In high school, I played three different sports. Of those three sports, I was good at lacrosse, decent at soccer and laughable at swimming — yet I loved participating in all of them.

The team atmosphere and exercise that each of the sports gave me helped make my high school experience a rewarding and formative one.

When I came to Trinity, I worried that I would lose those experiences, that I wouldn’t be able to find a similar team environment to provide a nice break from academics.

Thankfully, I was introduced early on to the various club sports that Trinity has to offer.

The club sport that I joined was soccer, and from the beginning, I knew I would be happy with this new team.

I fondly remember that the captain of the club, Robbie, would always ask me how my day was going and always invited me to hangout with him and his friends.

He had picked up on the fact I was having a tough first year, and he did his best to try and show me how much Trinity had to offer.

I wouldn’t have had this interaction without having joined club soccer. In addition to Robbie’s kindness, club soccer also offered me the opportunity to exercise, and it gave me the structure that I needed during my tough first semester.

It also gave me a group of people who all shared a common interest, which makes for an ideal circumstance to make friends and connections.

This type of experience isn’t isolated to club soccer. All of the sports clubs that Trinity has — from ultimate frisbee to rugby — offer this sort of environment that many people coming from high school may miss.

I know my time at Trinity has been made infinitely better by me joining a club sport.

Yet this goes beyond just club sports. Joining a club is an essential aspect of college, tantamount with going to your first party or missing home. It could either be joining a club you already knew or joining one wanted to learn about it.

I had no idea Trinity had a club lacrosse team, but this spring, I plan to join them in the shared enjoyment of constant injury.

Becoming more involved is vital to getting the most out of college. Joining clubs — whether they be club sports, language clubs or academic clubs — helps one to become more involved with the community.

I joined the Trinitonian, and it has been a fantastic experience — one that has introduced me to intelligent, passionate and driven people who inspire me to be as impressive as they are.

Meeting those kinds of people and learning from them comes with joining clubs and involvement with the community.

A key part of why I was so unhappy during my first semester was because of how uninvolved I was.

I refused to go out and meet people, but after I went to one club soccer practice, I saw the possibility of me enjoying Trinity.

Finding a group or even things that interest you is hard when you come to college.

A lot is thrown at you in a short span of time and academics really do consume a lot of everyones time.

But being a part of a club — or maybe even two — splits up your week and gives you a break from advanced biomechanics or whatever engineers take.

There are over 100 organizations that students can join, ranging from club soccer to the Trinity University Players.

Each of these different clubs and organizations offer a home where Trinity students can learn and grow.

While everyones schedules are crammed, finding time to go to just one meeting or practice can really make college everything it was made out to be.