College is not all about classes. According to the Student Activities office, 80 percent of students at A&M are involved in at least one student organization, and many are involved in multiple organizations.
However, amidst the hassle of registering for classes and adjusting to college life it can be difficult for an incoming freshman to find student organizations that suit their interests and fit into their schedule. Luckily, A&M has a variety of resources to help students find an organization that is right for them.
One such resource is MaroonLink. According to Ann Goodman, advisor of the Student Organization Conduct Board, MaroonLink allows students to find organizations based on shared interests, and is available to anyone with a NetID and password.
“It’s kind of like a match.com for student organizations,” Goodman said. “But it does require a student to figure out, ‘Well, what am I interested in?’ first.”
Goodman said she suggests students first aim to narrow down what they are looking for.
“We have just over 1,000 different student organizations,” Goodman said. “It’s like a kid in a candy store. There are so many things to do, but not all of those things probably would interest everyone.”
Organizations on campus range from various councils that run important facets of the university to less serious clubs where students can make new friends and relax after their classes. For students who played sports in high school, there are 36 sport clubs at A&M, according to Keith Joseph, sport clubs director.
“It’s like another athletic department on campus with some non-traditional sports and traditional sports,” Joseph said.
Joseph said while sport clubs are not actively subsidized by the university, they get allocations from the department of sport clubs to make them more affordable for students.
There are also intramurals for students interested in less competitive sports, which are a good way to make friends and spend time with them, according to Jerrod Jackson, A&M’s intramural sports director.
“Most of our intramural sports are team sports, and it’s just the common students who want to get together and have a good time,” Jackson said.
Jackson said IMLeagues might be another possible resource for students to find intramural teams to join with their friends.
Additionally, the Department of Student Activities aims to help students uphold Aggie core values through their extracurricular involvement for students seeking an academic or leadership based organization, according to Christine Gravelle, director of student leadership development.
The Student Activities Office organizes, among other things, fraternities and sororities, financial services and Freshman Leadership Organizations, or FLOs, which allow freshmen to gain experience as leaders in an environment of their choosing. On its website, the Student Activities office provides links to a variety of other resources, including MaroonLink and its own organization directory, all of which aim to increase the ever-growing student involvement in clubs and organizations.