Clubs prepare students for post-high school

By Tess McIntyre,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Many clubs on campus help students prepare for life outside of high school.

A handful of clubs require community service, which many students, including junior Isabella Domby, feel help them prepare for adult life.

“I’m in Key Club and National Honor Society, and they give me experience in what it’s like to participate in community service. I think communicating and connecting with others was a valuable lesson to learn from these clubs,” Domby said.

Sophomore Adam Brugger also participates in NHS, and he feels that volunteering in the community and at school events “teaches us about the importance of helping your community and working hard.”

While clubs like Key Club and NHS help students be active community members, other clubs help students with their study skills. For example, junior Erin Lovell participates in Academic Decathlon, where she studies everything having to do with Africa in order to prepare for quiz-based tournaments.

“I think AcaDeca prepares me for college because it emphasizes the importance of study skills, a prominent part of college life,” Lovell said. “Also, a section of the tournament testing is an interview, which is a skill that will help me with real life job applications.”

Clubs can also be a gateway for learning, where members can become more knowledgeable about other people, cultures and subjects.

Junior Vinita Saxena, president of Best Buddies, believes that the program broadens members’ perspective of the world close to us.

“Best Buddies provides opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities and those without to have a one-to-one friendship, and it will help you know how to interact with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the future,” Saxena said.

Meanwhile, junior Maria Andrade thinks Model United Nations gives her a better perspective on other countries.

“In Model UN we represent a country and we talk about current events and what our country’s thoughts are on those current events. It teaches me about international news and what other countries laws are that influence their opinion on the news,” Andrade said.

Andrade also said that Model UN helps with her public speaking skills, and that “being able to speak in front of a big group is important in life.”

Junior Vasanth Kumar participates in the debating portion of Speech and Debate. According to Kumar, when he first joined Speech and Debate, he “really didn’t know the extent of how much it would prepare me for being a human being.”

Kumar focuses on Lincoln-Douglas debate, in which participants have to study and analyze current events and philosophy.

“I didn’t even know anything about philosophy before I started debate, but because I joined debate, I was forced to learn more about it,” Kumar said.