For many students at Weber State, we come to school, go to class, then go home. Our campus is primarily a commuter school, so it is difficult to feel included in campus life. When we show up in a classroom full of people we’ve never met, it’s hard to know where to begin making friends.

On The Signpost staff, this past month of school has pushed a lot of us out of our comfort zone. We are constantly forced to put ourselves out there to learn what is going on around campus, so that we may deliver you stories about it.

Admittedly, we are some of the more involved students on campus. We attend almost every event, go to all the games and talk to as much of the student body as possible.

We do not represent the typical commuter student on campus, because many of us come to school to experience more than classwork. We don’t want to simply get an education, we want to have the college experience.

It was this insistence on being involved that has made the campus experience worth it for us. Many of us have an entirely new perspective on what college is really about.

First of all, we found that we are more willing to participate. When our names constantly appear in the paper and as we go out to interview people on campus, our faces are out there.

Unlike in our freshman year, now we are actually going to events. We take a break from our Netflix marathons, pick ourselves up off the couch and spend a few hours at the game with our friends.

We have also found that being involved on campus has increased our willingness to learn. Being engaged on campus translates to the classroom, we know more people in class and feel comfortable around them.

This means that we have been enjoying our education more. When we get to know our classmates and challenge them in class, we get more out of the material, and enhance our knowledge of the topics we study.

Along these same lines, we’ve found many networking opportunities. Many of the people we meet on campus have interests different than our own and are involved in different activities. This means that when it comes time for us to try new things, we already have one foot in the door. If we have never been to a basketball game, we can call on a friend who is an avid fan to tag along.

Through our willingess to push outside our comfort zone and be more outgoing, we’ve had a much easier time making friends on campus. The shy among us say they might not have the friends they currently do without their involvement here.

Being closer to Weber has also brought us a lot of school pride. We bleed purple here at The Signpost office. This is an amazing campus that has so much to offer, and we truly feel that we are reaping the benefits of all it has to offer because we took the initial step.

While we often find it difficult to balance work with school and a social life on top of that, it is fulfilling to put ourselves out there and be involved on campus. We are not crazy for packing so much into our days, but the experiences we get out of being involved have been completely worth it.

On a largely commuter campus, to be involved means to put yourself out there. We encourage all of you to try out a new event or club, and be rewarded by something that ties you closer to all the other students on campus.