Over the past weeks, I went to two GIM’s (general interest meeting); one for CPP (conversational partners program) and one for Baruch Accounting Society. Despite going to both club’s GIMs, I’ll only talk about CPP’s GIM. The GIM started off with refreshments and icebreakers, and then 20 minutes in, the president of CPP proceeded to explain their club values and events. During this time, we went over things we should or should not say to our partners and listed out things that we did not want to happen during our meetings with our partners (with being punched in the face as one of the things we did not want to happen). We were told there was a handbook on their site where we could use as a guide for our first meeting with our partners and were given a time stamp sheet. However, even with food, icebreakers and fun comments being thrown around, this GIM had a very “empty” feeling due to the fact that less than 20 people showed up for this GIM. Despite the lackluster GIM, this GIM gave an accurate impression of how the rest of my time at the club would be. Due to the nature of this club, where you have to meet up with your partner on your own time, there are no “club hours” and “club rooms”, so to speak of. It is normal to feel empty during the meetings because the whole goal of this club to is pair up with a non-native or native speaker and spend time together, whether there are club hours that day or not. I plan on getting involved in this club by taking the initiative in contacting my partner and going to some of the events set up by this club. I also plan on getting involved by joining one of their committees.