Cougar Crash Episode 2- Clubs

BYU offers a wide range of clubs, from low-commitment to high-intensity. The Bee Club is a chill club that meets once a month and focuses on bees and research. Clubs Night at the Wilk is a great way to explore different clubs. YSERV offers service opportunities on and off campus. Getting involved in clubs and serving others is valuable and helps make connections. Don't be afraid to try new things and get involved at BYU. Hey guys, it's Grace and Hannah, and we're back with another episode of Cougar Crash. Today we're talking about clubs, so tune in, and it's going to be a good episode. Alright, let's get started. So, at BYU, there are a lot of clubs that you can find on campus. These clubs range from super chill, low-commitment tech clubs like swing dancing, and then they range from super high, intense clubs like an engineering club. So there's definitely a wide range, and you can find, if you're looking for a club for you, you can totally find your club out there, which is super nice. Yeah, BYU definitely, I think in total offers hundreds. We couldn't find an exact number, but if you go to clubs.byu.edu, it literally just says find your niche, and they have options to find a club, or start a club, or just get involved with things that fit your ideas, and that kind of thing. They can range from super low-commitment, like just meet up when you want to, to you're actively competing nationally, and working with people in your major, and getting super competitive. But yeah, super cool opportunity to just explore what you like, and get to meet a lot of really cool people. Yeah, for sure. In clubs, you would never find, I mean, some people you would never find where you live by, but clubs are a great way to find people who are interested in the same things you are, which is really valuable. You kind of don't realize how valuable that is until you kind of meet someone else with those similar interests, which is fun. Yeah, what's super cool about BYU too is a lot of people want to be involved in clubs, because a lot of people who are at BYU in high school were involved in a lot of clubs, and so they want to be doing a lot of things. What are some of the things you did in high school? In high school, I did track. I did this DECA club. It was like a business club. Yeah, it was super fun. Yeah, super low-commitment. It was like, I don't know, I had a marketing class, so we kind of just met there to check up on things. But, yeah, super chill. Track, I was one of the track student coaches, so that was super low-commitment, just kind of setting an example for the team. So, yeah. What about you? Yeah, I was in National Honor Society and Student Council, which are both pretty high-commitment, like organizing service opportunities and setting up stuff for the school. There was always a lot of paperwork, a lot of up-front meetings, but I was also in some more low-commitment stuff. There was technically a choir club at my school, but we didn't really do much. We just kind of supported each other in concerts for classes. I think we hosted a dinner one time for fun, but it was super low-commitment. We met maybe once a month. So, yeah, I feel like a lot of people coming to BYU are people who are actively involved all the time in so many different parts of high school. There were athletes and musicians and straight-A 4.0 people. So, coming to BYU, that's why there's clubs for everybody here, because everybody likes to be involved, and that's just kind of the BYU personality, I guess. Yeah, and it's super valuable to meet those different people, because these connections that you're making in college, sometimes they can determine your future job opportunities and your future connections with people. Maybe your future husband or future best friend. I mean, who knows? You never know. But, yeah, we wanted to get in and just talk about some of the clubs that we've been working with and that we've gotten to know. So, yeah, it's pretty cool. All right, so one of the clubs that we found at BYU is the Bee Club. So, today we have a guest speaker with us, Anna, and she's a member of the Bee Club. Welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me today. Yeah, of course. So, our first question is, how often do you guys meet for Bee Club? Yeah, so the Bee Club is a really chill club on campus. There's a lot of clubs on campus, and some of them meet more often than others, but we only meet once a month. And so, it's the third Wednesday of every month, and we don't have a meeting this month because of finals. And Christmas kind of throws off our schedule, too, but it's super low commitment. During spring and summer, it's a lot more busy, and we have different parts to the club. So, if you're on the A Team, those are the people who take care of the bees, because we have, like, two hives on campus right now. We're hoping to get more hives. So, if you're on the A Team, you can meet, like, probably, like, twice a month or every other week to take care of bees. But if you're just on the B Team, which is the team that just meets and socializes and talks about bees, that's just once a month. So, there's two parts to the Bee Club. There's, like, the Bee Keepers, A Team, and the Bee Team. Yes, yeah. So, the Bee Club is a really cool club because it reaches pretty much all majors on campus. Like, the leadership of our club spans from, like, IT tech people to I'm in public health. So, it's a wide variety because bees are kind of involved in, like, all of our lives, and there's many different facets to it. The club is just about, like, a year old, so we're fairly new on campus. And it originally started out as research that the Ideal Labs in the Talmadge Building, they started doing research. They wanted to find out how bees communicate with each other, and there's a dance that bees do called a waggle dance. And so, they started creating a machine that could track how bees in a hive communicate with each other. And they created this whole robot called the Waggle Chat that tracks how a bee walks around and talks to each other. That's so cool. And now the research has progressed into trying to create a robot bee to talk to the bees and tell them to go to certain places. So, that's our research this summer. So, there's many different facets. You could just come to Bee Club just because you want to, like, eat free pizza. Because we have free pizza every single month we meet. So, some people just come for the free pizza. Some people like the research behind it. We have always some cool guest speakers. Sometimes, it's just a compute night. So, it's very versatile. That's cool. Yeah, that's super cool. Would you say, like, the purpose of the club is for that research or, like, just, like, make people more aware of bees? Because I know, like, a lot of people in general are really scared of bees. It's true. It's true. So, I would say, like, the research is not a part of the club. The research just, like, happened to happen. And so, that brought beehives to campus. And then we're like, oh, we can make a club out of this. And so, the research side is, like, a totally, like, separate side, almost like a whole other team. But there are people who are afraid of bees. When we meet once a month, there are no bees involved. You don't have to be worried about being stung or anything like that because there are allergies out there. And I don't think BYU campus would allow a beehive just in an enclosed space. It's true. And in mayhem. It's true. Yeah. That is true. Interesting. Do you guys ever get to visit the hives? So, it's really interesting over, like, fall and winter because the beehive pretty much is, like, hibernating the whole time. So, there's, like, one person, one of our, like, leadership roles is the beekeeper or the bee man. And he just, like, watches over the bees. So, over, like, fall and winter, he'll go and check on the bees. But we try and, like, just kind of let the hive be because, like, if a lot of people are checking in on it too much, the bees could, like, freeze or die. Like, that literally happens in Utah just because of the temperatures drop. So, the hive is almost like a little incubator. So, we try not to open it or check it too much during colder months. That makes sense. Yeah. I guess one final question that we have is just, like, what would you, like, would you say the Bee Club is worth people's time? And, like, how do you think clubs at BYU have, like, helped your BYU experience? Yeah. I would say it depends on who you are and what you're interested in. If you have a passion for bees or honey or, like, the business behind bees, how hives work, or even if you're, like, trying to, like, find a fun social group, that's something that I really loved about the Bee Club. It's just it's a really welcoming place that all students can participate in, whether they're bee lovers or just curious. And I would say, overall, I have, like, visited lots of different clubs on BYU. Probably not all of them, but it's just really fun that you can find other students who have common interests as you and make more friends. Because it is, like, a huge campus and there's tons of people, but sometimes it's really hard to find those friends out of the oceans of people that are here. True. I would say clubs are a great way to just feel connected to people who have common interests as you. Well, we're super grateful we got to have Anna on to talk about the Bee Club for a little bit. And I think that it's super cool that we can have such, like, niche clubs like a Bee Club. I never would have imagined being in a Bee Club, but I think it's been something I want to explore for sure. Yeah. Something unique. Something you haven't tried, so. Yeah. That's fun. But we were just thinking back about, like, how we found the Bee Club. Because there was one time Hannah and I were just, like, walking through the Willow. I think we were trying to, like, get to class or something. Yeah. And a guy was, like, handing out flyers and he was like, hey, guys, I really think you should just join our club. And we were like, okay, what the heck? We were like, all right. Yeah. And he was like, hey, can you give us a flyer? And he was like, what do you guys know about bees? And, like, we kind of, like, talked a little bit. He was like, well, the Bee Club is just, like, a super good way to, like, get to understand, like, how bees are helping our environment and, like, how they help us on campus. And, like, the research we're doing is just, like, super cool, super low-key. There's going to be pizza tonight. And so we were like, sure, why not? And, like, we ended up both getting busy and not going. But it's just super cool that, like, clubs are always in the wilk. Yeah. Like handing out stuff and just making themselves aware. Yeah. That's interesting. So every Tuesday there's clubs night. And this is kind of where all the clubs come together and kind of advertise, right? Advertise all their clubs, invite people to join. That's a great way. It's in the wilk, the Wilk Center. So that's a great way to find fun clubs for you and kind of see a bunch all at once to kind of see what you'd want to go into if that's something you want, which is super nice. Yeah. So on clubs night, they usually, people are either, like, stationed at tables and they have, like, flyers or snacks to hand out and talk. Or, like, they'll just be set up and, like, actively doing stuff. Like, there's, like, a LARPing club, which, if you know what that is, that's live action role play. And, like, those people mean it. Like, they'll be out there with, like, their shields and their swords and they're just going for it and they're having a great time. Or I've seen, I think there's, like, a Super Smash Bros club. No way. They'll set up a TV and they're all doing, yeah, it's crazy. That's funny. It looks super fun. And I think there's more video game stuff like that, but it's always the Smash Bros people that are there. Or there's chess. I've seen people playing chess. Dang, those are all, like, super chill clubs. Yeah, and I think it's just, like, I think they mostly just go to just, like, meet and play on clubs night. Okay. And, like, they might meet more, but, like, you can just join in. And that's also, like, what the swing dancing is that we've been to a couple times is, like, you can just show up and just dance. And they'll teach you a little bit and then, like, you just meet with your friends and just go. And that's honestly really fun. It's a good way to, like, just, like, kind of decompress your Tuesday night if you just want to, like, not really commit to anything but just, like, have a good time. They have a lot of activities set up down there. Yeah. I have a friend that she loves to kind of swing dance and get in that. And those club nights are just perfect for her because it's something that's low-key, and it's something that she can kind of continue with her swing dancing love for. But she can also do it for only an hour a week instead of, I mean, doing it seriously or studying it, which is super fun. That's another nice thing about clubs is you can still do what you love but just with lower commitment times, which is nice. Yeah. What's nice, though, too, is if you are looking for something with more commitment, there are a few of those opportunities. Oh, yeah. You can still find them. Yes. So those are the three things that you have to, like, put in a little bit more work for because I know in my engineering program they talked about a bridge club that, like, they compete nationally and even internationally. But you have to be, like, you have to be involved in the major. You have to sign up for the club at the beginning of the semester. I think you have to wait until you're, like, a junior to even sign up. But, like, it's a club that's, like, super established, super well-performed. Like, they've gotten national awards for it. Wow. But, like, yeah, they work really hard, and the stuff looks really cool. And so if you want to be involved in something like that, I would recommend, like, talking to professors about it or, like, just trying to find, like, what your niche is and asking around because there's a lot of people involved in those clubs that, like, are really excited to, like, help bring underclassmen up and get ready. Yeah. So super cool. Yeah, super valuable. There's also – I've heard of, like, going to – oh, another thing about NSO is that they have a day or a time of day where they have you look at all the clubs. And so it was kind of during that time that I was kind of walking around looking at all the tables, and I saw this, like – there are so many different ones, but I saw this babysitting club. Like, super random, but if you ever want to, like, help take care of kids or do service for, I don't know, taking care of those that, I don't know, parents might be busy or something, you can go for something like that and kind of do that. There's a lot of service clubs at BYU. Well, that's, like – that's a separate organization entirely. There's YSERV on campus, and YSERV is a group that sets you up with just opportunities to serve. And they can be on campus or off campus. And I know for me, like, my American Heritage class this year requires a certain amount of community service, but it's also super good to just get involved in community service because you feel like it. And it's a good club opportunity, too, to just do something recreational that doesn't really involve yourself and you're helping other people. So YSERV is in the WILC, like, their office. It's right in the main part by the Cougar Eat. And you can just go in, and you ask the nice little lady at the desk, like, hey, I'm looking for a service opportunity. These are when I'm available. And she'll either, like, refer you to the website and say, like, this is what you have available. You can sign up. Or she'll just tell you right then and there, like, what's available that week or what's going on. Yeah, YSERV is super cool, super good opportunity. Another thing that's interesting about YSERV is so I kind of went with Grace to go ask about the YSERV when they're doing things. And what's funny is they're always doing a project. You go in their office, and they always have a service project there. Either, like, writing notes to people or, like, knitting a hat or something. Like, they always have some type of activity there that you can do, which is super fun. So if you ever just want to feel like serving and helping someone brighten their day, then you can just go to their office and find something to do. There's always opportunities to serve, which is super cool. Yeah, and that kind of reflects that low commitment thing. Like, if you need just a quick low commitment activity, you can go in and, like I was saying, they have, like, opportunities to, like, write letters to kids in the foster system or, like, knit for people I think that are cancer patients and stuff like that. Or you can go to their website and sign up. Like, right now I'm signing up for, like, making blankets for refugees. And they meet once a week and sew blankets. Or you can help kids with special needs in, like, the gym or at the pool. And some of those have, like, extra certifications that you have to do. But it's a super good opportunity to set you up with things to do. And I know for me, like, college is definitely easier when I'm finding ways to serve. And it takes a little bit of stress off my week to know that I'm helping somebody else. Yeah, that's so true. Yeah, service is a great way to just, I don't know, look outside of yourself. And it brings people together more than we think, which is really fun. Yeah, and I think that's a unique opportunity at BYU, again, is I feel like so much in college is focused on, like, your degree and your experience. And, like, it's just a very, like, self-centered point of view for a lot of, like, college kids that are, like, 21, 22. It's not intended, but it's just natural because we're all just trying to find our future jobs and future lives. But, like, as disciples of Jesus Christ that are striving to get an education, like, we also understand that, like, after getting an education, we're supposed to go forth and serve. And it literally says that on the BYU sign when you, like, enter into campus as you're driving in. It says, like, enter to learn, go forth to serve. So we, like, we learn that, like, our role here is to serve others and help others on their way as we gain an education so we're more capable and we're more self-reliant and stuff. So, yeah, I think YSERV is a super good opportunity, as well as all the clubs on campus, to explore what you enjoy and to explore, like, how we can help people and how to just use your time wisely also. Yeah, college is a great time to just, I don't know, experience things outside of yourself and to grow and to learn and to learn education to serve those that you meet around the world. So, really cool opportunities there. Yeah, I guess the takeaway from this podcast is just, like, don't be afraid to get involved. Like, we're in the B club. Oh, yeah. But it's super good to just get out there and to find new things and serve new people. And DUIU is a super good place to get started because it's really just, like, if a click away or an ask away, you just have to find the right people and they can set you up with so many opportunities. Yep. So. Yep. Thank you for joining us for this week's episode. Hopefully you guys have a great week next week. Yep, we'll see you next week. Bye. Bye.