January is National Hobby Month, and whatever your interests are, there’s probably a student club just for you at Ohio University.
“Student organizations are a way to build community and for students to meet one another. Students spend a majority of their time outside of the classroom and we’d like for them to be engaged in meaningful social opportunities,” Associate Director of Student Activities Josh Gruenke said.
With more than 500 clubs and organizations, students can choose from professional organizations such as the Ohio University Society of Professional Journalists or the American Society of Mechanical Engineers , or academic organizations such as the OUHCOM Psychology and Neurology Club or Students in Early Childhood Organization . You can find clubs on sports, activism, health and wellness, and just about anything else.
“We’ve had a lot of outdoor-focused groups . We’ve had two groups form recently about reading . We’ve had the tabletop board game club . They are super active and they’ve been doing a lot of things this semester. Our academic and identity-based groups are usually our fasted growing groups. A lot of our students’ interests right now lie with looking at social justice issues ,” Gruenke said.
To search clubs and organizations, visit BobcatConnect . If you don’t find a club you’re interested in, you can start one. Open registration for new student organizations is open during the first month of each semester through the Student Activities Office. New organization requests must include at least five students to serve as officers, an advisor, and a constitution. Regional campuses are also eligible to create student organizations.
The Bookworms club formed last fall to gather students interested in reading and discussing new books. The group meets weekly, with more than a dozen active members.
“I’m a first-year freshman and I was having trouble making friends and meeting new people. So I looked up the clubs, and I like to read and discuss books and I saw that there was no book club so I decided to make one,” said Alyssa Keckler, president of The Bookworms.
There are no reading assignments, she explained. Members just come together to discuss the books they are reading individually. They offer their thoughts and recommendations and even share their books with others.
“Every time we meet, everybody will ask each other what they’ve been reading and how they like it,” she said. “Some of the girls wanted to read the books I recommended, so we kind of trade them off.”
Involvement in student organizations is also a great way for young adults to supplement their resume, Gruenke said, by teaching skills such as leadership, organization, and delegation.
For more information, email involvement@ohio.edu .