Just like the title of this post, today, we are going to talk about clubs! I really believe in the importance of joining different clubs: you can reach out to other people, you can explore your interests as well as diving deeper into these interests, and, of course, you can do a lot of fun things there! But to solely join a club is not very interesting and impressive, right? That’s why today, I am going to talk about starting your own club!
For many of you guys right now, starting a club may sound like something very arduous and hard to do, right? Wrong! While to start a club does require a lot of things, to start one yourself (or with others) isn’t hard at all - I have had this experience myself, and I can confidently tell you that you are going to do it just fine! Hence, this post will be dedicated to the full guide that you need in order to start your own club at your school!
First and foremost, you must think to yourself: “what am I passionate about?”. I know, I know, you may have a lot of different interests (after all, high school is meant to be the time for us to explore what we like and what we want to do, right?), but try to think: what are you VERY into, and what is something that you envision yourself doing a long time? Then, after having figured out what your ultimate choice is, figure out if a club already exists with the goal aligning with your interests. Ideally, it should be something that hasn't been done in other clubs!
The next step after you have thought of the idea for the club is to reach out to a teacher. I would prefer teachers who teach subjects that are closely related to the club idea - for example, when opening my school’s psychology club, I have asked the school counselor to be the supervisor for it! You can either just come talk to them or email them about your idea, but either way, when you’re trying to persuade that teacher into supervising your club, be genuine and enthusiastic in your speech/writing - teachers want to see that you are actually interested in opening the club, and that you are suitable in running the club.
Alright, so the hard part has gone - ideally, now, you should have had the approval of that teacher as well as the school about opening the club. But, before you start to recruit members (students from your school), it is very important that you have a club about your club. We all want our clubs to follow a structure and actually make an impact to society, right, hence we can’t just not plan for the club and do something random in meetings - that is not sustainable in the long run, and chances are no one is going to attend your club meetings anymore. Personally, I would plan out the club several months in advance so that one, I actually know what is going on in the club, and two, so that the meetings follow a structure and are actually heading towards certain goals. I can also plan out the whole year in advance, but I will not encourage you all to do that, since basically there are factors that may affect the “smoothness” of the plan, and then you will have to be flexible by adjusting the plan in an appropriate way. For example, I would like to host a play three months later with a total of 15 members, but then by that time there are only 4 people left, so I can’t host it anymore. For additional support, reach out to the teacher you are asking to be your supervisor to help you with planning the club.
The next part, which is both the most exciting and “scariest” part, is to recruit members. Something that you should keep in mind before starting a club is that chances are, people are not just going to come to your club as soon as you’re opening. And along with that, don’t be too disappointed when you want the club to have 20 members but then only 5 people show up. With that in mind, you must always have a coping mechanism to that: what if too few people show up? By having that second plan, you can be more flexible in case too few people join the club. But, coming back to the recruiting part, it’s time to promote your club! Something that I have learned from opening a club is that you should be shameless when it comes to advertising your club - no, like really! Don’t be afraid to post your advertisement online, or hang them out all over the school - try hard, but don’t let people have the perception that you are being too desperate to recruit members. A tactic that you can do is to reach out to younger students, especially those who have come to school. These kids are still confused with the functioning of the school as a whole, so by asking them to join the club, they will have a tendency to actually join it!
After you have informed people of joining the club, the next step is to host your first meeting. Be very careful when organizing your first meeting - the first meeting will be the first impression of the students in your club, and if you don’t meet their expectations in your first meeting, chances are they will not join the second meeting. I know, the first meeting can be very scary for you all, especially those who haven’t had that much experience with speaking in front of a crowd, the majority of which are faces that are unfamiliar to you. But try your best to make a lasting impression through your first meeting - there are many ways in which you can achieve this. For some people that I know, the approach they are taking is that they will make people there play games - games are obviously fun, right? Others, when hosting the first club meeting, emphasize on the importance of the club, and discuss what people (members) will be able to gain from joining the club. It honestly depends on the type of club you want to open, but the rule here is to do something that will make people remember about your club, and will make them want to join the next meeting.
Great, you have successfully hosted your first meeting, and hopefully captured the attention of other members in the club. In club meetings after that, continue to engage people in the club, and start to inform them about the path that the club will take. Remember: if some members are gone, it’s okay! Be proud of yourself and your achievement!
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