Many people working in higher education have been noticing a growing theme over the last few years: student engagement is becoming more polarized. In other words, students who are very engaged with campus life are trending towards over-engagement, while other students who, in the past, might have attended only a few events are now attending even fewer. Involvement in campus life is associated with a diverse array of positive outcomes for those who engage, so here’s why you (yes, you) should maybe think about attending that concert or going dumpster-diving with your friends.

Peer-to-peer interaction is one of the most important things that you can do for yourself in college. The fact is that we are creatures designed and created for community, and this fact makes itself apparent in a number of ways. First of all, taking breaks from studying will increase the effectiveness of your studying. Also, if you can add human interaction into those breaks, you will be even more effective — and if this interaction is consistent, you’ll do even better. Long-term peer interaction is associated with positive learning outcomes — you will literally do yourself favors by hanging out with your friends. 

The transition to college is a necessary evil in the path towards adulthood. While getting involved may not dull the pain of homesickness or the shift away from old friends, it will expose you to new people who can help support you in that journey. It may also put you on the path towards forming new friends or finding a new network of interests. In this way, involvement helps you grow and develop, moving you towards being an independent, functional adult.

Furthermore, people who get involved are generally happier with their college experience. This makes sense on the surface — you are likely to feel like you got more out of college if you do more things — but it goes deeper than that. Diversifying your experience gives you a broad set of marketable skills — skills you simply cannot learn in the classroom. Studying is important, but so is getting out and doing things. 

Also, your support matters to the events you’re attending. Student tickets do come at a significant discount from full-price, but even those tickets make a difference. The Student Activities Office, the Calvin Theatre Company, the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and more rely on people coming to their events (free or ticketed) for those events to succeed, so consider making yourself one of those in attendance. 

If you feel that you cannot afford a student ticket, which is perfectly understandable, almost all concerts offered by the music department are free, and there’s something there to suit everyone, from classical to jazz to gospel music. Furthermore, there is a diverse array of free events available, from religion seminars to ceramics exhibitions to board game nights. If you want to get involved, you can easily find something you’ll like. You just need to go looking, and the public Calvin Events Calendar displays just about everything happening on campus, so get out there and find something you might enjoy.