Hornets Buzz Through Club Fair

Students search for after-school activities.

Photo Credit: Reem Hamaida

By JULISSA RICHARDS

“In this school of 4,200 kids, it can feel like you’re a tiny fish in a huge ocean, so rooms like Pride Club are crazy important,” said Jay Forrest ’19. 

This was the kind of mindset many new and old hornets had, whether or not they were looking for a club or advertising their club, when they went to the club fair on Wednesday, October 17 in the cafeteria during 11th period. 

This was Midwood’s third annual club fair, which was founded in the spring of 2016 by former Midwood Mayor Joyce Chen ’18, with the help of Mr. Kolotkin. This fair allows all the clubs in Midwood, from academic to cultural, to showcase their club and persuade students to join, as long as club officers signed their club up ahead of time. 

“Compared to last year’s club fair, this year’s was significantly larger. Many more clubs showed up and the attendees increased as well,” said Junior Class President Jonathan Li. 

The majority of these students are freshmen and sophomores since they are still new to the school. The K-Pop club caught everybody’s attention when they broke out into multiple performances. Yu Mei ’20, one of the members, performed a dance solo. They were followed by the step team, who captivated the audience with their loud chants, claps, and powerful stomping. 

Christina Wu ’19 said, “It was a great experience to be able to interact with other students with similar interests.”

Other clubs chose a more subtle approach by having conversations with possible new members. One of these clubs was the TedEd club, which is a safe place for students to go to inspire as well as embrace other students and their ideas and opinions. This club is a new club that was started by its president, Lelani Pacific-Jack ’20, and its vice president, Kimberly Smith ’20. 

“We’re in a really diverse school, so everybody should hear what everybody has to say,” said Pacific-Jack.

Smith added, “We’re really focusing on what the students want, what the students need, and we cater to your passion.” 

Besides promoting the various clubs at Midwood, the club fair also helps incoming freshmen and newly transferred sophomores  find their own niche in a place where there’s so many people with different personalities, cultures, and beliefs.

Noreth Kendall ’21 said, “It’s really, really crowded, but it’s a really good opportunity for kids to come and speak to different people.”

The crowdedness was a common theme at the fair, but at such a big school like Midwood, that’s to be expected, and there isn’t much the school can do about this problem. 

Kiandra Peart, senior president, said, “This year’s fair was better because we were able to learn from our mistakes last year. Before it was very crowded because the tables were too close and there weren’t that many clubs. But this year we reached out to more clubs had more performances and more space.”

Despite the crowds, the fair was a success, with numerous clubs gaining a number of new comrades.   

In case you missed the club fair, check the weekly student newsletter email or the wall outside the office of student affairs (Room 417) for club information.