The life Of An Online Club Member
By Isabella Smarro, Managing Editor
As someone who’s deeply involved with many clubs such as the Hudsonian and being Vice-President of the Theatre Club, I have strong opinions of my own about doing everything online. However, I wanted to learn about what other students and staff thought of it all.
Joseph Stenard, the faculty adviser for Investment Club, Upstate Gamers Club and Hacky Pack Club would rather be meeting in person if it were possible.
“We prefer in-person because life is a contact sport,” Stenard stated.
Emilia Tippins, a member of the Student Christian Association Club shared a similar sentiment.
“I would rather have in-person meetings not only because there is lag on Zoom, but because being in the presence of other people is a completely different experience with more human-to-human contact and better support from those around you,” Tippins said.
Club meetings via Zoom aren’t ideal, but some people are seeing the bright side of it.
“I like doing meetings on Zoom because it is a lot more convenient,” said Kiley Peterson, the Theatre Club’s President.
Julie Peterson, the Theatre Club’s adviser, also shares some aspects she enjoys regarding meetings on Zoom.
“It’s very easy to be able to meet up with people from the comfort of your own home. Also, we can do activities we wouldn’t normally do in person.”
Some students see both sides of the Zoom like Logan Simms, the President of the Student Christian Association and Chairman of the Investment Club.
“It is better than not meeting, but nowhere near the levels of enjoyment when meeting in person,” stated Simms.
Many students and staff at HVCC are still trying to be as involved as possible in their clubs.
The Theatre Club plays improv games for most of its Zoom time and in between acting, the members love to connect and just have a good time.
“During one meeting, members dubbed old movies and commercials that I played via screen-share, sort of like the show ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000.’ People were pretty creative with their on-the-spot dialogue,” said Julie Demers, a member of the club.
“For Theatre Club, I’ve been using the student announcements and campus announcements to get the word out, shared the club information with my department and to all of my classes,” she continued.
Other clubs have also been trying to return to normal activities virtually.
“For Student Christian Association, we study the scriptures and look at how to apply them in our daily life. We also volunteer at a local food bank. For the Investment Club, we focus on financial literacy and teaching investment strategies. We manage a real-money portfolio currently totaling $34K,” said Simms.
Adding on to what Logan said, Mr. Stenard proudly announces that “we will have a real estate expert as a guest in April.”
“We appear in “The Chronicle” every Wednesday with the link to join a Zoom meeting at 3:00 p.m. This durable link is also on the club website under ‘Student Activities.’ We also promote the guest speakers by asking teachers to share it with their classes,” said Joseph Stenard about Investment Club.
The Hudsonian itself uses Zoom to meet every Monday at 2 p.m.
If you have a question about joining a club, don’t shy away from the “Clubs and Organizations” page on HVCC’s website. You can also e-mail me at I-smarro@hvcc.edu with any questions and I’ll gladly send you to the right person.