Farmingdale State College has been my home for the past year and a half after I transferred from Nassau Community College. I was excited to start a new school where I could be more involved. After 2 months, I found myself falling back into the “commuter flow” that I had when I was at Nassau. At Nassau, I would go only on days that I had class and I would leave right after my classes were over. I never became a part of any clubs or ventured into other parts of the campus, other than where my classes were. I can count the amount of times I went to the library or dining hall on one hand over the 2 years I was there. I found myself doing to same thing when I first started at Farmingdale in the Spring of 2017. I only had classes 2 days a week so those were the only days I would be on campus. I would go to class and head straight home when they were over. After my first two semesters at Farmingdale, I told myself that I had to get more involved if I wanted to make my time here more enjoyable.

Transferring to a new school can be overwhelming, especially as an upperclassman. Most people who started on campus as a freshman already had the opportunity to get involved earlier in their college career. For me, I was getting involved on campus as a Senior. I just started my final year here at Farmingdale State College and I am more involved now than I have ever been. To begin, I went onto RamCentral, which is where Farmingdale students can join any of the clubs and organizations on campus online. There is a page dedicated to each club and organization that has a description, its board members, and updates on meetings and events. There is a wide variety to choose from at FSC that there is one for anyone.

After looking for a club or organization to join, I found the Rambassadors. The Rambassador program is designed for students to take part in student recruitment and marketing to prospective students through social media, campus tours and participation in student events. It sounded like a great program to be a part of as someone who is greatly interested in marketing and social media. It would be an opportunity to gain experience for my resume. Becoming a Rambassador was my first step to getting more involved. I attend meetings bi-weekly and participate in campus events. My decision to join the Rambassadors has allowed me to spend more time on campus and learn more about the school. Campus tours are big part of being a Rambassador, learning the tour route allowed me to learn more about the different buildings on campus and not just the ones I go to for my classes. I enjoy coming to campus for meetings and events and I can’t wait to give my first official campus tour.

Through becoming a Rambassador, I had the opportunity to be an intern on campus for social media. I always had an interest in social media and I wanted to gain more experience in the field. I knew that becoming a social media intern would help me get more involved on campus. Now, instead of only going to campus 2 days a week for classes, I come several days out of the week for my internship. Working on social media for the school has given me the chance to be involved in campus events. As a social media intern, it is my job to go to events to have content to be put on the FSC digital platforms. I am able to go to sports events and other happenings on campus while doing social media, which I love. I enjoy coming to campus for events and working on the social media platforms. Through the Rambasadors and my internship, I spend a lot of time on campus and it is allowing me to enjoy my time here at Farmingdale.

In the beginning, I felt like it was too late to get involved in any clubs or organizations. But, I made a choice to make a better college experience for myself. I am here to say that it is never too late to get involved. Your college experience is what you make of it so it has to be up to you to make opportunities for yourself to get involved. Even if it is your last semester, there are many clubs and organizations that always need members. I now spend a lot of time on campus and as I am in my last year, I want to make the most of my time here at Farmingdale State College.