With dozens of clubs signed up to participate in the Valentine’s-themed ASO Club Rush held on the Mall, the trial of hosting it two weeks into the semester—rather than three—seemed to have paid off.
From the 11 a.m. start, there was a significant increase in participation that hadn’t been seen in a while, according to Student Engagement Coordinator Lara Conrady Wong.
A head start might just have been all that was needed.
“The clubs would have more time to get chartered, go to fundraising training and they can start their fundraising and meetings sooner,” Conrady Wong said. “We had over 62 clubs sign up for Club Rush, so we’re back to pre-pandemic numbers.”
One of the popular club booths was the Knitting and Crocheting Club.
“It’s looking really good, we’ve got a whole page and a half of just names,” Knitting and Crocheting Club member Citlali Navarro said.
The handcrafted hearts decorating the booth showcased the communal aspect of the club that Navarro finds to be its appeal.
“The fact that we are all working on something similar, just in general working together to create something you can tangibly feel and see,” Navarro said.
The Coding Club received support from Girls Who Code, a non-profit organization that aims to address biases in the tech field.
“There is a huge gender gap when it comes to technology,” Coding Club member Nahyan Noor said. “Girls Who Code is here to encourage more women and non-binary people to join the tech field, and we are trying to create that safe space and community.”
The club helps people get into coding in multiple ways, such as technical workshops for interview prep, job research, coding projects and coding workshops for those new to coding, according to Noor.
The Coding Club’s booth had on display devices they constructed for people to interact with. As Club Rush overlapped with Valentine’s Day, the device on show was a “Rizzometer,” a heat sensor that included arduino and LED lights.
Other clubs that had interactive displays were the Pre-veterinary Club’s petting zoo and the Chemistry Club’s experiments.
The polysnow and carbon dioxide demonstrations caught people’s attention. The baking soda and vinegar reactions released carbon dioxide to fill the pink balloons that adorned the booth, while the polysnow demonstrated the tactile results of chemistry.
“Everyone’s been liking our experiments that we’ve created for our chemistry club,” Chemistry Club member Ethan Nasseri said.
