Getting Involved

So since this is my first post I thought I would start by introducing myself. My name is Jake Morakis and I'm a freshman in the school of Arts and Sciences. I'm from Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, so coming up to Boston was definitely a huge change of scenery. As of now I am majoring in Political Science with a minor in Environmental Studies and hope to one day become a lawyer.

Let me start by saying I love BC and I am yet to experience a point when I wasn't having the time of my life, but I have to admit first semester was a little slow. I was so concerned about school work and adapting to college that I decided to put off getting involved until second semester. If anyone reading this is a perspective student worried about the college work load, let me be the first to tell you, you have a TON of free time in college. I had so much free time last semester I didn't know what to do with myself. I must have checked Facebook every 5 minutes out of sheer boredom.

The plus side of my "don't get involved in anything" strategy was that I got really good grades first semester and my parents were really proud, but for some reason that felt way to much like high school. Don't get me wrong, succeeding at a school like BC is a great feeling, but I've come to realized that half the fun of college is getting to do anything you want. Toward the beginning of the year there is Student Activities Day, where every club the school has to offer sets up a table in the dust bowl, which gives students a chance to find clubs they're interested in or never even knew about. I'll be honest, I went crazy on club day. I signed up for every club I was even remotely interested in but, as you already know, I didn't actually get involved in any of them. Instead, I just ended up with an inbox full of email messages I didn't care about reading.

This semester, however, I decided to change things. I got involved in the Student Admissions Program (which would explain this blog) and decided to try something completely new and audition for an a capella group. I never sang in high school or anything but I always enjoyed it and figured it was worth a shot. Somehow I ended up making it and I'm proud to say I am now a member of The Heightsmen, the only and best all male a capella group on campus. It's amazing how getting really involved in just a few activities can fill up all that time I would have otherwise spent on facebook.

But getting involved isn't just about filling time, its also a great way to meet new people (especially upperclassmen) and get invited to sweet parties (it's true). So find something you really like or try something completely new, whatever your choice just get involved. You've only got four years of college so make the most of them.