Baking Braves, Spanish Club, Math Club. Check, check, and check. The student thinks these three clubs will please an admissions counselor, proving he is well rounded, involved in school, and has varied interests.
Unfortunately, the counselor cannot see that the applicant attended five of the weekly meetings for Math Club all school year, and only attended the holiday parties for Spanish Club and Baking Braves. The counselor does not know the student dislikes math, but simply joined the club for an academic extra-curricular on the application.
Across campus clubs are being taken advantage of and it needs to stop. A club has become something to write on a resume or an application. Clubs are activities that can be fun, help students discover their passions, and practice important life skills like leadership.
Hundreds of students flow through the numerous tri-fold boards and excited representatives of Rush Week to sign up for clubs, but one can be in too many clubs. Students have good intentions when joining clubs. However, students are busy and can lack the time needed to attend meetings and be involved. This does not excuse taking credit for a club they never participated in.
When one takes credit for clubs he is not involved in, he loses an opportunity to learn, a college admissions counselor has been given false information, and the club is left with fewer people to accomplish a task they planned based on the number of people registered as “members.”
Having friends sign in for people at meetings or showing up to only the “fun” events does not give one the full club experience and is unsatisfactory and irresponsible.
Clubs need to begin implementing stricter attendance schedules and incorporating roll calls, or instituting minimum number of attendances in a semester or quarter. Measures need to be taken to make sure club members are actively involved and participating.
The Spanish Club and Boone Animal Rescue Club are prime examples in the use of these tactics. While “are all welcome,” to advance to Spanish Honor Society a member must attend enough meetings and other Spanish Club activities, to reach the point value necessary for admission to SHS. Attendance is tracked through a sign in sheet, and points are tracked through a log officers keep all year.
BARC institutes the three strike rule. If a member misses a meeting, does not come to an event he signed up for or fails to meet the eight hours of community service with animal related causes, he acquires a strike. BARC has found the system affective, and as a result, members are more actively involved in the club.
Clubs can be an enjoyable and constructive use of time when the right ones are chosen. Joining clubs can help members find out how much they like a certain cause, culture or activity. In Social Justice Club there are future humanitarians; in Student Government there are future politicians.
When students become too busy to dedicate time and effort to all of their clubs, they are overcommitted. With that said, dropping a club is okay, especially if one finds himself lacking the time needed for dedication and real commitment to the club.
Clubs are not meant to make a high school experience more hectic but they can diversify a high school experience and make it more enjoyable, but only if the student is willing to be dedicated. No dedication leads to no benefits for anyone, and claiming to be a well-rounded applicant while really being good at signing in at the minimum number of meetings is unacceptable.
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