When first arriving at college, the first priority — and rightfully so — is to get settled into a routine and to get comfortable with entirely new classes and the mountains of reading. If homework is the first box you check off on your to-do-list, then getting involved on campus should be a close second. Now is the time of year when many clubs and organizations are holding their first meetings and rolling out the welcome wagon: free stuff, informational pamphlets and warm smiles. Go out and do some club window shopping. Take the time to find one that is a good fit for you, and put your name on the sign-up sheet. Joining a group on campus is an important step, especially for those students just arriving at college. UVM is a school with plenty to offer outside of the four walls of your classroom.  Student clubs and organizations can offer valuable, real-world experience, provide useful contacts and even future job opportunities.   And it is a great way to meet new people who share common interests. If you spend 24 hours per day worrying over your schoolwork, you may arrive at graduation with a vaunted 4.0 GPA, but you will have missed out on exactly 100 percent of what makes college great: the people. UVM has a community diverse in interests, opinions and beliefs, and this community is in many ways your best resource on campus. Joining and trying out new clubs and organizations — whether you hike with the Outing Club, pass legislation with the SGA or even provide the news for avid readers at The Cynic — can help you define yourself and find a passion you never knew was there. And passion is what college is all about. It is ultimate time to find yourself. College prepares you for the real world and, while your life might actually be like the TV show, we aren’t talking about that kind of “real.” Students get to live on their own, make their own schedules and figure out what they want to do with their free time. While the classroom educates students academically, clubs and organizations let students put those academic skills to work and develop skills that they might not have ever found in class. Imagine finding a group that fused both your academic passion and your favorite hobby — then add the fact that all the members enjoy the same things. Perfect, right? So go out there and find one that is right for you. Make the commitment. While it might seem that classes are too overwhelming, give it a shot, and maybe you’ll make some lifelong friends.