When many Effies get to WHHS, the task of adjusting to the school is hard enough as it is, not to mention finding clubs to join on top of that. The whole concept seems very daunting and it could be the reason many clubs are scarce in Effies.
With a large student body and course selection for them to conquer, joining a new club becomes some Effie’s last concern. As a result, many students elect to spend their first year figuring out the school, using their remaining years to join clubs and activities instead.
“I’m interested in Adventure Club when I have time,” Tahirih Fananapazir, ‘30, said. “This year I was just getting used to [Walnut]; it’s my first year here.”
Clubs can be hard to discover for many students. Oftentimes finding clubs is a matter of being around the right people who can tell you about them and encourage you to participate. Considering that it’s their first year, Effies are often left in the dark about all the various clubs WHHS has to offer.
“I don’t really know any other clubs,” Will Daly, ‘30, said. “If I knew more clubs, I would know which ones are interesting and which ones aren’t and what to join.”
A great way for students of all grades to pick up information on clubs happening at the school is the club fair. Effies especially should make an effort to attend the club fair and ask questions about any clubs they find compelling.
That being said, when clubs are actively recruiting new members, Effies are great candidates considering they have the most years left ahead of them to spend contributing to the club.
“We’re more encouraged because they tell us to get into clubs now so we can see what we’re interested in so we don’t have to experiment with that later in life,” Simeon Siffel, ‘30, said.
Similarly, if students can adjust well to the workload of the school, their experiences open up to all of the clubs available.
Depending on an Effie’s given schedule, it is a good time for them to start seeing what clubs and organizations would be beneficial to continue throughout high school.
“I feel we are more inclined to join clubs because we don’t have as much stuff as the older kids do, like homework,” Daly said. “We have more free time.”
With Effies being the youngest of six grades at the school, the question of how included Effies are comes up. However, Fananapazir, who is an active Effie in Spanish and yoga club as well as lacrosse and cross country, feels it’s no problem with the right crowd.
“I was very included in cross country; the people made that easy,” Fananapazir said. “If people run cross country, they tend to be very nice…It didn’t really matter what grade you were in.”