The K-Club is an extracurricular club focused on bringing together a community of passionate K-pop fans at Aliso Niguel. It is run by co-presidents Rosemarie Gariblade (11) and Donna Zerehgar (11). The club also has a vice president, Dulce Garcia (11), a treasurer, Lauren Melchor (11) and a secretary, Janelle Enriquez (12). The advisor is Ms. Lane, and meetings are usually every few weeks on a Thursday in Room 609.
The K-Club was actually a long-standing club until the pandemic. Luckily, the club was formed again two years ago. It was perfect timing because many of its current members got interested in K-pop over the pandemic.
Rosemarie Garibalde (11), one of the co-presidents, shares why she decided to run the club: “I actually got into K-pop in elementary school because I was going through a rap phase! Eventually, I saw RM from BTS rap, and that’s how it started.”
An average club meeting consists of members getting situated in the classroom to eat lunch while K-pop music videos are projected, usually of recently released songs. However, there are times where the club hosts special events and activities. The most recent meeting on Feb. 8 provided members the chance to decorate photo cards and sleeves with pictures of K-pop stars.
Lauren Melchor (11), the treasurer, shares that the club is a collaborative group that values every member’s opinion: “We have a group chat, and everyone puts their ideas in there. Then, we review them to see what we can do at the next meeting.”
She also explains that they mainly gain members through connections that people have through the members. That’s why having a club group chat is functional, though they are looking at other methods of communication with the upcoming Club Rush where brand new people are able to join.
Although everyone in the club is a K-pop fan, there are so many different groups that there isn’t one specific group or K-pop star that is focused on during meetings. However, Lauren comments that the club is mostly boy group based, though they also appreciate the girl groups. Popular boy groups that members talk about are BTS and Tomorrow X Together, and popular girl groups include NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM.
The club is mainly focused on K-pop music, but many members are also drawn to watching K-dramas in their free time. Some have shared that they have subconsciously picked up some phrases in Korean because of all their exposure to the language, as songs and dramas are written with a mixture of English and Korean.
Ideas for what to do at meetings are on a month-to-month basis to allow members to provide any suggestions for activities. However, Rosemarie says that a future activity could be a Random Play Dance, where members can show off their dance moves to various different K-pop songs. Overall, the K-Club is very excited about opening their doors to new members from this spring’s Club Rush and plans to set up an introductory meeting soon.
