Active Citizenship on SNHU Campus!

When you think of SNHU student involvement what comes to your mind? Community service, President of your class, student worker, volunteering? Well, student involvement is very simple, and many of you may be involved and don't even know it...

When I think of student involvement, I think of any person involved in any organization on campus other then classes. Student involvement has a stigma of being the involved guru who does everything from A-Z, when in reality, it is any type of involvement on or off campus that is extracurricular. In my past working with other students, I find that people are afraid to only be involved in one organization and think they have to take on way more then necessary. I am here to tell you that student involvement can be any form of extracurricular and can be very enriching even if it is the littlest thing, still something eh?

One type of student involvement that I am going to focus on today is Volunteering, what is it? Definitely one thing that I have always been passionate about. I am involved in volunteering through the community by means of community service. A model that is a part of volunteering is the Active Citizen Continuum. This is a branch of volunteering and is something that the Community Engaged Learning Volunteering Office on campus focuses on. Since student involvement is so diverse, especially on the SNHU campus, different offices have different missions. 

The Active Citizen Continuum is a model that is not only all about volunteering, but it is a way for students to not only do their service on or off campus in order to be involved, but this model challenges students to reach out of their comfort zones and become not only a volunteer, but an active citizen in this crazy world we live in today. 

The Active Citizen Continuum, or Active Citizenship is something that SNHU campus focuses on within their volunteering. We don’t want our students to only be one time volunteers, we want them to enact change, be educated about the change and embrace themselves fully.

I will be participating within the change of the Dominican Republic in about a month. With the Community Engaged Learning Office on campus, I am traveling internationally to teach english to the students there for two weeks as Alternative Break. I am going with a group of about 15 students to enact our change there. The hope and goal is that we will become empowered and eventually active citizens to “smash the cycle of poverty”.  A lot of our Alternative Break training takes place with an amazing organization called Break Away, they are an organization very passionate about the active citizenship and the continuum. 

Push yourself out of your comfort zone! Being involved can be as much or as little as you want. I have realized, now as a junior, that the more experiences and situations you expose yourself to, the better off and the more changed you will be as a person. College is what you make of it, and what better then now when you have tons of opportunities at your footsteps and people to back you up. This university is not only an amazing place, but a second home!

Student involvement on SNHU campus can be a very rewarding experience. One very rewarding part is engaging yourself within your campus community and the surrounding community to enhance your environment. Either involvement is paid or not; either way you can get so much out of an opportunity providing for your community! Get after it, keep your eye on the goal and succeed!

Why become Involved in College?

       Some students ask themselves, why should I become involved in a club or organization, when I can just sit back and not do anything or have any responsibilities? My question to you is why would you not want to be involved? Being involved on campus not only creates a more marketable network for you but also improves many skills. Communication skills, interpersonal skills, networking skills and many more. Being in involved student on campus allows you to not only make lots of new friends and instant connections but also Open your eyes to a new opportunity that could be life-changing. I have learned communication skills taking on more responsibilities and got some opportunities that I never thought I would've ever done. I am going in the spring to Los Angeles California on a national leadership conference, called IMPACT. At this conference we will be presenting on student leadership and how to create inclusion in a group of students. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to present to a group of college students from all over the world! 

   This video is by an inspirational child who calls himself "Kid President". He is a motivational speaker who has many different TED talks. Check it out, he talks about the importance of ambition and stepping out of your comfort zone which involvement is all about. You and your club will go no where if you have no one willing to step out of their comfort zone and take chances.

       Not only to clubs and organizations help you become more involved they also help you to become a well-rounded graduate. Involvement can lead to executive board positions which require more responsibility and commitment to the club or organization. They provide for more personal development, club development, and development of the university as a whole. you are an asset to the university and are expected to represent it wherever you go! I have acquired some amazing mentors along the way and have some great connections in the future. When you become involved you become a mentor or role model yourself for the underclassmen who are looking to either make more friends, or have some involvement to put on their resume. Being involved on campus does not just mean that you are holding an executive board position, or volunteering your time, it can also mean you are working on campus and getting paid. Some paid jobs are also ways of being involved on campus! Anything outside of academics and sleeping is student involvement! Your little part in being involved wither it be with a major club, community service club, Radio SNHU, admissions etc, you are making a mark on someones live and changing SNHU one person or action at a time, to in turn become a better university with well rounded students! Get involved and RollPenmen! It is so easy to become involved in a club or organization. Remember you can always talk to Gavin or the Office of Student Involvement to join or start  a club or organization!

This is a picture of the members of the Outreach Association, a community service organization on campus delivering their donations to a facility that helps serve homeless people of Manchester, NH.

This is the Target event for the incoming freshmen. This photo is a group of orientation leaders who are greeting their students to the event off campus!