Sometimes going to a school as big as the University of South Carolina can be intimidating. When there are 30,000 or so students, walking to class is like navigating an ocean of unfamiliar faces; something students that previously went to small schools are unaccustomed to.
Thankfully, there is one benefit of attending a large school that’s excellent at making the campus seem smaller: student groups. Large schools seem to have more positions in the community than there are students, so you might as well get involved in one way or another. If making new friends and expanding your social circle isn’t reason enough, then maybe the recognition that our Relay for Life team and the upcoming swab drive are getting will convince you to get active.
The American Cancer Society recognized the USC Relay for Life team Thursday night, commending them on their accomplishments from the past year. What might warrant this ceremony? Perhaps it’s because we hosted the fifth highest fundraising event in the nation, with a grand total of 1,964 participants raising a staggering $170,959. What’s even more promising is that USC also had the largest increase in participation in the entire nation. On second thought, maybe we don’t need to write about being an active member of the community, because it certainly seems like we’ve got a handle on it. It certainly doesn’t hurt to get even more participation, though.
And if anything needs as large a participation quotient as possible, it’s the swab drive. Eric Villeneuve, a second-year criminal justice student, is teaming up with other students and the Be the Match organization to stage a swab drive to help find a bone marrow match to treat his father. Tom Villeneuve, Eric’s father, was diagnosed with Sézary Syndrome, a type of cutaneous lymphoma. The best course of action is a transplant that requires a compatible donor’s blood, which will be run through a machine to extract the stem cells necessary to treat the condition. Although the transplant won’t provide a cure, it could sender the cancer into remission. They’re still in the process of finding a date and location, but volunteers will only need to have their cheer swabbed. Easy enough, right?
Relay for Life and the swab drive are just two possible organizations for you to get involved in, with many more actively helping the community that are always in need of more members. These groups are an excellent way of making friends, and with as many students as USC has, we can make an enormous positive impact. Whether it’s the local community, the region, state, country or even world, our numbers are capable of great things when they’re channeling towards a mutual goal. There’s a famous quote that says it only takes one person to stand up and change something, but tens of thousands certainly doesn’t hurt either.