By Tara Adamczyk, Advertising Manager

 West Liberty University offers many opportunities to gain experience in students’ fields throughout their college years, inside and outside of the classroom.

In the classroom, you are taught how to do something or what something is and have very little practice at it. However, by getting involved with clubs and groups outside of the classroom, you are given the chance to practice your skills even more with a professor there to help if you need further clarification.

Getting experience and help outside the classroom is a huge benefit when you go to apply for grad schools and jobs. It shows that you are serious about working in your field. It also gives you an insight to what working in the field is going to be like. Many departments use clubs to help teach students more and to help them make connections and references when applying for a job. Take the West Liberty School of Business, for example: there are many clubs that offer students the chance to attend lectures and to go to meetings where they are making connections in the business world. “I am receiving the Becker CPA review scholarship. With this I am able to take the review courses for the CPA exam. This is a huge opportunity and I am really glad I decided to get involved with my program to be able to receive such an honor,” said Jessica Baker, senior accounting major.

The communications department also offers many opportunities open to the campus for students to build their resumes. WL-TV 14, WGLZ, and The Trumpet all offer paid job positions for students. Many of those hired are the people who started out volunteering their freshman year; even if you just volunteer throughout college, it is still something extra to add to a resume.

By getting involved with the campus media you are gaining more practice in writing, editing, and recording. It gives you the opportunity to do things that are not easily done in the classroom. It also helps take away the shock factor when you get a job after graduation because you generally know what to expect.

WLU students are highly encouraged to go to their departments and find out what types of programs they offer outside the classroom, because gaining that extra experience does nothing but help you. It only helps when you’re asked at an interview if you have experience in that field of work.