When They Said "Get Involved" I Did Not Know They Would Throw Things.

The first piece of advice that everyone gave me when I entered college was, “get involved.” They relayed this ad

vice to me with such utterly earnest looks, like this was the difference between emerging from college showered in degrees and honors, and dropping out to sell vacuum cleaners to old ladies with lots of cats, that I had to believe them. So, when the

first week of interest meetings rolled around, I put out an honest effort to get involved. However, I did not realize that they would throw things at me.

The first meeting I attended was for the Multi-Cultural Business Students Asso

ciation (http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/mbsa/students_news.html). I happened to know a few people there from the Business Leadership P

rogram (http://tinyurl.com/ouqs29) that I participated in this summer. So, I sat down and started to chat with my friends. After a few minutes, a group of well-dressed upper classmen arranged themselves at the front of the room and kicked the meeting off. They told us about themselves, about the organization, and about the benefits of joining their organization, while we munched happily away on Chipotle (I love how everyone in the Business school is dedicated to feeding me)!

I was very impressed with the organization itself. They do corporate meet and greets, resume building sessions, volunteer activities, and visits to corporate offices. They have already scheduled Accounting Night for accounting students to meet with representatives from the Big Four Accounting Firms (Ernst and Youn

g, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Deloitte, KPMG) and a case study with Shell. Apparently attending these nights is a good career move. My friend Ashley said that she went to one of MBSA’s interview practice sessions. She looked really nervous, so a corporate representative grabbed her, forced her to sit down, and proceeded to interview her. A few months later, she applied for a Summer Leadership Program with the same company. She walked into the interview, only to find that the interviewer was the same person who interviewed her for MBSA. “Oh, I remember you,“ the woman said with a smile, and they proceded to spend the next forty five minutes chatting about their favorite movies and what they liked to do in their free time. She said that it changed the whole tone of the interview, and she went on to be accepted into the leadership program.

In a drastic contrast, I also went to the interest meeting for the CU Alpine Club (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34233386799). When I walked in, I went through the same routine as every other first year. I walked through the door, looked around nervously, saw a few other people lo

oking just as painfully awk

ward as me, gravitated toward

on

e of their clusters, ducked my head, and sat down—only to enjoy long, long silence, punctuated by a few furtive glances. Eventually I found the courage to chat with Stephanie, a senior who was also checking out the club. We chatted about climbing gyms in Boulder, classes, and majors—the usual. Then the meeting began.

This meeting was so big that they had to book one of the large lecture halls to host it—and there were still at least twenty

people sitting on the floor! The clubs leaders briefed us on what the club does (leads climbs, supports climbers, arranges discounts and classes with local gyms, and even rents a boat to live on for a few days after finals). They had a raffle—where they tested the agility of their new members by hurling the prizes at their heads (no one was hurt, luckily). Then they invited their corporate sponsors to talk about their companies and the benefits for members (there were great deals on gym memberships). They even played the ”sleeping bad game” where two boy-girl teams had to crawl into sleeping bags and switch clothes faster than the other team. This was a particularly hilarious and delightfully awkward game (especially if you don’t know anyone).

I had a great time at both meetings, though they were worlds apart. Where MBSA was well put together, organized, and friendly in a professional way, CU Alpine Club was rowdy, spontaneous, and a great time. They both seem like great organizations in different ways. MBSA is a good community and a great career move, while CU Alpine Club is a good time and a great way to get out and climb.

I was most impressed by the level of responsibility that both organizations had—they could lead trips, arrange workshops, connect you to Vice Presidents in Shell, and rent boats. I now understand why they said to get involved—clubs here are nothing like those in high school. Back in the day, we would sit around, eat pizza, and occasionally organize events if we were extremely ambitious. For organizations in college the sky is the limit (literally in the Alpine Club) and you join because they make things happen.

Coming soon: Running Around in the Mountains with DSP.