Anya Mullen – Opinions Editor

Everyone tells you from day one at university, maybe even in high school, to get involved. It’s drilled into you by older students, by professors, maybe even by your parents. Hearing it from those authority figures makes it seem uncool; it makes you brush it off and ignore it. I certainly did that in high school. For me, high school was just a building I went to class in, for the most part. But here is my personal testimony to attest that after spending two years at university, all that “getting involved” stuff is actually pretty good advice.

Photo courtesy of Toby Mackenzie

I came to Bishop’s from Vancouver when I was 19, coming off a gap year where I travelled Europe and had a summer job right on the ocean in BC. The last thing I wanted to do was start going to school again, least of all in a place where I knew no one and knew nothing about.

But I was enrolled, for better or for worse, so I tried to figure out what BU was all about and what my place in its community could be. I quickly learned that getting a degree is only a fraction of the Bishop’s experience. The year started quickly, with O-Week, Gait introductions and syllabus week. I met a few people, but I was still overwhelmed.

Then I went to the club fair at The Gait. Immediately, I could tell that people look at clubs very differently here than they did at my high school, where clubs were seen as nerdy or as a waste of time. I tried to go to every table in the Gait that day, to find out what my options were in this new environment full of unfamiliar faces. Everyone was welcoming and happy to talk about their clubs – an attitude I am happy to say has not changed from then to now, in my third year.

I met some people at the BU Snow table, and they told me about Jay Peak. I bought a season pass, and a few weeks later, I started to make friends through skiing. As someone who loves to be outside exploring, the BU Outdoors table also caught my eye. The execs at the BUO table were very welcoming, and a few weeks into the semester, I began to participate in BUO trips. 

Those trips flipped a switch for me. I don’t think I’m the first to say this: my first semester at university was tough. I didn’t know anyone, and I was getting used to this new place and lifestyle. I missed my friends at home, and I missed BC. I was not only considering transferring to UVic, but I had also found a roommate in Victoria because, at that time, I was almost certain that Bishop’s was not for me. But I decided to stick it out until my first year was done. Slowly, that advice of “getting involved” finally crept into my actions, and through going on BUO hikes, going to Grampa Grunts with BU Snow, and getting involved in other little ways, everything began to click into place, and I began to find my place at Bishop’s.

Fast forward to now: I am a Co-Lead of BU Outdoors, I am part of The Campus newspaper, I am on the BU Ultimate Club team, I have four part-time jobs and I help out with the Sexual Culture Committee.

So, to anyone thinking that getting involved is a waste of time, I’m here to tell you it’s not. I wouldn’t be here writing this if I hadn’t done it.