Anna Wood on Student Orgs & Getting Involved

Life in college presents many opportunities to get involved. How can you know what to say yes to? It’s a matter of priorities, according to Anna Wood, Director of Student Orgs on the Student Cabinet.

With a beginning of the semester just days away, we want to help you start thinking about how to navigate all the opportunities you’ll have to get involved. That’s why we interviewed Anna Wood (Class of 2019), the Director of Student Orgs on the Student Cabinet, to find out her advice.

Student Success: Tell us about your role as Director of Student Orgs on the Cabinet.

Wood: As the Director of Student Orgs, I will work directly with student org leaders to help solve problems and celebrate their successes, while also helping my peer start new orgs. I also get to oversee the first student organization committee, which I am very excited about. The committee includes five student org presidents, and three House presidents. We will discuss problems that student orgs face and work towards finding solutions.

Student Success: How mights you encourage incoming students to decide which clubs/orgs to get involved in?

Wood: Just do it, and don’t be shy to dip your toes in. Student organizations are a great place to meet and work with people outside your House, and classes, that have similar interests and passions as you. Think about what you like, want to be good at, or what you would you like to do as a career, and join as a freshman, so I joined the Troubadour Literary Magazine. I have learned so much as an editor for The Troubadour, and as someone who wants to be a writer.

Student Success: In your time as a student at King’s, what have been some of the challenges for knowing when to say yes to an event/meeting? How have you come to manage that?

Wood: The thing about college is that we’re all busy. It’s great and honestly kind of fun, but it can be tiring and stressful if you’re not taking care of yourself and not saying no when you need to. Most people are happy to be flexible and reschedule meetings if you ask. Last semester I blocked out a chunk of time for me to just chill–so I could have a clearer head when I worked. However, establishing personal boundaries becomes hard when it feels like you’re only option is to say yes because you don’t want to disappoint people or miss out. I’m learning to take a step back and see what is more important in the grander scheme of things. What you decide to say to really depends on you and what you choose to prioritize.

Student Success: Where can we learn more about the clubs/orgs at King’s?

Wood: Check out the Student Org webpage on the King’s website! It has every student org listed with the groups’ contact information. Also, stop by the NSO Org Fair on Monday, August 20th, before the Great Race. If you’re interested in starting a new org, shoot me an email, and we can talk about it.