By: Lubaba Mahmud, Staff Writer
From drones to choir, SFU offers an impressive variety of clubs for its students. Whether you want to unwind and relax, learn valuable life skills or meet like-minded people, there’s a club for you!
The 2019 SFSS Fall Club Days were held September 10–12 on Burnaby Campus. Convocation Mall was abuzz with music and lively chatter as the festive event took place. Club representatives eagerly welcomed students to their respective tables with warm smiles and enticing sweet treats. From 11 a.m.–3 p.m. over 100 club representatives were present each day of the event to inform students about their club’s activities and aims.
Many curious students listened to club pitches intently as they discovered exciting new opportunities. As students lined up to join the clubs, club executives’ smiles seemed to become wider with each new addition to the sign-up sheet. Small crowds strolled from table to table looking for clubs that aligned with their interest. Each table was decorated with colorful banners, leaflets, bag pins, freebies, award crests, or jerseys — anything to captivate students as they passed by.
There were quite a few unique clubs present in the event. For example, Musician Impact Network Society is comprised of SFU students who volunteer to go to health care facilities, such as senior homes, in Metro Vancouver to give musical performances. Another interesting club is Team Guardian, which designs, builds, and sends drones meant to solve “urgent, everyday issues,” like monitoring animal populations, according to an article on SFU’s website. Club representative Nipun says “Students should join our club to get the hands-on experience of not just software and hardware [of drones] but also of talking to companies [to negotiate contracts].”
James Thomson of the * Sports Analytics Club, a club that looks at the math and data analysis associated with sports (think the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball), states “[To join], you just have to have an interest in sports and a question you want to ask.”
When asked about their experience of visiting Club Days, students had nothing but positive things to say in regards to the liveliness and amount of people. Amanda, a first year student, said that she had never been in an environment like this before, so it was a very interesting experience for her — she intends to join a number of clubs.
Clubs showcased many types of talents during the event. Channel II, a K-pop dance club, gave a spectacular performance on the second day of the event. Clad in all black, a group of five dancers attracted a large crowd as they danced to the song ‘Snapping’ by Chung Ha. Members of Peak Frequency, a long-time music-oriented club, performed solo musical numbers as onlookers were seen excitedly snapchatting the song.
Overall, visiting Club Days was a great way for students to expand their co-curricular interests and interact with each other. The event was a good reminder that SFU has much more to offer than a degree, namely the chance for students to follow their passion outside of academics.
