Student organizations give freshmen opportunities to build bonds

Clubs are a significant part of UCLA students’ lifestyles. Daily Bruin Radio talks to club members and incoming freshmen at orientation to find out which organizations students are interested in.

TRANSCRIPT:

PHAN: Class enrollment periods have passed, students have prepared their academic schedules for fall quarter and orientation began earlier this month for the incoming class of 2018. However, maybe just as important to a well-rounded college experience is what happens out of the classroom.

“I want to join one of the dance groups.”
“I want to join the club Ultimate Frisbee team. It seems like a fun way to meet people.”
“The Dragon Boat club – I thought it was really cool, so I’m going to look at that one.”
“I want to join a sorority because it looks really fun.”

PHAN: With hundreds of clubs and student organizations listed in UCLA’s online student group directory, students have a plethora of choices for potential extracurricular activities.

“I’m definitely going to rush, and I did Model UN in high school – I liked it, and it’s the type of thing that looks good on a grad school application. And I was talking to the running club guy and he seemed really laid-back. It’s sort of what I’m looking for …”

PHAN: Some students may come to college already with an idea of what to look for. For others coming to UCLA, freshman orientation is their first exposure to the campus’ student organizations. And while the freshmen wander the booths and tables set up on the patio of the Terrace Food Court during each freshman orientation, the clubs’ representatives stationed there all vie for their attention.

“Basically, we’ve been using these Otter Pops to get people over to get their attention–”

PHAN 4: Flyers and popsicles in hand, UCLA Homecoming members have been attracting new recruits with a cool reprieve from the summer heat in the form of Otter Pops and tank tops, which they gave out in exchange for social media followers. When we spoke with Kevin Yang, a third-year biology student and member of UCLA Homecoming, he had already mastered his pitch.

YANG: “We’re an organization of about 40 people, and we help put on Homecoming week, which is going to be fourth week of fall quarter. There will be a lot of events going on: There’s going to be the big football game, there’s going to be a ‘fund-rager’ to raise money for UniCamp (our official philanthropy). We’ll have food trucks, shows … it’ll be a lot of fun events during that week!”

PHAN: By speaking with club representatives during orientation, freshmen get the chance to discover organizations that can offer more than just something to do in your free time, as fourth-year psychobiology student Jonathon Lê and third-year psychobiology student Lorraine Cheng, members of the Pre-Optometry Society, explain.

: So what we do is we inform students about the optometry profession, and we bring in some people from graduate programs, and they come and they represent their schools and tell us about their programs, what they do …

CHENG: We give them a pathway to get into optometry school, opportunities to volunteer, internships …

PHAN: And beyond professional organizations and recreation, student organizations are an easy way to meet other students with similar values and to establish relationships.

WONG: We first tell them about Dragon Boat, and then we emphasize how aside from being a sports team, we have a lot of socials. In addition to that, we show off our first-place medals and trophies.

PHAN: The co-ed rowing club, Dragon Boat, has its members train literally side by side which helps create bonds within the group that Rebecca Wong, third-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student and member of Dragon Boat, describes as …

WONG: … more than a team – it’s kind of a family, and you build a lot of really strong relationships with people while you’re on it.

PHAN: With so many clubs, organizations and students groups established at UCLA, joining one as a freshman provides the perfect opportunity to meet new people and participate in interests outside of academics, be it sports, professional development or just finding a group of kindred spirits.

“I actually didn’t get a chance to check out all the booths, but there was a club that I found over Facebook. If they are still around, I am going to do research on it …”

PHAN: For Daily Bruin Radio, I’m Stephen Phan.

Read more here: http://dailybruin.com/2014/07/28/student-organizations-give-freshmen-opportunities-to-build-bonds/
Copyright 2024