Harry Potter? Mountain Biking? This and More at the Club Fair

SDA’s first club fair of the year gave students a chance to explore both brand-new and long-standing clubs during homeroom and lunch on Friday.

From the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) to the Big Sister club to the Harry Potter club, almost every interest was represented. Students were able to peruse the selection of clubs, while enjoying music, dancing, and face painting done by GSA. Additionally, during lunch, students cooled off with acai bowls from Sambazon.

Senior Blake Stoner-Osborne, an officer of the National Honor Society and president of GSA, represented both clubs and vied for new members from the side-by-side booths. Stoner-Osborne gave insight into the benefits of NHS: “You can help people around campus in a really small way just by tutoring and it’s really appreciated.”

As an active member of multiple clubs, Stoner-Osborne noted that SDA has a lot to offer its students in terms of its clubs. “There’s such a wide variety,” he said. “It’s so diverse and everyone can find something no matter what they’re looking for”

Senior Arturo Diaz also stood out in the sun on Friday at a booth for his club, Club Mexico, which he hopes will give students an introduction to Mexican culture. On the general idea of clubs, Diaz said, “Clubs are a good way to get know people, but not just people, just to do new stuff. If you’re just hanging out at lunch and you have nothing to do and you’re like ‘What do I do?’ I’ll just go to this dope club [and] have some fun.’”

For senior Kelly Luong, the club fair presented an opportunity to recruit members for her brand-new club, the Big Sister club. Through the club, which offers an opportunity for junior girls to become “big sisters” to freshman girls, Luong hopes to create a support system for the girls and to help the freshmen find their way. For Luong, clubs are about both new opportunities and self-expression. “It’s how you meet like-minded people at your school and it’s a good way to express yourself,” Luong said.

As the president of the Women’s Rights club, junior Daniela Burrows used her booth at the club fair to express the importance of understanding women’s rights in today’s society. “Western feminism is something that is often overlooked and degraded by people now and it’s important to show people that there are still issues that need to be addressed,” Burrows said.

According to Burrows, the club will be working with a representative from Girl Up from the UN this year.

Senior Gabi Gjata participated in this year’s club fair to advertise for the Interact club, which is a community service club that works on both local and global projects.

For Gjata SDA’s club fair sets it apart from other schools. “It’s something that makes SDA unique because we’ve been doing this for such a long time and it really just showcases what SDA has to offer,” said Gjata.