Student Involvement in Higher Education
Annual statistics perpetually and unfailingly credit a great deal student success in post-secondary institutions to extra-curricular involvement. Involvement in higher education settings can include everything from participating in a musical ensemble to playing on an intramural sports team to joining a Greek lettered organization to becoming a member or officer in an organization specific to the area in which you are studying. Much like everything studied in the field of human development, a desire, motivation and drive to get involved at the collegiate level most certainly can be traced throughout one's life, back even to very young ages.
Regardless of your specific major, I ask that you present your opinion on student involvement in higher education. Also, discuss traits and experiences from younger years, that you feel might positively correlate with collegiate involvement. I also encourage that you cite examples from your own undergraduate involvement, if possible.
In my opinion student involvement isn't necessarily crucial to success. I feel that many of the personality traits inherent to those more inclined to participate should be credited with success instead of involvement.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to self-motivate for example. Someone capable of getting their work done without being pressured to do so is going to succeed no matter the environment. I wasn't very social during my first undergrad years and I had a 4.0 GPA. It wasn't until I signed with Lambda Chi Alpha that my GPA dropped. It wasn't a HORRIBLE drop but it was still less than perfect. Not blaming Greek Life as the fault was my own. I took on too many responsibilities.
I feel that success in academics is a combination of several things. Motivation, intelligence, luck, and dedication being chief among them.
Why luck? Simple, really. Ever signed up for a class that everyone agreed was easy and you show up on the first day and you're looking at another teacher with another agenda? Bad luck. Granted, if you possess the other qualities I mentioned you'll be fine but there's still that element of shock that can throw you if you're not secure enough to roll with whatever is thrown your way.
Now to bring it back. I work with the tennis team. Yesterday one of our freshmen was absolutely killing his opponent. 6-1 first set. 4th game in the second set and the guy "hooked" him, which is tennis talk for cheating and calling a ball out when it was actually inbounds. It happens all the time.
I saw our freshman panic. He got flustered and lost the next point but then something clicked and he got back into his element and ended up only losing that one game. 6-1, again. It was his first Singles win of his career. The team plays simultaneously if there is enough space so it can be difficult to rally behind a teammate when you're in a fight as well but we still cheer one another on, even me, the photographer. I saw how you can feed off of one another firsthand yesterday. It was amazing to walk the courts and see all of our guys that were playing feel the energy coming off of the other courts so maybe those stats are correct and that involvement DOES influence success.
Charles,
DeleteThanks so much for your response. You present a few points I'd like to respond to.
I should have been more specific, especially since Greek life is my particular field of study, that fraternities are an exception to the rule, as statistics show a decrease in academic success during their pledgeship semester. A key argument in studies proving that academic success positively correlates with academic involvement is that the addition of responsibilities (up to a certain point) helps an individual prioritize and become better at managing his/her time. As pledging a fraternity is built around the complete giving of one's self to the process, it would provide a good example of the diminishing effect once too much is taken on outside of class.
My argument was never that involvement is the only dominating factor in determining academic success, but that it positively correlates as a variable up to a certain point. Your discussion of tennis is another great example, as students often find out about overcoming challenges and navigating high-stress scenarios in settings outside of the classroom.
I truly appreciate your in-depth post. You raised some great points!
In my opinion, student involvement is definitely the key for a student have a successful career as a college student. While there are some qualities that do make a student more apt to get involved, I feel it is more related to the ability of organizations to market themselves as an appealing avenue to students.
ReplyDeleteFor example,in my undergrad, I was very involved in an organization called Kadettes, which were basically the hostesses for Army ROTC. My first year, I was one of five girls who were involved, but by the time I ended my presidency, we had over 30 young ladies actively involved. In looking back, I can see that I was motivated to get involved because it was a worthy cause I was passionate about and that the original members were able to market it as such.
Ultimately, I think student involvement boils down to having organizations who are able reel in students with the allure of belonging and be able to make them feel as if they are important to that organization either through things such as initiations, leaderships roles, or simple lifelong friendships.
Rachel,
DeleteAs someone who proves to be a living example of my argument, your post was one I was itching to read!
I completely agree with your point about marketing opportunities of involvement to students. At the end of the day, students most likely will not see through to the end goal and realize that taking something else on may actually prove to enhance their abilities to manage time and prioritize in college. Finding creative ways to help students see that an opportunity is worth the time they will devote to it, and that they will reap benefits, is key.
Your example regarding your experience in ROTC raises another key point. Students are more likely to get involved in organizations with members more like themselves. The manners in which opportunities make members and participants feel important and wanted also affects attention, and again, your example was spot on.
Stellar post!