Graphic by Sesame Gaetsaloe/ The Choate News
In early August, two weeks before students were set to return to campus, the School announced that their return to in-person classes would be pushed back until the first week of October. Suddenly, many extracurricular activities that students had hoped to experience in person, such as clubs and events hosted by the Student Activities Center (SAC), turned to virtual platforms.
Last Sunday, September 20, the SAC hosted the School’s first virtual Club Fair, an event usually held at the beginning of the school year for both new and returning students to sign up for clubs they are interested in. However, instead of packing themselves into booths on the Hill House quad, the representatives of each club found themselves sitting behind screens in individual Zoom meetings. After being sent a lengthy directory of Choate’s clubs and organizations along with their mission statements and Zoom link, interested students were asked to join clubs’ virtual meeting rooms.
For returning students attending Club Fair, it was harder to get the same sense of community and spontaneous conversation that they experienced at the in-person fair.
“I feel like the dynamic has changed,” said Sophia Dubbelde ’23. “During in-person Club Fair, everyone’s behind their table, yelling at kids who are walking by them to come check out their club. But for this Club Fair, it’s about everyone who reads the description of your club and thinks it’s interesting.”
However, she also expressed that there were benefits to having a virtual Club Fair. “It is nice to engage with people one-on-one in a much calmer setting. Sometimes you have a conversation with them and can check on what they’re doing. When you’re at Club Fair, people are always running,” said Dubbelde.
To keep this sense of intimacy, many clubs have been trying to strategically adapt to the online platform. For Quiz Bowl, this meant creating a Discord server to continue fostering a sense of community amongst its members. Each club had a different approach, but they all made sure to establish a connection with their members.
The transition to virtual activities has also caused many other changes surrounding student activities. Notably, new club proposals are no longer being accepted by the Committee on Student Activities (COSA). “Their reasoning for not accepting club proposals was more led by the SAC, as we identified there were a lot of clubs struggling last spring term.” said Ms. Colleen Kazar, Assistant Director of Student Activities. “Our goal in the fall is to get all the clubs that currently exist back on track and then be able to open for more clubs hopefully in the winter, although the timeline is to be determined.”
Many students are reluctant to participate in online clubs, tired from long days Zoom classes or simply busy with activities at home. Though there are still weekend activities available, the level of attendance has dramatically decreased. “Zoom fatigue is a real thing. It’s hard to plan events on Fridays and Saturdays when students are tired of being on Zoom. Now they have the opportunity to be with family and possibly friends, so it’s a lot different in attendance because there are more options for them outside of school and outside of Zoom,” said Ms. Alex Long, Director of Student Activities.
Though student activities may have experienced some unexpected changes over the past month, the SAC is still trying its best to create ways for the Choate community to enjoy each other’s company and have fun virtually.
