Being a student is already one of the most difficult things you can do. With the constant stress and pressure of assignments, exams, balancing jobs, and trying to have some type of social life on top of everything, getting involved on campus only seems unattainable. Adding an extra obligation to the never-ending to-do list that seems to lengthen each week isn’t just the straw that broke the camel’s back, it can feel like the pile of hay that started the whole ordeal.
It wasn’t until my second year of university that I decided to get involved in anything on campus, but thanks to it, I now have a job in the field I intend to work in before I’ve finished my degree. The primary reason I have this job is thanks to the skills, techniques, and experience I gained in my extracurricular involvement here at UFV.
Unfortunately, this is uncommon for most students and a bachelor’s degree just isn’t enough to stand out from the competition anymore. With post-secondary attendance on the rise, employers are less and less impressed with a four-year degree. Graduating from university used to be a sure way to guarantee yourself job security and a high paying job, but that isn’t the case. Now, most students find themselves struggling to find any sort of reliable job after graduation, not to mention one in their field of study.
I understand why most students decide to not get involved on campus anymore, and I even find myself questioning my decision to do so more often than I should. It’s hard, there’s no denying that. Being a full-time student is enough work already, and adding more commitments, most of them unpaid, is enough to make any student feel overwhelmed beyond all capacity.
It would be nice for a degree to be enough to get a job, and it should be considering how much time and money and resources are invested in it, but that’s just not the case. Perhaps university is the great career catch-22 — if you go to university, chances are you’ll graduate with a lot of debt and no guarantee of a job, but if you don’t, you’re likely to be stuck in a dead-end job with measly pay.
I’m not trying to preach the importance of being involved on campus, nor am I trying to recruit new members for the groups that I’m already involved in (okay maybe a little bit), but consider this parting wisdom: make the most of your time in university, take every opportunity that is available to you, and learn as many things as you can, especially outside of the classroom. Who knows, it may even be the reason you actually get a job.
