With the start of a new school year comes the start of another club rush, many new founded clubs and many returning clubs from past years. Is it easy to own a club? Is it worth joining a club? What are the values of clubs at Aliso Niguel High School this year?
For Enrique Gonzalez, President of Student Atlas, the process of starting a club can be “very easy as starting small, especially if you already have friends that are willing to join and help you.” Simple forms can be easily filled out as to decisions like picking vice president, secretary and treasurer, when starting a new club.
While it is easy to start off small, Enrique says, “It is difficult for a club to achieve bigger goals or to expand in general because of the policies at the school.” Raising money for clubs can be difficult, getting the right timing to turn in and overall success of fundraising of clubs can be difficult with no prior funding in the first place.
Due to the lack of easy funding for clubs at the school, Deven Tata, past Treasurer of Reverse Engineering club, “It’s pretty common for clubs to start off strong with two or three meetings, they slowly die down and meetings become less frequent.” Many reasons can be found for this except funding for clubs, clubs are usually made up of only friends, or the “lack of enthusiasm for clubs” said Enrique.
Club rush, the event for students to participate and sign up for clubs of their choosing, but are they really as enthusiastic for the clubs? Caleb Ulrich, Vice President of Student Atlas, goes to answer “Club rush is honestly just people just walking around, not really to find anything to dedicate to, just for the food and candy and small prizes.” Many students don’t seem to be genuinely interested in many of the clubs, as to clubs also dying down after some time.
Then what do students genuinely look for when applying to clubs and putting in dedication? That comes from the differences in clubs and what they have to offer to the students. Frequent, dedicated students are usually higher achieving, aiming for clubs that would look good to apply to their college applications. Some clubs purely made for fun like Scribble Party owned by Sarah Hernandez would be lower on the priority list for students, clubs like the ANHS Key Club owned by Cindy Yaqi are more academically focused and organizations beyond the school, becoming important clubs to apply for college applications.
Although it can be difficult for clubs to thrive without funding, dedicated students and appeal. Clubs allow for smaller communities within the school of similar interests and potential to grow. These communities can become bigger and valuable experiences for students at Aliso Niguel High School.
