Starting Small With Getting Involved

Hello All!

If you are in nursing school and want to be involved but are worried about your schedule - start small! 

I think that being involved outside of the classroom is so important, and I have written several blog posts outlining why I think so. But, if you are nervous or too busy to join a board of a school organization this blog post will focus on what you can do to still remain involved. 

The very first thing that you can do to get involved on campus is to go to events. Smaller clubs are just as enthusiastic as their events as the more large-scale groups, so go out and support your friends who planned the event and have a good time! I know that one evening the Student Nurses Association at my school planned a "Nurses Night Out" where nursing students could come hang out, play games, eat free food, and watch movies. Events like that are important in bringing life back to campus and bringing students together. If events like that are not happening on your campus, you can always suggest ideas to club leaders! They will be happy to hear student input and know those ideas are backed by students.

Another option you can do is to be a volunteer at events. Clubs that are hosting more large scale events might reach out to other students for help. Sitting at tables, handing out raffle tickets or helping with set up and clean up are all tasks that organizations might need extra hands with. Being a volunteer at events gives you a taste of how things in that organization are run and gets your name and person out there for future reference.

If you want to do something more than just be a "random student" in the crowd of a club event, you could always join the club! You do not have to be on the board committee in order to join, you are just simply a member that attends monthly meetings (and if the club is awesome has the opportunity to win free raffle prizes). This means that you can formally attend events and gain all the monthly "benefits" of being a member (possible t-shirts, monthly club meeting attendance, potentially free food).

One of the things that I am doing in order to still remain involved during my last semester of nursing school is being a Class Representative for the Student Nurses Association. Previously, I was on the Board of Directors of SNA for one and a half years. Being a board member allows you to really dive into the nitty gritty of the Association and plan all of the events, meetings, and help organize fundraisers and other awesome activities. 

However, being a Class Rep allows me to attend monthly meetings (just like a non-class rep student would), but to also be able to relay concerns or comments from my classmates to the board members. This would introduce topics that the student body has concerns over to the board, who can then relay that information to the faculty. The process between concerned student-faculty communication actually runs a lot smoother despite the extra steps, and allows the matter to be seen "more seriously". (There is strength in numbers and the concern is being formally presented and backed up by a trusted, school funded, student based organization).

By being a class rep you serve an important purpose, without having the added stress of having to plan any events or attend any special board member meetings. 

The last way that you can get involved on a small scale is by supporting club fundraisers or sales. I know that my SNA hosts several bake sales, charity fundraisers, spirit wear fundraisers/sales and other events to raise money for the club itself, but also to benefit the community. Throwing in $5 toward a positive cause can actually go a long way, and it is directly benefiting organizations that are right in your backyard!

There are many small ways that you can get involved as a student, but all make a large impact. Dipping your toe into the water of participation might motivate you to jump in completely the following semester. Personally, I was an attendee of the SNA meetings for one whole year (I started as a pre-nursing student) before I joined the board (and only really did so because my friend talked me into it - but I'm very grateful for having joined!). 

I hope that all of you chose to dip your toe into club participation this fall semester. Leave a comment on my post or message me on my Instagram page (@bsnbabe95) to share your participation stories with me!

Thank you so much for reading!

- Michelle
#BSNbabe