Evana Brenelus
Staff Writer
Club Rush is an event that has been hosted across all colleges and universities in the United States for many years. It usually occurs during weeks of welcome at the start of a school year.
Club Rush, which will take place on Jan. 26 and 27 at 12 p.m., serves as a way for schools to connect with their students by showing them the different clubs and organizations available to them, said Student Life Director Stephanie Repaci.
She has been working as the Student Life director for three years and has been working in Student Life for seven years at Broward College Central Campus.
To summarize whether she believed Club Rush has been effective, Repaci used one word: “absolutely.” She describes the event as a ‘marquee program,’ which students look forward to because it is bound to happen.
When COVID-19 began to spread in the United States, many schools became virtual, but going virtual did not seem to affect the Club Rush events.
“We still have seen a great turnout across all campuses,” said Repaci. Students have not lost interest in wanting to become members of new clubs and organizations despite everything happening remotely.
When asked what a student should expect during Broward College’s upcoming Club Rush, Repaci explained that it would occur virtually at the moment. Students should also expect to get the opportunity to meet current members and officers of the different organizations that plan on being active during the spring semester.
“They’ll be able to join breakout sessions to learn about the purpose and vision of the different organizations and see if it is the one for them,” she said.
Although Repaci does not have any specific interesting Club Rush stories, she found the interest level during the remote period quite interesting.
“To me, honestly, I think the thing that is the most interesting right now for Club Rush is that there hasn’t been a decline in interest, even though everything is happening remotely.”
She believes Club Rush is one of the best ways students can still form connections outside of the classroom.
As a college student, Repaci did participate in Club Rush and found it to be very beneficial.
“It helps early on in a college student’s journey,” she said. “It’s not just the community piece and the connectivity piece, it’s the exposure piece.”
She believes exposure to different initiatives and being able to give back to one’s community is a positive to being part of a club.
The volunteer work can help with creating an impact for the community, as well as self-development.
It also helps create better leaders, teaches one how to communicate professionally and one gets to learn team dynamics.
Repaci always looks forward to seeing highly engaged clubs participate in Club Rush. Highly engaged refers to the clubs that hold meetings regularly, look for opportunities to host meetings for the students and constantly give back to the community.
Repaci has advice for the students looking to become a member of a student organization or club.
“I know for a lot of students, there is a hesitation for being part of clubs/organizations because of the fear of having to balance school, work etc. alongside extracurricular involvement,” she said. “I want to reassure the students that the schools have so many different opportunities in these clubs and resources so they can balance being involved in a club. By being in a club, it is a network of support.”
She highly encourages students to join at least one club or organization during their time at Broward College.
If you are a current Broward College student looking for a new club or organization to join, keep a look out for the upcoming Club Rush.