’re going regularly, see the same people for a year it never hurts to get to know some of them. Going to class there’s going to be at least one class with mandatory group work and you might get to know your classmates a little better through these projects. If you’re in a club, odds are a lot of your fellow members will share the same interests as you, so making friends there shouldn’t be too difficult. Some of our interactions lend themselves to making friends easier, but all of the interactions we share with others are a chance to make a new friend.
All of these opportunities are ones I would never imagine having not taken. I wouldn’t trade any of the decisions I’ve made for the world. The decisions we make and chances we take are what ultimately define us.
