Starting Your Involvement Journey
Involvement is a great way for Wildcats to find their community on campus, but getting involved looks a little bit different for every single person on our campus. For you, getting involved might include opportunities like: joining a student organization, attending an event, participating in community service, joining a research project, or something totally different.
There are a ton of opportunities to figure out the right kind of involvement for you - use the resources and tips on this page to start your involvement journey here at UK!
Involvement Resources:
Tips and Tricks for Getting Involved:
1. Start searching
Hop on BBNvolved and start searching the “Organizations” tab. There are a ton of organizations on campus and they are all split up by category. This makes it easy to search by your different interests. If you aren’t sure of what category to search by feel free to use the search bar on the page and type in something you like or want to know more about. Every organization has a bio so you can read a little bit more about it before you take the next step by reaching out to someone!
We know searching through all of the organizations can be somewhat overwhelming. Remember that every organization is unique - just like you! And because there are so many orgs on campus, you have tons of opportunities to find the right one for you!
If you can’t find an org you are specifically looking for, start your own student organization! Find more info on how to start a student organization here.
2. Reach out
Congrats on finding an org that interests you! Once you’ve found an organization’s page on BBNvolved use the contact button to reach out to them! You can also send the organization an email, DM their social media pages! This will allow you to connect with someone in the organization so you can start learning more!
If you’ve reached out, but you haven’t heard back yet, don’t lose hope! Sometimes messages can get lost or overlooked (especially during busy times during the semester). Send a follow up message, or try one of the other contact methods of reaching out to the organization!
3. Ask questions
Don’t be afraid to ask to chat with someone in the organization on the phone, via zoom, or over coffee (with your mask and physically distanced of course)! Asking questions lets you get a better understanding of who the organization is, what they do, and how you can continue to connect with them. Some questions that may be helpful to ask include:
- What do you all do? What’s the mission of the org?
- Can you tell me about the types of events you host?
- What does a typical meeting look like?
- Why did you decide to join? What’s the best thing you’ve gotten out of your involvement in this organization?
- When is the next organization meeting or activity open to potential members? What will you all be doing during that meeting or activity?
- How can I get involved with your org? What’s the next step to join? Do you have any monetary dues?
- What does the time commitment look like as a member of this org?
4. Attend an event or meeting
Get to know more people in the organization! Going to an organization’s event or meeting allows you to get to know the organization better and learn more about the process for becoming a member. Find out about upcoming meetings and events on the organization’s BBNvolved page and/or social media and add them on your calendar!
Attending a meeting or event where you don’t know anyone can be scary. Reach out to the org through BBNvolved or their social media to try and connect with someone before the event! You can also email us at studentorgs@uky.edu and we can connect you with a student leader before the event so you have a familiar name to look out for!
5. Repeat!
There is no limit to this process - you can repeat it until you find the right org fit for you or as many times as you want! Maybe you want to become a leader in your organization - do it! Maybe you want to find an additional org that aligns with your interests instead of your major - do it! The best thing about being involved is that it looks different for everyone.
Get out there and get #WildlyInvolved!