The workshop I attended is called the Club Fair. It is a part of Student Life and it took place on Sept. 24th from 12:00 to 2:30pm. This workshop is a very crowded, vibrant one that focuses on recruiting new members to the wide variety of clubs at Baruch. There is a lot of energy at the Club Fair; many recruiters are yelling out to the crowd trying to attract new members like salesmen giving a pitch, long tables are spread out and decked out with informational posters and incentives to join (such as candy, brownies and even free handbags), there is a dance club at the back of the fair blasting catchy music and many things are going at once, turning the fair into a semi-chaotic experience.
By the time the fair reached its peak, the entire gym was packed with people. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and people speed walking for that last brownie or that last Mac handbag available. I’ll admit that I am one of (probably) many people who are guilty of signing up to a club for the food while having no intentions of joining that club later on, although sometimes that plan backfires on me and I find myself interested in the club anyway. The club fair itself did not take me out of my comfort zone, I was more affected by the sheer number of people surrounding me and invading my personal space. It was worse than a crowded train car at rush hour, but other than the overcrowding issue, I found the club fair to be very helpful in getting started with my student life here at Baruch. I went home that day full on brownies and with a bag full of informative club handouts.
The club fair definitely met my expectations for a good workshop. It was fun, exciting, informative and interesting, and it managed to keep my attention for two whole hours that day. As a side note, the club fair also forces/helps people to be more social and outgoing. Yes, I would really recommend this workshop to people, especially newcomers at Baruch. There is a very wide variety of clubs to join, ranging from an archery club to one that teaches people how to write and read Arab, so everyone is bound to be able to find something that interests them.