Campus Recreation allows students to explore leadership opportunities such as becoming tour guides, orientation leaders, personal trainers, life guards, and so much more. Throughout your college journey, whether you are here for one semester or four years, Campus Recreation helps students acquire life skills and professional experience all while being involved at URI. 

Mike Patatanes 2024 Graduate

Mike Patatanes, 2024 graduate, received his degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, with a concentration in Cyber Security. In his time at the University of Rhode Island, Mike was sure to take advantage of an array of opportunities within the URI community. He became a tour guide and orientation leader all while being involved in Campus Recreation which has taught him not only to be active, be well, and belong in college, but his everyday life.

Beginning his URI experience in 2020, amidst the pandemic, social distancing and other regulations made it difficult for students to experience authentic campus life. Because there was limited interaction between students, Mike was sure to immerse himself in numerous communities that brought people together.

“It was a great way to break everyone out of their shell, especially with the pandemic…also, I love to talk to people.” This has proved a beneficial path for him as he recalls that these programs allowed him to build many connections with peers, and were also paying positions. By engaging in this community, Mike felt that he could be himself. He found that the leadership community was a perfect fit for him where he was able to express his outgoing personality. 

The Importance of Involvement

Campus Recreation upholds the mission to “be active, be well, and belong.”  With this, Campus Recreation provides a variety of opportunities for us students to take advantage of and better our well being. It is essential for us to immerse ourselves in communities that we feel uplifted and fulfilled. For Mike, his support network came from all of the connections he made and programs he participated in.

“These helped me grow not only as a student, but also as a person since I was able to interact with so many different people that would teach me a variety of things.” Mike explains that these leadership positions allowed him to make a name for himself among the URI community. He found himself with many references and it became easy to form relationships  with others as his involvements often overlapped with each other. This only widened his knowledge of the URI campus and community members. Mike was immersed in a community that catered to teaching new learning skills and allowed him to be involved in fulfilling and productive outlets.

Balance

Student success does not just come from accolades or recognition, but from a work-life balance. As a member of three executive boards on campus, an active member of Campus Recreation, and a student at URI, it was difficult to balance work and everyday life. Mike provides some insight on how he balanced his involvement with his social life, a fraternity , and his studies. He tells us, “It was definitely hard to balance at first, but the more I progressed, the better I got with organizing meetings and completing classwork.” Mike advises for a balanced lifestyle: utilize your Google Calendar. “I was putting everything in. From time for me to eat lunch, or just organize a meeting,” he explains. Evidently, these leadership roles allowed Mike to better his organization skills while participating in activities that he found truly fulfilling. He advises students struggling to balance classwork with their other engagements to prioritize school first, this way you can continue to participate in other activities.  From there, experiment with your schedule, see what works for you and when involvement becomes too much for your course load. 

Successes

Campus Recreation is a pathway to success. The program provides many outlets that promote wellness, belonging, and life skills. Mike is one of many students who take advantage of the Campus Recreation resources, which have proved to significantly better his college life, and now professional career. “My leadership positions were one of the best things that happened to me at URI… I was able to gain diverse experiences for my future,” Mike reflects. He wishes to develop a career path in pharmaceutical sales or medical sales. Mike remarks that his involvement at URI taught him to communicate more effectively, problem solve, and become a true leader. His involvement at URI not only set him up for a successful college experience, but readily prepared him for the workforce.
 

Not only did Mike learn effective life skills, he also built an immense and diverse network around himself. He states, “Being able to see familiar faces all around campus is one of the reasons why I loved URI, it felt like a home.” Mike is a role model for students striving to achieve building a community on campus. He advises students to try out new clubs and activities, for they will never truly know what they are looking for until they try it. With this, Mike will be able to carry out the values and skills taught by him through the URI community into his future.  As a recent graduate, Mike will continue to use his skill sets that Campus Recreation and other programs have taught him in order to become successful in his professional career.