Waste of Time? Joining External Organizations ⌛

Ossu minna! 💜

Ever since joining uni, I was not really happy with where I had ended up. It was an alright uni, but it was not reputable, nor was it anywhere close to offering the opportunities I dreamed of at city or well-established unis. So, to improve my resume, I started my hunt to join programs outside of uni that were either well-known or would look good on my resume. It was then that I discovered I could join external organisations, and to me, it was a whole new world. 🌍✨

I am now in my final year of uni, and after working with and joining external organisations for almost two years, I have come to a summary of my thoughts. There are a few pros and cons, and in this post, I will break them down for you! 💪

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💫Pros:💫

⭐More opportunities

You are exposed to a lot more activities than what you have in uni, some even directly on the national and international level. It becomes easier for you to network and to expand your horizons. You would also have more things to put on your linkedin or resume when you are involved in organising or participating in activities that are either prestigious or useful in terms of skill development or experience gaining.

⭐Getting more certificates

It becomes easier to collect certificates for your uni needs. If you want to be on the level of potential best student, you need to have co curricular achievements alongside curricular achievements too.

⭐Network

You will have access to more friends and more people that can contribute to your future work opportunities or future ventures. You may also get in touch with more high quality people that can be potential partners in the future.

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🙅Cons:🙅

⚡Time consuming/Heavy⚡

You need to work as part of an organisation, and sometimes, this work can pile up and it will require some time to get through all of it. If you are in a rush or stressed, these can be an extra workload that would be hard for you to address and finish. Sometimes, your work may even go to waste if an event cancels or if the organisation becomes inactive or is dissolved. So, if you want to join, make sure you have good time management skills.

⚡Exposes you to things you may not be ready for⚡

So, the world of external organisations may not contain only university students, it also contains working adults, powerful people etc. You may hear cases of misconduct, stalking, grooming and so on happening in several organisations, and this causes some organisations to be dissolved. Hence, you need to be able to at least know what you are getting yourselves into and be ready to face any sudden changes, as well as be mature enough to have your own thinking and know how to get out of situations fast.

⚡FOMO⚡

FOMO when joining external organisations is a real thing. Sometimes, you see all the fun opportunities and you can’t join due to time or transport constraints, and over time, the disappointment and frustration builds up. It doesn’t feel as exciting when you keep working and all the physical opportunities fly past. However, in these situations, just hold on, and know that even if you aren’t getting to join in these activities right now, you can one day by either applying to host your own where you live, or managing to go one day. And worst comes to worst, you still get a title and experience out of your time there.

With all that being said, I hope that you choose the organisations that you want to join well and that you make the most out of your experience.

Yours truly,

Neesha 💜

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