Disclaimer :
This is not about the positive or negative matters about joining an organization in college. The plus and minus about joining organizations depends on each person’s interpretation, mindset and present condition. I strongly suggest you to take a cup of coffee before reading this “flashy” writing of mine, here they are:
- Time Management
You are a college student. Yet, you are a member of an organization and also a “normal, breathing” person who has your own life outside the campus. So, what is the point? Look, you will have three different worlds here in a “twenty-four hour period” a day. Sometimes (many, actually) your activities here and there will be overlapping from one to another. These kinds of experience that are overlapping on your schedule will teach you the “real definition” about TIME MANAGEMENT.
- Social Life
An organization in my lexical dictionary means “united people in one vision”, more or less. The keyword here is “people”. Obviously, people are unique-they are different from each other. You will understand about this more and more by joining organizations as you will be-in my humblest way to say-“forced” to work together with many different kinds of people, leading you into learning their personalities and backgrounds. I would rather say that you could be a kind of “mini-psychologist”. In a nutshell, I would like to say that this is your “try-outs” before going into the real “exam”-SOCIETY.
- Pride
This is somewhat true for those who have ever become a “special” person before. You know, the so-called “celebrity” or “artist”. Whether you are a top, class-A model or a guitarist who has 10 gigs a month, you will be treated THE SAME like the others. Sadly enough, no matter how “special” you are, you will NOT be like that here. If you do a good job you will get a praise, and your bad deeds will get comments. Simple. One more thing, you should also consider that you will not ever be paid for what you have done for your organization. I am sorry for this, but at least I’ve told you the truth-an ugly one.
- Responsibility
This is especially true if you are in a well-established organization (i.e. ones that have been around for a long time). Your performance will not only matter for those lurking around you now, but also for those who have graduated. If I can add one more thing, a decision you make now will also affect the image of your organization in the future. It is kinda sad to tell you this, but at least you would not be criticized alone.
- A Story to be Told
Finally, your team on that particular year will be written in a history. Like I have said before, everything depends on your team’s performance, whether your name (and also your team) will be memorized as “being good” or “not really good” later. Scary, isn’t it? But at least you have a story to be told to your children later.
Best regards, RANDY LEVIN VIRGIAWAN aka KMPL.