With over 50 clubs presenting and looking out for new members at Freshman Orientation’s club fair this year, Westborough High School’s extracurriculars seemed to be that much more competitive. Our school has always been one that prioritizes the balance of sports, clubs, and academics, but does this emphasis come at the expense of such a demanding club culture within our school?
Just this year, dozens of new clubs were created by aspiring students who wanted to share their interests with others or just be able to say that they started a club. With such a diverse range of clubs, all with unique goals that represent different things and people, it seems like each club is finding it a bit more difficult to get properly recognized and seen. On the positive side, it allows for kids to pick a club that fits specifically what they are interested in.
Especially when it comes to meeting days, feasible times for everyone only exist within the 3 middle days of the week when the late bus runs. Unfortunately, this means that club leaders have to deal with smaller numbers with their members having to choose which of their clubs to attend every week. Coming from someone who is part of several clubs that overlap, it becomes more and more difficult to choose which important activity to attend on a certain day.
Similarly, when it comes to the students participating in these clubs, aligning and signing up for which ones you want becomes that much more difficult. Each club requires a sign-up on FamilyID for the student to get officially registered within a club. This is important for the clubs to keep going as they depend on a certain number of members each year to stay. Despite this, it becomes confusing when signing up for around 3 clubs can cost you $75, even if the club is officially a community service one. This can get especially confusing for students and can make committing to a certain club a tougher process as it is hard to pay for every club you want to be a part of.
Furthermore, for the activities within the club itself, event ideas may get competitive. Everyone always wants to have that edge that can bring in more members and have a real impact, whether it is a social event or a fundraiser. Especially at the beginning of the year, with the chaos for informational meetings, even introductory club events get convoluted because unique ideas become not so appealing to people anymore if several other clubs are doing the same thing.
Even right now, we have at least three food/clothes/item drives going on that are all for great causes and the community, but it becomes a real issue if students are not sure which to support or contribute to. Though this is seemingly not that big of an issue, it can be detrimental to clubs if the events that they worked so hard on are not achieving the results they expected. When it comes to bigger events, having so many clubs complicates things for everyone, and at some point, you have to wonder if it is just too much.
On the note of the number of clubs, it isn’t difficult to try and consider why. Why are so many clubs popping up seemingly out of the blue? In consideration of the prioritized “well-rounded student” persona in the school, it isn’t hard to see a connection. It connects the student to be responsible, organized, and ambitious; it also looks really good on college applications. People always want something that helps them stand out, and having a big successful club can do just that. It does come at the cost of a struggling freshman class who can’t decide which of the compelling clubs to attend and the hardworking club leaders who have to deal with the competitive club culture at the school.
Overall, the dozens of clubs at the school are special and important to what makes WHS students so ambitious and smart, but it can add a layer of difficulty for everyone if it goes too far. The question is if clubs will be able to find a strong balance in which each one can succeed with each of their endeavors without being detrimental to another or if this is simply the result of so many groups within the school.
