The time has come. The past 18 years of your life have built up to this moment. You are finally an Illini. Now is the time to branch out and focus on what you really love to do. But what if you don’t want to leave behind everything you loved in high school? School dances, after school practices, social gatherings at a friend’s house, or tournaments and games on the weekend? Lucky for you, the RSOs on campus have all of that and more. The recreational and professional organizations on campus will provide you with greater networking opportunities, professional experiences and a lifetime full of memories. The first step is to experience all of this is to join one.

College campuses are filled with organizations and events that you never even knew existed. There are countless opportunities for professional and social activities. This is an area that is certainly one of the University’s strongest aspects. RSOs, which stands for Registered Student Organizations, are created and run by students with similar passions to one another. The University of Illinois currently has over 1,600 RSOs on campus, and there are more being added each year. Whatever your passion is, I can assure you there is an RSO for it. The trickiest part of joining the perfect RSO for you is finding it.

How to Navigate the Perfect RSO

Typically, at the beginning of each school year, the University holds its traditional Quad Day, where hundreds of booths are placed around the quad with students encouraging one another to join their club. With the COVID-19 pandemic going on, the virtual Quad Day could be to your advantage. Quad Day usually only lasts a few hours, with hundreds of booths, and it is nearly impossible to venture out and speak with every organization you may be interested in. My advice to you this year is, do your research. Narrow it down to an area you are looking for in an organization and have a general field or activity you know you want to try out. On the other hand, leave room to be open-minded. There are RSOs on this campus that you would have never thought existed, let alone thought of joining back in high school. This could be where you find a passion that suits you perfectly, it could even change your career path in life. Allow yourself to join something new. Step out of your comfort zone because you never know what could be waiting for you on the other side.

One of the many perks of being an Illini is the myriad of opportunities that are presented to us just by being an Illinois student. Make the most of every single day you are lucky enough to be an Illini! There are countless kids your age that also dreamed of going to school here that did not get accepted. You are about to spend the next few years surrounded by some of the brightest peers and successful professors. This campus has been suited to help students succeed and enjoy their time in Champaign-Urbana. Make the effort to join an organization that you are passionate about, don’t skip meetings just because you feel like it, go the extra mile and sign up to do extra work, apply for an exec board position and enjoy the company of those around you. There will never be another time in your life when you live on a campus where all of your friends and the best resources to help you succeed are within a few miles of each other. Start this year off right, join an RSO and live each day to the fullest, because you are an Illini.

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