Princeton students last month found an email survey in their inboxes. The survey, which began by asking students to take a time out to fill in the circles, wanted to know how much time students spend on various activities out of the classroom. Princetonians quickly realized how few hours there are in a week.
Between the University's student organizations and agencies, club and intercollegiate sports, and residential college and eating club activities — not to mention social time, down time and schoolwork — the average Princeton student manages to keep busy.
Debbie Jacobson '03, who like most students finds time to squeeze a few extracurricular activities into her schedule, is an outgoing officer at Cap and Gown Club, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and a former member of the track team. At the same time, she is finishing her thesis in the Department of Religion. All the organizations she is in function not only as pursuits of her personal interests, but also her social time. "I think sororities serve the greatest role for most girls as underclassman, as a way to meet other girls," Jacobson said.
"But Cap made me really like Princeton," she said. "I never really felt like a had a home in the residential college. Eating clubs are a home base, a place to relax, party, study or go with a problem, and I wanted to give back to the place that gave so much to me."
Outside the clubs
Though clubs continue to be the predominating social and dining option for upperclassmen, an increasing number of students find that the University holds diverse social options outside the clubs as well.
"I just never spent much time at the clubs," explained Tudor Dimofte, a junior RCA in Wilson College who also actively participates in the Ballroom Dance Club, sings for the a cappella group the Firehazards and founded the Princeton Tap Club.
He said he finds plenty of social and unwinding time simply by participating in these groups and by spending time with the people in them. "Being an RCA is also primarily an emotional job," he said. "My weekly commitment depends upon how stressful the week is. Firehazards and singing is a great stress reliever for me. It's a very low-key, happy environment."
And there is plenty of singing going on in the 13 a cappella groups on campus.
"It's a blast," said Ariel Melendez '06 of the a cappella group Shere Khan. "The fact that it is coed also tends to make it more social."
Melendez said intercollegiate sports is an even greater time commitment for him.
"I also play sprint football, and although that involves a lot of bonding with the guys, most of it occurs off the field," he said.
Other intercollegiate athletes share Melendez's sentiment.
"Because practices are so intense, most team bonding is done in the locker room, or in doing stuff such as eating dinner together afterward, or in traveling with the team," said Dan Larach '05, a member of the junior varsity soccer team. Larach's greatest time commitment, however, comes from volunteering for Princeton First Aid and Rescue, a community organization that recruits and trains University students.
Not a community service activity for the light hearted, volunteers undergo 125 hours of training to obtain their Emergency Medical Basic Training, after which they are qualified to ride in ambulances and act as First Responders.
"The commitment is 32 hours a month," said Larach. "Our shifts are eight hours at a time which we spend in uniform, ready to act at the squad house."
Larach added that he often gets schoolwork done during his shifts.
He said there is a second benefit to community service beyond the Princeton gates.
"It's also a great opportunity to not only meet other University students but people from the community with different backgrounds and experiences, such as alumni, grad students and others who are completely unrelated to the University," Larach said.
But community service takes many forms. The Student Volunteers Council is the largest student-run organization on campus, and hundreds of students participate in service projects both on an individual and weekly basis.
Words and motion
Margaret Johnson is the sophomore editor of the Nassau Literary Review, Princeton's literary magazine. "I like being around people who are creative," she said. "I think words are powerful, and I want to continue writing after college."
Students have control over their level of commitment to most campus activities. Johnson said that because the publication is annual, she only spends five hours a week on the challenges of her editorial position. That leaves her plenty of time for sporadic work in other publications and for active participation in her sorority, she said. Susan Edwards '06's means of creativity comes in the form of dance. A foreign student from Geneva, Switzerland, Edwards spent two years dancing professional ballet before coming to Princeton. She now dances for the University dance company BodyHype.
"B.H. is all the good things about dance without all the overwhelming competitiveness that comes with professionalism," she said. "The people in the group are very self-motivated and creative without being self-deprecating. They love what they do."
Although Edwards spends on average eight hours a week rehearsing, she still finds the time to hold a job at the library, a position which she said she finds relaxing. "That is my 'me time,' " she said. "I read the newspaper or a book."
Spirit
Bart Oliver '06 enjoys his primary extracurricular activity for its combination of dance, gymnastics, socialization and comaraderie. Oliver is a cheerleader for the football team in the fall and the men's basketball team in the winter, though he is currently injured.
"My main interest from high school was gymnastics," he recalled, "and considering that cheerleading involves forms of gymnastics, I decided to try it out."
Oliver explained why he enjoys cheerleading. "It's a great sense of comaraderie to be out in front of a crowd and to have to be depending upon other people. You also get to know many members of the football and basketball teams, which is great," he said.
And then there are club sports — whose teams come from the eating clubs and residential colleges — which tend to be well organized and fun without also being a major commitment. Princeton offers 34 club sports, 15 of which are competitive interscholastically during the fall.
Club sports afford athletes flexibility, with most participants practicing one to four hours a week.
"In season, I'd say I spend about three and a half hours a week practicing and another half hour doing organizational work," said club tennis officer Devon Edwards '05.
Club tennis had over 70 members in the fall.
Edwards said he takes advantage of some opportunities offered by the residential colleges as well, including a hallmark of the residential college system — study breaks.
"The trips to Broadway shows are amazing. And I participate in the Wilson College Cooking Class, which is great and educational as well," Edwards said.
Last month's survey asked about time spent on academics, too. Until the results are released, the number of hours actually spent studying will remains questionable.
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