On a chilly but clear-skied and beautiful Thursday morning, the Fieldston campus quad was bustling with students walking, talking, eating and laughing, all while learning about the 100 clubs Fieldston offers this year. The Fieldston Club fair is a staple of the first semester, an event students and staff alike look forward to.
And this year did not disappoint.
According to Fieldston students, the two factors that make a great club fair are great weather and an abundance of food. This club fair had both. “I love when there’s so much food. This year, there was so much food, I have a stomach ache already,” said Lily Saal (Form VI).
“What’s great about Fieldston is we have 100 clubs and you really have no idea what each one does until you stop and closely look at the posters,” said Saal. “People might say they’re doing it for college, but at the end of the day, everyone has a certain thing that they’re really passionate about. And for me, that’s the Fieldston News.” Saal, a devoted member of the Fieldston News, has worked her way up since Freshman year to become Editor-in-Chief of the paper. “Fieldston’s about finding your passions, and that’s exactly what the club fair is for,” Saal said.
Source: Reanna Bilbao
Without Ellie Usdin (Form VI) this club fair would not have been possible. As Student Government’s Secretary of Clubs, Usdin helped set up the club fair, assigning leaders to tables and organizing the event logistics. “It’s awesome to see everyone so engaged, everyone’s been really excited as I sign up for clubs,” said Usdin. “It’s also amazing seeing everyone’s posters, everyone worked very hard to prepare for this.”
Usdin is also a leader of AIM Robotics, a robotics team started outside of school that builds robots and competes in competitions around the Northeast. This is the second year that AIM Robotics is an official Fieldston club participating in the club fair. “Hopefully, by creating the Robotics Club, we are able to involve more Fielston students in more STEM opportunities,” said Usdin, talking about the club’s main goal for this year.
Sophia Thompson (Form V) another leader of AIM Robotics, also helped out at the club fair. She and her fellow club member Kai Kim Suzuki built battle robots for the event. “It’s been really successful,” said Thompson. “We’ve been garnering some people to come and drive and get interested in STEM.”
Source: Asher Sacks
“Every year brings something different to the table, ” said Eve Kaplan (Form VI) “This club fair is a little chaotic… but I’m really excited to see what everyone does and how successful everyone’s going to be.” Kaplan is a co-leader of the environmental club, one of the most active clubs on campus. “We’re trying to implement more sustainable tampons, we’re trying to implement some more sustainable paper made out of sugar cane,” Kaplan said, speaking on just some of the club’s many initiatives. “We’re really involved in our community at Fieldston, but also our community at large…We do a lot of work with different organizations in the city,” said Kaplan.
Excitement brewed within the Form III student body during their first club fair. “I signed up for the Fieldston News, [I’m] very excited to possibly write for them,” said Luca Grossberg, an avid writer and younger sibling of former Editor-in-Chief Francesca Grossberg (‘23). Grossberg was also intrigued by the myriad of opportunities that the club fair gave students. “Whether it’s helping kids in hospitals or learning how to manage sports… [there’s] such a wide variety of clubs [at Fieldston],” he said.
In addition to the practicality of the club fair, the freshmen were also enjoying the good vibes. “[The club fair] has a lot of energy,” said Form III student Chloe Housel, “everyone seems really passionate about the clubs they’re running.” Fellow Form III student Parker Ellis also found the club fair fascinating. “It’s really interesting,” he said, “meeting all the upperclassmen, sophomores, even freshmen who are running the club.”
Whether you signed up for three clubs or all one hundred, the club fair was a captivating activity, and there was no wrong way to experience it. Full of food, laughter and mingling between grades, it was a blast the whole way around.
And don’t forget about the clubs! Between the one hundred clubs exhibited at the club fair, there is something for everyone. Whether it’s the Environmental Club, the Fieldston News – or maybe AIM Robotics is more your thing – your activities period should be jam-packed with clubs to choose from. And if it’s not, no sweat, you can always reach out to leaders to join a club any given week. So Fieldston, where will the club fair lead you?
Source: Reanna Bilbao
