By Lauren Hammond

Opinion Editor

Taking time to get more involved with campus affairs can help CSUSM students gain a sense of community as well as achieve scholastic success.

As an undergraduate student, I have been told repeatedly throughout the past few years of the importance of extracurricular involvement on campus. However, living on my own, having a job and fitting in time outside of the strenuous hours of homework to join a club or organization had previously seemed both frivolous and impossible. It wasn’t until more recent semesters that I began to consider any form of campus involvement.

Getting closer to the completion of my undergraduate education, I felt it necessary to build up my resume. I understand that aside from maintaining a good grade point average, the only way to standout during the graduate application process is to participate in at least some academic activities outside of the classroom.

For the past nine months I have been working with Professor Linda Pershing and several other students to create a folklore and mythology course based on the Harry Potter series. Over the past week, I attended the annual American Folklore Society Conference held in Providence, Rhode Island and presented some of the research my group has accumulated thus far. The conference itself gives profound scholars from all over the world an opportunity to meet, gather and share their passion for folklore, mythology and culture as well as other academic disciplines.

During my stay in Providence, my co-presenter and I had the pleasure of meeting several inspiring individuals. The room in which we presented was filled with amazingly supportive scholars who spent hours after the actual presentation to delve further into our topic and provide us with incalculable advice. Aside from being in a beautiful new area of the country and our presentation going exceedingly well, my partner and I were most impressed with the aptitude and power spewed by these intellects.

“The conference changed my perspective on a lot of things and caused me to rethink my future. It inspired me to want to reach further in life and go after a Ph.D. It was an invaluable and exceptional experience,” said my co-presenter and fellow CSUSM senior, Joseph Deragisch.

Being surrounded by such brilliant minds and hearing of their many accomplishments within the academic sphere, Deragisch and I have left there feeling more motivated than ever before. For the first time in our academic careers, we were able to experience the true power of knowledge. This conference will forever remain in our hearts as one of the best moments of our lives and will continue to instill a sense of passion throughout our many future years of study.

In sharing this personal experience with others, I hope to inspire my fellow CSUSM students to become more involved in the realm of academia. It will not only help you to a brighter future, but it will also foster long lasting relationships with others.