Student organizations shouldn’t subtract from education

Student organizations should bolster education, but unfortunately this is oftentimes not the case. One of the most daunting tasks for undergraduate students is dealing with the drama and workload associated with on-campus groups.

Class work – attending class, doing homework, studying for tests, arranging meetings with professors – puts enough on one’s plate. Add in a job and extracurricular activities — which is what many UH students’ lives are like — and it’s a disaster waiting to happen. For this reason, it’s imperative that student groups train students in their respective fields while accommodating, to the best of their abilities, the students’ schedules.

These groups shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Now, don’t get us wrong; we take our jobs here at the Daily Cougar very seriously, but we realize that it’s a stepping-stone to our careers. Many UH alumni who at one point in time contributed to the Daily Cougar are now quite successful in their respective fields, and we’re proud to be in the same positions they once held.

That being said, sometimes the daily tasks of being in an on-campus organization get in the way of a student’s education. At the risk of sounding like we’re contradicting ourselves, we would like to warn students to not let this happen. There are ways around it, though. For example, if you aspire to be the leader of an organization, you should probably consider putting yourself on a five- or six-year graduation plan.

People in charge of these different groups should look to encourage student education rather than take away from it or break down a student’s sense of self. Too many times, students’ involvement in certain organizations causes unneeded and unwarranted difficulty for young people. We want to help people involved in the Daily Cougar graduate while teaching them something about how to write, how to interview and how to manage their time. Is your organization doing the same for you? If not, you might want to consider reevaluating what’s important to you as you work toward graduating, which should, in our humble opinion, be priority numero uno.

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