I've "graduated" from Rutgers, but I still go to the Japanese Visual Culture Association and help them out. Why? I always manage to have a great time there.
I remember going to JVCA (back when it was just known as JCA) in 2006 when I was a freshman, but I stopped going after one meeting because of my shyness. It's funny that I start going to JVCA again when I started graduate school (though I did attempt to go one time senior year with the help of two of my good friends...but there was a snow storm that day...).
Things did go a bit slow during that first year back, but I did manage to keep on going throughout the year. It was that next year that a lot happened. I interacted a lot that year, made friends, etc.
I'm sure that without the encouragement of the JVCA president in 2010-2011 and the amount of interaction the JVCA president in 2011-2012 made, I wouldn't have continued going to JVCA. I would still be very shy. The Lone Cosplayers gatherings I did for Anime Expo the past two years probably wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have been able to make friends there. I wouldn't have went to MangaNEXT. AnimeNEXT 2012 wouldn't have been very exciting. Otakon 2012 might not have happened. Again, I wouldn't have been able to make friends there and a lot of the good things that came from me going to Otakon wouldn't have happened. Well, I won't continue on with that because I don't need to.
I hope that JVCA continues to be great, and after helping out in the Involvement Fair (cosplaying as Kirito) and going to the meeting afterwards, things are looking good.