After the Alcala Bazaar

The importance of joining clubs and organizations while also taking care of yourself

Maria Simpson / Assistant Opinion Editor / The USD Vista

Last Tuesday, Sept. 14, USD saw the jubilant return of the annual Fall Alcala Bazaar to campus. Dozens of  organizations lined Colachis Plaza, eager to spark interest in students. Needless to say, the Bazaar was a success in recruiting new members to every club in the plaza. 

Now that the Alcala Bazaar is over, the time has come to get involved in the USD community. This is certainly the more daunting part of the deal.  Signing your name on a list is easy, but participating in a club, on a team, or with an organization is the challenging part. It requires time and effort, which varies from one extracurricular to the next. 

Having other activities and hobbies is important for many reasons. They offer creative outlets, great experiences, connections, and even look good on a resume. However, it is also easy to become over involved, and that can have catastrophic effects on grades and mental health.

As upperclassmen may know – and students living on campus for the first year are sure to learn – college is a whole new ballgame in many ways. One huge difference is the level of independence that college students suddenly find themselves with, and that means balancing their own school work, extracurricular activities, and free time. All three are important and it can be easy to accidentally end up with too much of one. 

If your coursework is too demanding, you will not have the time for clubs, or even to hang out with your friends. Not having enough involvement leads to too much free time, and as fun as that might sound, it is also time wasted. As students are adding in new activities, they need to make sure that they refrain from taking on too much so that they are still able to manage school work and have time to relax. 

I know that it is easy to see all of the intriguing options offered at the Alcala Bazaar and sign up, and it is good to test out several, but we all have limits of how much we can handle at once, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. I am the kind of person who is constantly on the go. I love to try new things and keep myself busy. However, I have fallen into the trap of trying to do too much and I paid the price for it. 

My first time attending the Alcala Bazaar was virtual, but even so I was still overwhelmed looking at everything USD had to offer. I wanted to join more clubs than I could count. Soon afterwards, the emails began to flood in, and I quickly realized that I did not have time for each activity I had signed up for. I could not balance school, work, and go to meetings every single day, especially while I was still living at home. I found myself forced to sacrifice my grades or free time and then I became totally overwhelmed and stressed out. I learned that it is important to learn how much I can take on while still staying happy.

It can be hard to figure out what activities matter the most. As the next few weeks pass by, you might realize that there are two or three organizations that you are really excited and passionate about. Those ones should be priorities and others may have to take a back seat or you might even have to give them up.

Choosing which extracurricular activities you are most passionate about can be daunting. Think about where your passions lie, and what you would have fun putting work towards. What do you want to get better at? What do you look forward to attending? Where have you made strong positive connections?

It all depends on what you are looking to get out of the experience. And whatever that may be, remember to balance all of your responsibilities so that you are caring for your health, succeeding, and having fun.