With an undergraduate enrollment of over 25,000 spanning across the Boca Raton Campus, FAU can feel huge. The large size of the campus means students should find a place where they feel at home. Some students will choose to rush a sorority or fraternity but others will not find Greek life their cup of tea. No worries; there are many other possible ways to get involved on campus.

Some of you may believe that your student’s first job is school, and I couldn’t agree more. That said; being involved in some way is rather important too. Firstly, joining a club will help your students build a community. Since they’re leaving their family and sometimes their friends behind, getting involved helps them to discover new friends with similar interests. It only takes a few friends to make a large school feel smaller. Joining clubs or organizations allows students to discover their passions and strengths.  It also helps them to discover what they don’t like, which can be just as important. Clubs and student organizations only enhance a student’s time at FAU.

Academic and personal growth often occurs in places other than inside the classroom. I would love to give you a list of all the different places your student can get involved, but FAU has a wide variety of recognized student organizations on campus covering almost any interest from dance, religion, politics, recreation, research, culture, music, adventure and more.

Below is a list of some popular clubs/organizations.

By far one of the most popular Student Organizations on campus is the Resident Student Organization. Students who live in FAU’s dorms run this organization. While they often create initiatives to make dorm living better, they also plan events to make dorm living fun and enjoyable for the students.

• Student Government– Perhaps a voice in FAU’s student government is of interest to your student. This is a great way to hone those leadership skills.
• OwlThon, or Dance Marathon as its commonly known, is wildly popular amongst sororities and fraternities, but truly there are many others who love to get involved. It is a yearlong event of planning and fundraising culminating in a dance marathon. When else would you get the chance to dance for 13.1 hours straight while raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network? It’s pretty awesome.
• Church groups – There are over 15 religious/spiritual organizations on campus.
• Hillel– Offers holiday and Shabbat dinners and a whole lot more. This is a great alternative since it can be difficult for kids to get home for holidays. Hillel also holds a variety of events throughout the semester for students to get involved in.
• Intramural Sports– are a great option. It can be fun and it provides exercise and stress relief. The sports choices change each semester.

It’s not necessarily what they do, but rather that they find their place. Encourage your student to get involved in one or more student organizations. It is too easy to feel lost at a large campus and getting involved will most definitely make the campus seem much smaller. Getting involved will also look good on their resume when they go to apply for internships or a job upon graduating.

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Yes, it helps mentally as well as physically. The phrase “Freshman 15” happens; it may not be 15, it may just be 5 or 10 extra pounds gained that first year of college, but there is a way to keep fit. College is a completely new experience for the majority of freshmen; it’s their first time out in the world with nobody making decisions for them. Students can make a choice to eat ice cream for breakfast and have a soda at 6 am. Even with the amazing fitness centers available to today’s students, many students do gain weight. My daughters chalk it up to late-night pizzas (after drinking) and the French fries from the dining hall.

I am not here to pass judgment as not every student will gain weight and not every student drinks. My main purpose is to say that even for students on a tight budget, it is possible to eat healthy, exercise and not gain the freshman 15. Let’s address exercising. FAU’s recreation and fitness center is a 77,000 square foot state of the art facility. I do not know if students today realize how fortunate they are to have a facility that includes strength and conditioning rooms, basketball courts, badminton courts, cardio room and weight machines, yoga, pilates, spinning, locker rooms, and a social corridor to help them stay comfortably fit.  The Rec Center also boasts a leisure and lap pool as well as outdoor basketball courts, rock wall, climbing course, tennis courts, fields, and a track.

Staying fit has never been so easy. The fitness center also has all types of classes including boot camp, cardio, cycling, kickboxing, HIIT class, spin, yoga and meditation, Zumba, barre, and more. These great fitness options aside, many students prefer to run stadiums, a tradition of FAU students. This involves running down the steps in the stadium and then back up moving from section to section. It is free for students and an amazing workout. An added advantage is being able to watch the football team in practice if they time it properly.

Many of the sororities and fraternities also have competitive sports teams as well. And for those students who can’t quite give up their at-home workouts, Boca Raton has two Orange Theory locations – my daughter’s friends go to Orange Theory choosing the two sessions per week package.

Fanatics

For the Crossfit fanatics, there are several locations all around Boca Raton, many within a 3-mile radius of FAU. My daughters belonged to LA Fitness. If your student belonged to YouFit, you will be happy to know that Boca Raton has a location about 5 minutes from campus. Depending on their membership, they may be able to use it at this location provided it is not a single club access membership.

Finally, the FAU campus offers outdoor runners some beautiful running and walking trails. FAU’s walking trail, The Tortuga Trail, is open from dawn to dusk.   The Tortuga Trail breaks off into three separate trails, the green, blue, and red, all varying distances. The website, Mapmyrun, created by other runners, shows courses that take you around the entire campus, some as long as five miles. Of course, it is always advised to run with a buddy especially if you are running in the early morning or at dusk. Safety should always come first.

And, of course, you will want to combine exercise with that healthy eating regimen. Check out our suggestions in our blog Eating Healthy.

Pass on these great tips, tell your friends and like us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Find out more about how to use HaveUHeard as a great resource. Sign up for other great tips at haveuheard.com.

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