3 Ways To Maximize Your Experience at an Underfunded College or University

Although a university and or college is underfunded, the opportunities and experience is still obtainable. These steps help you gain control of your opportunities and make the most of your college experience at an underfunded institution. Statistically, HBCUs are the largest underfunded academic institution in the nation. However, a university’s identity of being underfunded goes much deeper than that. Students are the pillar to all academic success. Therefore, it is dependent upon the individual to create the atmosphere they wish to live in. Keep reading to learn three essential steps for maximizing your college experience at an underfunded institution.

1. Build Friendships

An underfunded university does not prevent you from finding peers that can make your college experience both exhilarating and successful. It can actually provide an opportunity to find “your group” in your day-to-day environment. Networking and building connections can be beneficial to both your college life and future career aspirations. For instance, these individuals will be the people that may give you encouragement to continue your education. In fact, friendships can create a form of healthy stress relief, a distraction from your college demands. Find campus hotspots, places that attract a good amount of the student body. These could look like lounges or fun spaces that the campus provides for the students or a space that you and your own counterparts created.

First, let’s take advantage of your campus events and connect with others. With these events use these times to develop your social skills and build on those skills of communication. Next, every event is essential to obtaining these life skills and building an understanding of the bases of what college is to you will shift the perspective of how you will dictate your life on campus. To clarify, evolving our perspective of relationships that are made in college, is to not only gain relationships but to comprehend the different types.

• Game nights (creating your own vibes ) 
• On campus events/student held parties 
•  Study groups
• On campus events/student held parties 
• Campus hotspots

2. Explore the Campus 

Take a day or sporadic moments to get to know your campus. Taking the time to understand where offices and resources are located can help prevent missed opportunities as well as open new ones. No matter what school you attend, each one has a deep rooted goal to produce well rounded scholars. Underfunded colleges and universities are more likely to have a tendency to lack in the area of marketing these opportunities to their student body. Which is an issue of marketing and lack of ability to produce the amount of resources and opportunity to the university as a whole. Finding these four core resources on any campus are key to optimizing the resources at your institution. For example, securing your campus success is possible through these four resource centers.

• Career Service Office 
• Center for Disability Resources 
• Student life Center
• Health and Wellbeing Center 

3. Network With Other People

Joining organizations is a great way to meet new people with similar goals and intentions. This helps boost your college experience by being interactive and building your credentials. Reaching out to your schools career services office also ensures your goals and plans are on track. Applying for internships while in school allows you to network and build your credibility. Build your campus network, meet professors and build your résumé.

These three main steps can build the foundation to maximize your college experience as well as prevent possible drawbacks. Overall, researching and preparing for anything that may come your way is the path to a thriving college experience.