Take a Step in the Right Direction

I noticed last week that many HS seniors & parents were on the WSU campus for early April registration. One interesting thing that I saw on my walk to Kryzsko was the many tables set up outside. Various student clubs & organizations were on campus trying to recruit new faces for the following year!  This particular club fair was designed to welcome the incoming students and introduce them to the many future opportunities with recognized student organizations, programs, and community service organizations.  Seeing these busy booths made we wonder just how many different organizations our college has to offer. I decided to visit a few booths and look online at our website—and what did I find?  That there are over 198 to choose from- SERIOUSLY! I couldn’t believe it.  With that many options, there is a club for nearly any interest I could think up. If you like snowboarding there’s the snowboard club. If fishing is more your style then the fishing club is the club for you. There are faith-based clubs & cultural clubs, business fraternities & sororities, honorary societies, and still so much more!  I talked to a few people in various clubs and found out some interesting information.

The choices are limitless when it comes to choosing a club to join at Winona State University

For students interested in event planning and/or the activities that are brought to our camps, there is a great organization called UPAC (University Programming Activities Committee). UPAC is a student organization enhancing the college experience through entertainment and events. The club works with concerts and special events such as comedians, hypnotists, movies & activities.

Looking into one of the Greek organizations, I read up on Delta Sigma Pi, which is a professional business fraternity for men and women. Friends of mine in this fraternity recommend joining to others, so it’s got to be worthwhile! Delta Sigma Pi is organized to further the study of business in universities, encourage scholarship and social activity, promote closer relationships between the business world and students, and to further a high standard of ethics, culture, and welfare for our close Winona community.

Concert choir is an interesting group that before talking to someone on Thursday, I had no prior knowledge about. This is made up of three groups: one for men and women, a women-only “women’s chorus”, and Chamber for music majors. What’s neat about concert choir is that its open to everyone, only a small audition is needed, and students get credit for being involved. Kristine Swenson told me, “I’ve made a lot of new friends through choir. Even though I’m not a music major, I really have enjoyed the experience it gives me – I even got credit for it!”

What I think is really great about Winona is the fact that we have such a great opportunity for our students to get involved in things that are important to them. For example, I am involved in the American Marketing Association, and UPAC (university programming activities committee). Through these organizations I have met such awesome, fun people and many new friends since freshman year. If I could go back in time to senior year and give myself any advice, it would have been to check into every different club I thought seemed interesting and just attend a meeting. This also goes for students out there looking into school at Winona State – not only does being involved look great on your resume someday, but it helps you branch out and meet other people who like the same things that you do!  Give it a try—what’s the worst that could happen?

I’ll leave you with a few links:
Clubs Clubs Clubs! & Top 10 Reasons to join a club

Here’s my challenge for incoming students: The first week of school, seek out at least five clubs that sound interesting and attend a meeting- better yet, introduce yourself to someone on the board. Post me a comment and let me know what you thought of everything!

Megan Zimmerman