After another year of remote clubs, BSGE has finally made the switch back to holding clubs in person. Starting this year in 2022, with new school administrators as well as lightened restrictions, clubs have finally had the opportunity to bring themselves back into the school building.
Although this return may feel familiar to many older students at BSGE, many students may have not experienced in-person clubs before this school year. These new experiences have already proved to be drastically different from their remote counterparts. One primary difference between these experiences is the ability to better socialize within in-person clubs; as stated by Lyla Black, a current BSGE Junior, “In-person clubs have made it much more inviting to stay after school with friends.”
Especially for younger grades, clubs may act as a primary after-school activity. This time can be used to spend time with friends and to build stronger relationships with others. Clubs act as important community-building activities and can also simply act as a time to relax and unwind from the school day. Additionally, clubs are a good way for students to explore new activities and interests.
Especially within clubs that are more community-oriented, the ability to meet in person creates an entirely new dynamic. When referring to online clubs throughout the 2021-22 school year, current BSGE Junior Nicholas Asca describes, “They were alright. It didn’t really feel like I was a part of much, only because I was sitting behind a screen every time we met.”
The change to in-person clubs makes it much easier for club leaders to interact with their members and to make them feel more included in activities.
Holding clubs online put major limits on how students could interact with each other and how engaged they were in a club meeting. Also explained by BSGE Junior Lyla Black in regard to clubs, “The in-person format has made them a lot more comfortable. The environment is much more casual when you can have side conversations with people and just stop by clubs to see what’s going on.”
The switch to in-person clubs certainly pushes for further engagement; sitting behind a computer screen makes it much easier to become distracted or simply inactive during meets. Such advantages to in-person clubs give students more incentive to join them in the first place. Compared to last year’s clubs when meets were often lonely and mundane, students are now more open to help support the BSGE community. Students once again have the ability to attend clubs with their friends or to make new ones through them.
Overall, this year’s reintroduction of in-person clubs to BSGE has already proved to be beneficial in many ways for both newer and older students.
