Oh, to be young again, when I thought homework was for pansies, a fake ID was golden, withdrawing from a class would never come back to haunt me and hangovers only lasted an hour, if at all. Just as I did, all you incoming freshmen will have ample opportunities to make mistakes (and hopefully learn from them). And as someone who has been at UF for six years, at the very least I can pass on a little wisdom to all you whippersnappers to help you get the most out of your undergraduate experience.
For me, it wasn't until the end of my second year of college that I discovered what I consider the icing on my delicious undergraduate cake -- student activist organizations.
The organizations vary greatly as to their memberships, goals, methods and successes. At UF, you will find a group for every worldview, and in what follows, I hope to offer a completely unbiased and utterly accurate description of each to help you spread your activist wings and start changing the world for better (or worse).
First off, if the thought of poor people makes your skin crawl, the Libertarian Activist Network is for you. With it, you can get out there and make sure all those lazy whiners at the bottom of the Darwinist social ladder don't have access to things only meant for rich people, like health care and education. Even better, if you ever get bored, you can call up another member and talk about how the Ron Paul Revolution will never die.
If your ire doesn't stop at poor people but extends to immigrants, foreigners, homosexual people, Muslims and pretty much anyone who is different than you, you have a home with the College Republicans. Not only can you share yachting stories with fellow members, but you have almost an entire semester of pretending to like Sen. John McCain.
Does the thought of being a Republican make you regurgitate your freedom fries? Don't worry; we've got the College Democrats too. They're always there to help spread your ideas for changing the world in the least effective and most spineless way possible.
Moving further down the political spectrum to somewhere beyond the mundane confines of orthodox American political thought, we have Students for a Democratic Society. With SDS, you can fight for socially responsible investing, stopping the war and pretty much anything else by the only method that works â€" pretending it's the 1960s.
For all you aspiring nurses, dentists and physicians who might feel a little weary of all the political science and history kids, fear not. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) is for you. This organization wants to make sure that the drugs resulting from biomedical research at universities like UF make it to lower income areas of the world. Why? Beats me, but it sounds more fun than volunteering for Shands at UF.
All jokes aside, each of these organizations is a great way to get involved. The Libertarians are one of the most active, vocal and thought-provoking groups I've come across. The Republicans are actually good at pretending to be fired up about McCain. And along with the Democrats, they provide some stimulating political debates. SDS has been a personal favorite of mine, raising brand new issues, such as socially responsible investing, and making considerable progress with them. Last but not least, UAEM is growing like wildfire and has some of the most motivated, enthusiastic members I have seen.
Any one of these groups will no doubt enhance your UF experience by providing an opportunity to try something new and meet like-minded people, all while doing your part to change your world.
Brandon Sack is a second-year biomedical sciences graduate student and a member of Students for a Democratic Society.
