Are you a heavily involved student at UMass Amherst?
Well, if you are, listen up.
Colleen Madden
Mar 25, 2018
You walk into the ginormous tent on Haigis Mall. People are everywhere. You’ve only been at UMass for two days and now it’s time to decide how you’ll spend your time here. Will you try out for Club Soccer? Will you go through recruitment for Greek life? Will you join the Student Government Association? Or an improv comedy troupe? Or House Council?
We’ve all been there. We’ve all done it.
With over 300 organizations tabling and recruiting at the Student Activities Expo, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. You’ve probably been the student in front of the table getting information at some point. And if you’re a leader on campus, you’re probably the student behind the table now, trying to recruit new members to your respective organization.
So why do we all do it? Why do students choose to get involved on campus?
I asked some UMass students and here’s what they said:
“I would say the number one motivation to get involved in things on campus has been just to meet new people.”
“My RA is the reason I became an RA.”
“UMass has so many opportunities to offer, I knew from the start that I wanted to get involved and take advantage of them. I am most motivated and productive when I am involved in things I’m passionate about, so I sought out organizations I was interested in.”
These students chose to get involved because of their desire to meet new people, peer influence, and the opportunity to develop. But what’s really interesting is what I learned next. Students choose to dedicate a lot of their free time to the organizations they are involved in. And while students join specific clubs for specific reasons, I wondered if they ever felt pressured to get involved. The answer? YES. Here’s what they said:
“Yes. I feel like there’s a lot of outside pressure to be well-rounded, and if you’re gonna get a job, you need to have more than just your academics, you need to have leadership experiences. There’s definitely pressure to get involved right from the start.”
“Definitely. Like it’s highly encouraged that science students get experience in research because graduate schools and future employers want to see research experience on your resume.”
“Oh yes, there is a lot of pressure to get involved. My friends were involved in lots of clubs and I felt like I wasn’t involved in enough. And then in interviews, people always ask, “What are you involved in?” so I always felt pressured to be involved in multiple things.”
It is evident that students experience a lot of pressure to get involved. Most of this pressure apparently comes from school, friends, and future employers. Students feel pressured to have resumes filled to the brim with work experience, volunteerism, and leadership positions. On top of that, students feel the need to participate in certain activities, such as research labs, in order to be more marketable to future employers. This pressure leads to a lot of stress in students.
Dawn Rendell (2014), a scholar who attended UMass, wrote a doctoral dissertation entitled The Stress Problem: Exploring the Intersections of StudentStress, Involvement, and Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy.
And guess what? Rendell found that 8 in 10 students experience stress on a daily basis!
As a heavily involved student, a portion of your stress may be due to achievement pressure. Achievement pressure is the pressure to excel in academics as well as extracurricular activities, which leads to the stress of creating an exceptional list of achievements.
So, how can we solve the stress problem? As leaders on campus, you may be a part of the 8 in 10 students who experience stress daily. I know I am. While there are certainly benefits of involvement, it is crucial that we, as students, dedicate our time to certain activities because we truly want to, not because we feel pressured to.
More importantly, it is vital that involved students and stressed students get the help we need. We cannot let stress prevent our success! Utilize campus resources like the Center for Counseling & Psychological Health.
(Fun Fact: All undergraduate students get four counseling sessions per semester–you’ve already paid for it in your tuition fees!)
CLICK THIS GRAPHIC TO VISIT THE UMASS CCPH WEBSITE!
Sources:
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of college student personnel, 25(4), 297-308.
Foubert, J. D., & Urbanski, L. A. (2006). Effects of involvement in clubs and organizations on the psychosocial development of first-year and senior college students. NASPA journal, 43(1), 166-182.
Hegedus, C. M. (2007). Student Participation in Collegiate Organizations–Expanding the Boundaries. Retrieved from http://www.leadershipeducators.org/Resources/Documents/Conferences/Lexington/Hegedus.pdf.
Rendell, D. L. (2014). The Stress Problem: Exploring the intersections of student stress, involvement, and problem-solving self-efficacy (Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst).
Shafer, Leah (2017, November 30). Resilience for Anxious Students. Retrieved April 9, 2018 from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/11/resilience-anxious-students
Webber, K. L., Krylow, R. B., & Zhang, Q. (2013). Does involvement really matter? Indicators of college student success and satisfaction. Journal of College Student Development, 54(6), 591-611.