TAFADZWA

ZINYEMBA

SDLS
ASSIGNMENT 3

R206195Q
HARMGT
QUESTION; DISCUSS THE BENEFITS ACCRUED TO YOU AS A RESULT OF
YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN DIFFERENT COLLEGIATE ACTIVITIES SUCH AS
PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL,SPIRITUAL AND/OR CAREER
DEVELOPMENT

Student involvement can be defined as the amount of physical and psychological energy that
a student devotes to academic experience. For student growth to take place students need to
actively engage in their environment. Engaging in different co-curricular activities is known
to have a positive effect on your academics. The more time a student invests in collegiate
activities such as sports, community service, environmental awareness programmes the more
positive academic results that student will have (Austin 1984). My involvement in basketball,
community service, student governance and socialising has helped me build my resume,
helped me learn new skills, drastically improve my motor skills and helped me gain self-
confidence to name a few.

The student involvement theory simply states that the greater the student involvement in
college, the greater will be the amount of student learning and personal development.
According to Austin there are three elements which constitute student involvement which are
inputs, environment and outputs. The inputs are a student’s demographics, background and
previous experiences. The environment is all the experiences students will have in college.
The outputs are the students ‘characteristics, knowledge, beliefs that will continue to exist
after graduation. The student involvement has five assumptions which are involvement
requires psychological and physical energy, aspects of involvement may be qualitative and
quantitative, academic performance is correlated with student involvement and lastly whata
student gains from being involved is directly proportional to the extent to which were
involved.

Firstly, l recently joined a basketball team as a physical collegiate activity. This has helped
me improve my motor skills as sport participation helps with coordination and learning new
skills. It has also helped me learn the virtue of good sportsmanship, learning the rules if the
game and respect of the coach and referee has taught me discipline and how to stay positive
even when losing. Playing basketball has helped me reach healthy weight l have always
struggled with keeping my weight in check. l recently participated in fifty hours of
community service at first l did not see the importance but however it has given me
psychological benefits. Volunteering increased my stress levels and eased my depression.
Community service has also given me social benefits because l created special bonds with
both the people l worked with and helped.

Moving on, l joined a student governance team early this year. Initially l joined just to get rid
of my shyness but joining improved my professional skills such as effective communication,
research and presenting ideas. My involvement has also helped me to bolster my resume and
it can be an advantage when applying for jobs. It has also helped me broaden my network not
just with staff and faculty members but with people of interest and influence. Lecture
according to Austin’s research also have benefits such as effective lectures can communicate
the intrinsic interest of a subject through their enthusiasm. Lectures can also provide material
that is not available tro students and lectures can model how professionals work through
disciplinary questions and problems.

Sororities are considered as social collegiate activity being a in a sorority has massive
benefits contrary to popular belief. Sororities have certain scholarly requirements and have a
structured study time. This provides accountability and support that individual students in the
campus dorms do not have. Younger members like myself benefit by talking with peers in
majors or by receiving guidance from juniors and seniors on which classes to take or how to
prepare for upper class requirements. Sororities place heavy emphasis on character and
development of members in the long run the professional successes and community
accomplishments of alumni often carry more weight in the sororities ‘reputation than social
events.

Also, socialisation is a collegiate activity, it is known to minimise stress when connecting

with my friends and peers life is a little easier ad burdens can be shared and lightened.
Socialising also helps to develop good study habits, creative organised students xan combine
studying and socialising for maximum advantage. Socialisation also helps develop deep and
lasting connections and they can support you in different ways, Socialisation also helps me to
develop social skills which can advantageous when pursuing my career path and l will engage
more with people that aspire and peek my interest.

In conclusion, the benefits l have accrued as a result of my involvement in different collegiate

activities do have a positive impact on my personal and academic development as these
various activities reduce my stress and burdens from schoolwork. The student involvement
theory not only elucidates the considerable findings that have emerged from decades of
research on student development; it also offers a tool for designing more effective
environments.

REFERENCES
Austin A.W. (1984). Students Involvement: A Development for Higher Education. University
of California, Los Angeles.

Pascarella. E.T & Tenezhini, P.T. (1991). How College Affects Students. San Francisco.

Kokemuller N.(2019). Advantages of Collegiate Activities .<https:// www.education

seattlepi.com.[ 23 June 2021].

Jossey-Bass.W.A.A. (1993). What Matters in College? Four Critical Years Revisited 2nd ed.
San Francisco

Austin, A. W.(1973). The impact of dormitory living on students. Educational Record, 54,
204-210