Nearly 20 student-run clubs and organizations lined the Raider Walk on Feb. 23 and 24 to participate in Club Rush.
Held every semester by the Associated Students of Moorpark College, Club Rush is an opportunity for students to explore themselves and interact with their college community.
ASMC Director of Academic Affairs Christopher Ojeda talked about the benefits of students joining clubs at Moorpark College.
“Joining clubs is a good way of exploring different career paths and interacting with people that share different and similar ideas, and just overall contributes to being a well-rounded individual,” said Ojeda.
Each club present at the club rush was stationed at a booth, where they advertised themselves with posters and graphics. Some clubs handed out free goodies such as clothes or candy.
Two different food trucks were present during different days of the event. A Mister Softee truck offered soft serve ice cream, while another truck catered middle eastern food. If students visited at least three different club booths, ASMC awarded them a ticket that could be exchanged for free food.
For many clubs, finding and attracting new members is the most important part of Club Rush.
Mikayla Conley, president of the Women’s Wrestling Club, spoke about why she started her own wrestling club.
“I’m starting up a wrestling club for women because we already have a men’s wrestling team, and women’s wrestling is a growing sport right now at the college level,” said Conley. “There’s not very many girls on the wrestling team right now, so I’m going to be one of the only ones competing this semester and representing Moorpark.”
The Women in Engineering, Math and Science Club strives to create a sense of community in places where it is lacking. President of the WEMS club, Chance Gish talked about why she started the WEMS club.
“The sciences in academia are pretty male-dominated. I always felt like women and femmes need a place where they have a community,” said Gish. “A place where they can talk to people who can relate to their experiences and feel supported, and not alone and isolated like we often feel in male-dominated classes and fields.”
Nancy Rios, vice president of the No Borders Club, spoke about how and why her club was created.
“We just recently formed four months ago, since we saw that there wasn’t another club talking about immigrant communities or anything of that sort,” Rios said. “There’s a lot that needs to be talked about and I feel like it’s not talked about as much as it should be.”
Rios also elaborated on how important a sense of community among immigrant and undocumented students is.
“I certainly feel alone sometimes, and I feel like I’m the only one who’s like this,” Rios said. “But when we formed this club, we found other students who felt the exact same as me, and that made me feel a little bigger and less small. I hope someone else can feel the same way I felt.”
A complete list of clubs and organizations at Moorpark College can be found here.
