Langston University, like many other colleges, is home to many sports teams, Greek organizations, and extracurricular activities. However, many people don’t take the time to think about how these students are finding time to not only perform inside the classroom but also to perform outside of it as well.
Xzavyer Nevels, a junior broadcast journalism major, is a part of LU Manrrs, street team and pre-vet club. A typical week in the life of Nevels starts on Mondays when he goes to his three classes and gets some assignments done. Tuesday- Thursday he goes to choir from 4-5:30. He has street team meetings on Fridays at six. He does all of this while having a part-time job. He manages all of this by waking up early and making sure he keeps up to date on all his classes to make sure everything stays on track. When asked about what he does when things get hard, he said, “I balance it out by putting everything on paper that I need to do and putting it from biggest to less important.”
Extracurriculars can be an asset in college. They can help students improve time management, increase academic performance and help with social skills. When it comes to time management it can be a little tricky trying to make time to go to class, complete assignments and be available for a social/personal life. However, being involved in activities outside of class can help with this because in order to make time for everything it would require a schedule and some planning to make sure everything gets done. When it comes to the sports/band, there is an academic requirement that must be kept in order to participate, and this is helpful with increasing academic performance.
Amalia Davis, a sophomore music education major, who is in the LU marching pride band, legendary models, and Vice president of the English club often finds herself having to decide what’s the most important thing when juggling all of her extracurricular activities. Davis says for her it involves a lot of communication because a lot of her activities tend to overlap, so she must have that communication with all the higher ups in her organizations.
Greek life would also fall into the category of an extracurricular, and Langston is home of many Greek organizations. Langston currently has seven active orgs out of the divine nine on campus: the Alphas, AKAs, Deltas, Ques (Omega psi phi), Kappas, Poodles, and the Sigmas. The active music Greeks that Langston has are Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau Beta Sigma and Sigma Alpha Iota.
These students who are apart of these organizations had to meet specific requirements to join these prestigious groups and, after they join, they put in continuous work to serve the Langston community. The same can be said for the student athletes and the members of the marching band because these students put in work daily to ensure that they are putting out a high-quality product and representing Langston the way that they should.
Maleah Buchanan is a senior music education major and is involved in both the LU marching pride band and the LU concert choir. She is also the president of Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band sorority, a McCabe scholar, and is a part a few other organizations on campus. Buchanan feels as if the key to her managing all these things was her setting a schedule for herself. Some of her roles as TBS president involve having to “conduct chapter meetings,” “be the liaison between any orgs at the school and with the office of student life,” and “any official communication must be approved by or go through her.” She has a calendar with all the things she has scheduled, and she sets certain times during the week to work on specific things. A piece of advice she also had was that even if you have to turn something in that is not “up to par” it is better to turn something in than nothing. Things are not always easy when trying to balance things and when asked Buchanan said she there was a point where she felt like she couldn’t handle everything. “I went through it last year, last semester, especially, I was preparing for my saxophone senior recital, and what I kind of did it just I kind of like, so my sorority, like, I’m a president of it, but sometimes I have to delegate stuff to other people when I don’t have time.”
Ajalyn Allen
Ajalyn Allen is a Junior broadcast journalist major
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The Gazette serves as the student voice of Langston University. It is produced within the Department of Communication as a teaching tool and local news source for the campus community. The views and opinions expressed within are those of the writers whose names appear with the articles and do not necessarily represent the views of Langston University.
