Spring Break
Survey results show freshman class highly involved
Results show 72% of students lend at least one hour of time weekly
By: Madiha Rizvi
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: News
More than 80 percent of students at Texas A&M are involved in extracurricular activities. Many of those students say they become involved because the experience helps them grow the skills necessary to take them into the future.
"One of the primary contributing factors for students coming here [Texas A&M] is not a question of if you get involved, it is a question of when you will get involved," said Kevin Jackson, assistant vice president for Student Affairs.
"It is an ethos that you are going to be something bigger than yourself. From the moment you step into campus, it is an understanding that you are going to contribute," he said.
A national survey, Your First College Year 2003, found that Aggies are coming in and becoming involved. The survey measured involvement of freshmen at the end of their first year of college. The results showed 72 percent of A&M freshmen spent at least one hour per week participating in student organizations compared to 55 percent of freshmen at other public institutions.
"I am part of Delta Kappa Delta, which is a South Asian Service sorority, and I attend events from other organizations as a patron," said Maryann Ansari, a sophomore biomedical science major. "Whenever I attend these events, I feel like I am part of their organization and embrace the organization's beliefs. This helps me grow within myself as I feel like I am part of many organizations and helping them with their causes."
Involvement has many facets, one of them being how it is a part of student development, happening outside the classroom.
"Going to an opera of performing arts, theater, to go to a cultural event that is different from the culture they have grown up in and I think that this is the extension of the learning that takes place outside the classroom," Jackson said.
The academic component is the primary focus of education, Jackson said, and involvement helps them test and supplement their classroom learning.
"One of the primary contributing factors for students coming here [Texas A&M] is not a question of if you get involved, it is a question of when you will get involved," said Kevin Jackson, assistant vice president for Student Affairs.
"It is an ethos that you are going to be something bigger than yourself. From the moment you step into campus, it is an understanding that you are going to contribute," he said.
A national survey, Your First College Year 2003, found that Aggies are coming in and becoming involved. The survey measured involvement of freshmen at the end of their first year of college. The results showed 72 percent of A&M freshmen spent at least one hour per week participating in student organizations compared to 55 percent of freshmen at other public institutions.
"I am part of Delta Kappa Delta, which is a South Asian Service sorority, and I attend events from other organizations as a patron," said Maryann Ansari, a sophomore biomedical science major. "Whenever I attend these events, I feel like I am part of their organization and embrace the organization's beliefs. This helps me grow within myself as I feel like I am part of many organizations and helping them with their causes."
Involvement has many facets, one of them being how it is a part of student development, happening outside the classroom.
"Going to an opera of performing arts, theater, to go to a cultural event that is different from the culture they have grown up in and I think that this is the extension of the learning that takes place outside the classroom," Jackson said.
The academic component is the primary focus of education, Jackson said, and involvement helps them test and supplement their classroom learning.
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