The new semester has officially begun, and I’m already receiving multiple emails and flyers about various RSOs on campus.

My resume is finally starting to move from being “captain of my high school tennis team” to more relevant collegiate activities from my first semester. A new semester gives me, and all other students, a chance to fit new activities into our schedules.

But I, for one, am already freaking about conflicting schedules between the multiple student organizations I want to become involved in.

Just because you have all of these opportunities in front of you doesn’t mean you should jump on all of them at once. If you do, you’ll end up being involved in too many things, and it’ll lead to a more stressful experience. What starts as a fun time trying new things and participating in activities you like can become a chore that ultimately hurts your college life.

Students need to understand that filling their resume with a bunch of activities may look good on paper, but stretched commitment also forces you to split all of your time instead of concentrating on the ones that are most important to you.

Whether it’s success in an RSO or in a certain class, you restrict how well you can do if you don’t put in the proper amount of time. Juggling multiple activities can take away time you need to spend on school, which can surely hurt your GPA.

Take a look at the activities you are currently involved in and choose which ones you are most passionate about. Dedicate more of your time to them, because these are where you will leave a greater impact.

This is especially true if you want to hold a leadership position in a certain club or organization. You’re going to have to dedicate a lot more time to it to be considered. If you have too much on your plate this will be more difficult, and even if you do get a leadership position, it will be hard to fulfill your duties if you have a bunch other things to worry about.

When applying for jobs or internships, employers will look for how meaningful of an impact you’ve had in the activities you’ve been involved with. Having a cluster of activities that you’ve participated in as just a “member” will not show how committed you were, even if you were passionate about some of the activities.

As students, we need to make the most of this school’s hundreds of RSOs, but being involved comes with a time commitments as well as a desire to find success in one’s clubs or organizations. By working hard in the specific extracurriculars that are most important to you, you can find fulfillment in leaving a lasting impact on not only the people around you, but on your future as well.

Saketh is a freshman in DGS.

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