The Ohio State National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is a STEM-based organization that I met during the student involvement fair. I went with two friends, but we were split apart by the busy traffic going on at the time. I had very slight troubles finding an organization that I could fit with at the time, and people advised for me to make my own, but that’s not my kind of thing unless I know for sure that it will work. I picked the National Society of Black Engineers because I could relate to them the most and I wanted to broaden my awareness on campus, as well as make better connections throughout the university. The first meeting we had was very small, and it was just to meet the students and faculty running NSBE. Since I was one of the only ones to go, I actually became decent friends with everyone that was in the room at the time. The first meeting where everyone was there was also quite fun, but I didn’t have any friends to go with because I was the only one of my high school to come to NSBE. That meeting informed its new members about different resources that they could use, as well as have a few games to play. Afterward, we were allowed to talk to others to connect with them, and I met with Dr. Edwin Lee. He is the director of the tutoring/supplemental instruction program at The Ohio State University, and I have signed up for the tutoring program so that I may succeed in the future. Here’s a picture of when we were playing the game.
Overall, I think the benefits of student organization membership is that you will have someone to turn to whenever you need something while also keeping your own independence. The student leaders are very kind and don’t mind helping anyone out in any way at all, and I could definitely see myself becoming a leader some time down the road. Time management is very easy for this organization, as they only have meetings every other Wednesday, and my Wednesday’s are very open, but I can always incorporate those dates into my calendar so that I can make sure I have time. Lastly, I think the size of the university and the crazy high number of student organizations will impact a students’ involvement in a positive way because that means there will be more chances for each student to relate to an organization if they truly want to. Even if they don’t really want to, it’s completely possible that they will have friends who join student organizations, and those friends will ask them to join so that they can have more time together or something like that. Although some people don’t enjoy social situations, I believe that they are very healthy to have, even on a daily basis. So much so that I think everyone should join a student organization at some point in their educational career.