Getting Involved in Your First Year at UCI

Finding a supportive community and getting involved during your college years is very important. However, it can seem very overwhelming and difficult when you don’t know where to start looking. To help guide your search, I have listed three sources that are helpful in finding a community or job opportunities! 

Finding Campus Organizations:

Finding an organization to join is easy thanks to the UCI Office of Campus Organizations. Through their website you can find a list of the 600 campus organizations! Their website makes it easy to narrow down the organizations to the topics or causes you are interested in. For example, if you are interested in giving back, you can select the category, “community service,” and all the organizations whose work includes that will show up. One of the organizations that shows up for this category is “Bridging Anteaters Mentorship Program,” an organization who provides college workshops to high school students. Clicking on the organization's name will automatically take you to their website, in which you can learn about their mission and how to get involved. To learn more about other organizations, visit the website at https://campusorgs.uci.edu 

Anteater Involvement Fair: 

Before the pandemic, the anteater involvement fair would happen on campus at the beginning of each quarter. During this event, campus organizations would be displayed around ring road or Aldrich Park, boothing and giving information to those interested. Now, this is done virtually through zoom. Students have to register for the online event, and afterwards are able to see the time and links for each organization's meeting times. Students then join a meeting for the club in which they are interested in, and are usually shown a presentation of the organization and then have time for questions. This is a great way to get to know the members of each organization and get questions answered quickly. To learn more details about the upcoming fair visit https://campusgroups.uci.edu/home_login

UCI Handshake:

Handshake is a great website to visit if you are interested in a job or an internship. Since it is connected to your UCI account, you are able to filter jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities to those that correspond with your major. Once your account is set up, your homepage will be organized into categories with opportunities that might interest you. Some of the categories include “popular in your major,” “suggested by your career center,” “on campus jobs” and many more! This makes it easier for you to get a job that will enhance your experience in the career you want to pursue! https://career.uci.edu/handshake/

Although there are more resources out there, I hope learning about a few will help guide you in the right direction and find exactly what you are looking for!