To those unaware or currently on the fence about joining a club, current members of various clubs have offered their opinions on why club participation can be beneficial to both students and the general campus community.<\/p>\n
![\"music](\"\/echo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Katlyn-House-300x200.jpg\")
\u201cIt\u2019s a really, really good way to be social,\u201d says Katlyn House of her participation in the Music Tech Club, pictured alongside the club\u2019s president, Eddie Otterness.<\/p><\/div>\n
Mallory Stahl, president of the French Club, finds that it gives her an academic boost.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost everyone who is taking French is automatically in the club,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re struggling with something in French 1, for instance, you can join the club because there will be someone who has already done that class who can help you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, as a business major, she finds the option to hold leadership positions in clubs are good experience. \u201cBeing president gives me a step up so I can reach out to my peers,\u201d Stahl said.<\/p>\n
Similar clubs, like Art and Design, Music Tech or Engineering\/Physics have a similar academic focus, which provides students in those programs with another opportunity to learn more skills in their field while interacting with students who share similar goals.<\/p>\n
![\"auto](\"\/echo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/AutoClub-option1-300x200.jpeg\")
Auto Club President Tyler Hoeff, right, and club Secretary Mason Stuhldreher, left, promote their group on Campus Club Expo day, complete with a spiffy poster and free pop. Hoeff explains that \u201cI\u2019m in Auto Tech, and having auto club just adds more to what I learn.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n
Mason Stuhldreher, secretary of the Auto Club, finds that club attendance \u201cshows who really has the same interest level as you. I\u2019m in school but I\u2019m also in Auto Club because this is what I really want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, for others club involvement is more about the social aspect and is seen as a way to meet others with similar interests and make friends on campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really, really good way to be social,\u201d said Katlyn House, a member of the Music Tech Club. \u201cI wasn\u2019t very social before this club. It\u2019s a really good way to meet people. I\u2019ve made some really good friends through this club.\u201d<\/p>\n
GSA member Tori Williams has had the same experiences and remarked that her involvement with the club \u201cgives me a way to feel like I belong and am accepted. Now that I now there are people like me, I feel like I belong here.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"student](\"\/echo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/GSA-club-1024x684.jpg\")
Echo photos by Lydia Hansen
Tori Williams, left, and Molly Bluhm, right, of the Gay Straight Alliance club. Bluhm believes club membership \u201cgives students a way to express who they really are. A lot of times people don\u2019t have a place to make their voice heard like this.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n
Art Club adviser Jeff Jacobsen reported similar testimonies from past and present Art Club members.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had students tell me that the reason they got through college was because the club helped them make friends and get through school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jacobsen also said that while attendance can fluctuate wildly from week to week as well as from year to year, one of the advantages that clubs have is that they are open to everyone, regardless of their major or past experience. Many of the members of Art Club are not actually taking art classes.<\/p>\n
However, for some students, clubs are a way to step away from the world of academics and relax with friends. \u201cYou have somewhere to vent off some steam,\u201d said Josh Flatten, a member of the Table Top Gaming Club.<\/p>\n
Regardless of how or why students choose to get involved with student clubs, the door is always open for those who are interested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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