Spotlight on New Clubs

Some clubs on campus have been around for years with an established plan of action, annual events, and the confidence that their organization has been well-received among students in the past. While it still takes a huge amount of diligence and dedication to run a club of this sort, some passionate students take a leap of faith and charter a completely new organization. Not only do they have to plan everything without experience and manage everything without the guide of a previous year’s leader or their precious Google Drive folders of old materials, they also are starting the school year with a degree of uncertainty- Will students enjoy their club? Will they reach their goal and make a difference on the IMSA campus? To improve some of these new clubs’ campus presences and overall student awareness of recently-founded organizations, some of founding board members offered explanations.

One new club, IMSA Ignite, is a self-described academic club that meets twice each month. However, the difference between this organization and classes lies in the sheer amount of passion held by the board and club members. Each month, they plan to convene and decide on a topic that members would like to learn more about, ranging from regions of biology to theories in physics, allowing members to develop existing interests and discover new passions. In the words of founding president Jack Messina, “the goal of Ignite is to allow students to teach each other about the ideas they’re passionate about, and to expose everyone to new areas. People who fell in love with physics don’t tend to know a lot about the different regions of biology, and while they’re passionate about physics, they’re missing out on a bigger scope of things. In Ignite, we change that by having students present on different areas of science to each other every month, and this way we get the pleasure of teaching and learning from each other in addition to the exposure to new, exciting fields.” If you have a passion you want to share and develop and want to learn more about others’ interests, you should become a part of IMSA Ignite!

A second new club on the opposite end of the spectrum is Feather, a digital art club in which student leaders guide others in computer based artistic endeavors and provide an alternative creative outlet in the busy IMSA student’s life. The club’s vice president, Walker Weyland, says that “Feather gives students an opportunity to express their artistic sides in a digital medium by offering biweekly lessons in how to use programs on the computer to draw and by teaching different drawing techniques. Like its name suggests, Feather is “light and fun!” Walker’s favorite thing about his and Emoonah McClerklin’s new design club is that fact that they can share their interests and give others the chance to develop new interests.

In a similar manner, Campus Leaders in Artistic Performance (CLAP) encourages a love and pursual of the arts in a campus saturated with a focus on grades and academic performance. Students partaking in CLAP are given opportunities to perform, study, and gain an appreciation of classical and modern music through master classes, group practices, and rehearsals with the full orchestra. As a result of these practices, club members not only grow as musicians but also hold two concerts for students’ enjoyment, and all IMSA students are invited to attend the Muti & Andsens Concert in Chicago in early October. Music coordinator Isabella Spinelli writes “Our goal is to introduce people to a wide range of music genres and settings through collaboration.”

Finally, Heliotrope is returning to the IMSA campus after a brief hiatus. Led by Manojna Namuduri, Heliotrope is a literary and art magazine featuring student-contributed pieces, published for consumption in the form of an online archive as well as an annually released printed issue. Heliotrope welcomes student submissions of all varieties and is currently accepting applications for staff writers in hopes of encouraging creative advancement on campus.