While many freshmen are undecided on what they want to do, one student has hit the ground running.

Eugene Smith, a political science major with dreams of going to law school, has already become more active on campus in his freshman year than some students do in all four years of college.

Smith’s extracurricular activities include being the president of Grant South hall council, chairperson of the winter formal and membership in both the College Democrats and the Residence Hall Association.

A football player in high school, Smith originally decided to come to NIU for its well-known football team.

“At first, I wanted to play football, but then I got into student organizations,” he said.

Since fall 2006 Smith has organized several large events such as last month’s winter formal dance and the Grant South Super Bowl party.

Smith is an active member of the Residence Hall Association constitution committee which legislates rules affecting thousands of students living on-campus.

Smith said he genuinely enjoys being heavily involved on campus, because it allows him to put on programs and make improvements to the residence halls.

“I want to help make sure the voices of students are heard,” Smith said.

While staying active on campus, Smith does not let that interfere with his classes. He has a full course load and maintains a 3.2 GPA.

“[To balance my schedule] I just write everything down and plan things weeks in advance,” he said.

Smith’s involvement on campus has not gone unnoticed by his peers.

“[Smith] is a very hard worker” said Cameron Harmon, a junior political science major and fellow Residence Hall Association member.

Harmon has attended several of Smith’s programs and was impressed with the consistent level of success.

“He has a good vision for the RHA and NIU as a whole,” he said.

Smith’s most notable accomplishment was being the lead chairperson for the winter formal, which occurred Jan. 25.

“The winter formal is a huge event,” Harmon said. “[Smith] did a really good job of putting it all together.”

In the future, Smith aspires to join the RHA’s executive board and run for student government.

“People in the RHA respect Eugene because of what he is trying to do,” said Erik White a freshman English major and secretary of the Grant South hall council.

Although Smith enjoys NIU, he does not plan to stop his education here.

“After NIU, I want to go to law school and then go into politics,” he said.