At a university with more than 400 registered student organizations, finding the right club can come with an almost unbearable amount of pressure.

Before I stepped on campus, I was already trying to resume-max. I stayed up late the night before orientation researching every computer science club imaginable. By the time the organization fair came around, I already had a list of clubs I thought would impress my future employers.

During orientation, I honestly did not care about the clubs I couldn’t see directly benefiting my career. But thankfully, I made eye contact with too many people and felt too awkward to leave abruptly, so I kept walking. I talked to the unicycling club, UT Duelists, the salsa dancing club and the student-run newspaper. On a whim, I ended up joining the paper.

As cheesy as it sounds, that ended up being one of the best decisions I made my freshman year. I found something I was genuinely passionate about while building a community of people who inspired me, people I likely never would have met otherwise.

Career-related clubs are important, but I think students sometimes misunderstand why. A club connected to your major should not just be a box to check off to make yourself sound impressive. It should be a way to figure out whether you actually enjoy the work you are preparing to do.

But at a school as LinkedIn-oriented as UTD, joining a club can start to feel like a life-altering decision. Instead of using organizations to learn more about themselves, students often end up using them to prove they are already on the right path.

This mindset can be incredibly limiting. When students curate every opportunity around an assumed future, they leave little room to explore who they really are and discover what actually interests them.

So, with all of that out of the way, how does someone choose the right club?

Here is my guide.

Be present in the moment

Before signing up for a club just because it matches your major, ask yourself what you are actually curious about. A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need, but it’s hard to feel like you genuinely belong when your only motivation for joining a club is how you want your future to look. Of course, it’s important to have your future in mind, but it cannot be the only factor.

Be in the moment and ask yourself: What do I want my present to look like?

Do your research

 UTD’s Student Organization Center is a great place to start looking for clubs that could pique your interest because it lists registered organizations by category. Some schools and departments also keep their own student organization pages, which can help you find clubs connected to your major. Comet Calendar is also useful because it can help students find meetings and events.

While official websites can give you a lot of information, students should not stop there. A lot of clubs are most active on Instagram or Discord. Following a club’s social media can give you the most up-to-date information and a better sense of the club’s vibe.

The most useful research, however, comes from people. Ask officers what new members actually do, ask classmates what clubs they have tried and talk to students who are already involved. They can tell you what the club genuinely feels like beyond anything you can find online.

Try it out

Use the first few weeks of the semester to show up to anything you are even slightly interested in. College is one of the few times students can try something without already being good at it.

Go to the meeting for the sport you have never played, go to the creative club you convinced yourself you never had time for and go to the career-oriented club you think you are not qualified for.

Trying out a club also means actually giving it a chance. Go to the kickoff meeting, put your phone away, listen to the slightly corny presentation about what the club will look like and talk to the members before deciding whether it’s a good fit.

A lot of students preemptively write off a club because they feel awkward, nervous or out of place the first time they show up. But feeling uncomfortable does not always mean you do not belong. Sometimes, it just means you are new.

You are not going to feel included by sitting in the corner, waiting for someone to pull you in. Trying it out means giving the room a real chance before deciding it is not for you.

Let yourself grow

If you do join a club, it is also important to let yourself evolve within it. I joined the student newspaper because I was interested in the website, but I kept saying yes to every opportunity I could get my greedy little hands on. It started with taking photos and interviewing students at a protest. Then, I began writing stories, found my way into a couple of production nights and slowly learned how the newsroom worked. Somewhere along the way, I found myself taking on more responsibility than I ever expected.

I found some of my closest friends on campus because of that choice. And now, I am the managing editor, a role I never would have imagined for myself when I first walked up to that booth.

Finding the right club is important, but it is not as hard as people make it out to be. The hardest part is the mindset, and hopefully, this article helps you start to dismantle that pressure. The beauty of college is getting to learn who you are, so do not rob yourself of that opportunity by coming in with a plan so strict that it leaves no room for discovery.