Q&A Chats: Prospective Clubs 101

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Q&A CHATS: Sarah Stone

Have you been looking for a club on campus but are not sure where to start? Or maybe, you wanted to join a club and meet new students on campus? We knew exactly who to call to get all the answers you have about clubs at Sheridan!

Sarah Stone, your TRC Clubs Coordinator, sat down with us to chat about what she learned in her role and how she can support you at Sheridan. The hope is to make starting new clubs at Sheridan a little easier to understand for all Bruins!

Whether you’re looking for tips on how to manage class and work or find yourself curious about what exactly the SSU Clubs Coordinator exactly does, this blog is for you!

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Life As An Interaction Design Student:

• Tell us more about your experience in IXD?

  “It’s a four-year Honours Bachelors degree. My program involves learning the principles of design, industry software, research-based things and more! Essentially, I like to think of Interaction design as a combination of psychology and design that you use to create an amazing end product.  In my first year, we learned how to research, and code HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as well as typography and design. After graduating with my degree, I’d like to create my own marketing business using the skills I learned at Sheridan.”

• How was your first year at Sheridan?

  “I went to art fundamentals for a year at Sheridan back in 2020 as I wanted to develop my skills before applying to Sheridan's animation program. Funnily enough in the program, I ended up discovering a love of coding and design from taking 2D classes. That made me re-think what I wanted to do!
  
  My first-year experience was a lot of fun. The teachers were really nice and pretty fun which made it easier to pay attention. It was challenging to make friends in my program since everything was remote, but using discord and messaging people when on zoom definitely helped. The coding classes were my favourite!”

• "Did you get involved with any clubs on campus in first-year? Why or why not?"

  “I didn't get involved with clubs prior to my job. I am a member of a few now though! I am part of the cosplay club and IXDA (which is my programs club). I wasn't part of any clubs as I didn't really know what was available. I'm glad I joined the two I did though as I made some friends and got to experience new things!”

• "How were midterms? Do you have any tips for new students?"

  “Midterms in my program aren’t too bad. Besides your elective, there’s usually no essays. It all project- based so you don’t really need to study or memorize things to be quizzed on. I’d suggest putting all your deadlines on a calendar so you can see them. Plus, most teachers gave class time to work on projects…use it!”

• What's something you've learned about yourself while in this program?

  “I learned that I definitely prefer hands-on projects displaying the knowledge I learned rather than essays’ or written assignments! It’s a lot harder for me to focus on written work.”

Get to Know Your Clubs Coordinator

• "Why was working in the Clubs Department important to you? Why was it important to support students with this aspect of their Sheridan Life?"

  “My role as Club Coordinator was important to me as it let me interact with students from so many different programs as well as help students create new clubs and innovate clubs and how they work at Sheridan. Clubs are an outlet for students who are stressed over school to have a safe space to go and relax with other people who have similar interests. They are an important part of socializing on and off campus. They also are an easy way for international students to meet new people.”

• What was the most surprising thing you’ve learned about student life while being a Clubs Coordinator?

  “The most surprising thing I’ve learned about clubs is how important they are to students. Before this role clubs just seemed like a fun thing to do every now and then. Once I started in this position though I got to see how hard all my executives work to make their events come to life and give opportunities to other students. Many of the club leaders are incredibly passionate about their club's purpose and it’s very admirable.”

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5 Things Every Bruin Should Know About Clubs

• There's a new thing on campus called prospective clubs. What are exactly are these clubs?

  “Prospective clubs are clubs that don't have the required five members to be active. As clubs' coordinators, we were looking for a way to increase club engagement. So, we sat down and picked out a few ideas of clubs we thought would do well at Sheridan. A few examples are the Yoga club and the Book club.”

• How do they work?

  Prospective clubs essentially work by allowing students to notify us that they are interested in running the club. We reach out to them about the available positions. There's President, Vice President and three Executive positions. Once these five positions are filled the club can be active!

• What are the perks of prospective clubs?

  The perks of being a part of the prospective club team is you get an opportunity to shape a club, take on a leadership position, receive CCR hours and much more!

• How can students join them? What are the steps involved?

  The students can join a prospective club by going to https://sheridancollege.campuslabs.ca/engage/ and searching for the prospective club they are interested in joining. Click the join club button and one of the coordinators will reach out to you with next steps.

• Why did you/ the clubs department think this was important to have prospective clubs- how do they help students overall?

  We thought it would be a good idea as club participation and new start-ups have gone down since the pandemic started. We wanted to get things up and running again!

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Few final thoughts…

• The Clubs Department officially hit 100 active clubs across all campuses! How does it feel?

  “It is so gratifying to see our hard work paying off! I’m so happy to see how much students are getting involved with campus life.”

• "Now that you’ve been in this role for a few years, what would you tell students about working at the SSU?"

  “Working at the SSU is a great opportunity for students. They are very flexible with deadlines and workload. Everyone there is incredibly supportive, friendly and excited to try to innovate!”

• Any advice for students looking to get involved with clubs on campus?

  “My advice for students looking to get involved with clubs on campus is to go for it! Whether you want to start your own club or join a new one. It’s a great way to make friends and gives you a break from school work.”

And that wraps up our Q&A chat! If you have more questions about our clubs, or want to reach out to us directly for support, visit thessu.ca/clubs. Stay tuned for more blog posts and resources to help you make the most of your academic Sheridan Life!

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