College- it’s what most would say is some of the best years of your life. But it all depends on your involvement on campus. To all incoming freshmen, I suggest you take this advice sooner than later- get involved on campus. According to kff.org, an international survey found that one in five Americans always or often feel lonely or socially isolated, including many whose health, relationships and work suffer as a result.

But college freshmen are becoming more likely to experience this social isolation.

According to a survey by the University of California-Los Angeles, college freshmen are going out with friends less and spending more time socializing through social media. As a possible result, students’ emotional health has dropped significantly low. The number of students who said they felt depressed frequently went from 6.1 percent to 9.5 percent.

Freshmen, don’t let the feeling of social isolation get to you- be involved on campus. The best way to ease yourself into involvement is attending the events at ULM. This week, registered student organizations will be hosting events to welcome new freshmen. This is the perfect opportunity to get involved on campus. You can get free food, meet new people and see what RSOs are on campus. From personal experience, don’t wait until later years to get involved on campus. I remember my freshmen year was hard because I didn’t have any connection at ULM.

I went to school, did homework and went home. I never attended any events that were held. I wasn’t involved in any RSOs. It made going to school miserable and lonely because I didn’t know anyone in my classes and didn’t have any friends at ULM.

My sophomore year I joined different RSOs on campus and have made friends because of my involvement.
And luckily with the diversity of RSOs there are different groups to get involved in. These organizations can range based on interests like what your major is, what your hobbies are, community service projects and student government.

And even if you aren’t ready to join an RSO, you can still test the waters by attending the events each RSO holds. On ULM’s student life and leadership page, you can see events that are being held during the week that you can attend.

If you get involved on campus, your time at college will be so much better than spending time alone in your dorm room studying.
Don’t suffer from social isolation; find friends by going to the events that are provided.