By Gillian Bunting

NorthWest Arkansas Community College hosted a club fair on Feb. 7 and 8 in the Becky Paneitz Student Center with select leaders representing the various clubs that students can join. The fair occurs at the beginning of every semester to invite new students and the community at large to learn about the different extracurricular opportunities available to them.

Cierra Collins, coordinator of Student Life, said, “Participating in clubs improves GPA scores and completion rate. The club fair helps students engage with clubs at NWACC to help better their college experience.” Student clubs and resources cultivate a supportive and welcoming environment for the community as a whole. The Student Government Association serves as a united voice for NWACC students. The F1RSTS Organization helps f irst-generation students feel confident and supported in their higher education journey.

Attending college is more than just going to class, Collins said. It is important to connect with the resources, opportunities, and support available to make the time spent in college as fulfilling as possible. Staying engaged and connected within the community maximizes a student’s chances for success, she said.

Getting involved in campus activities also allows students to get in touch with their community and meet new people who have similar interests. Joshua Williams, representative and president of the new Ping Pong Club, said, “For my club, it’s imchapter of the National English Honor Society, and the Geek Alliance, a broad and inclusive environment for those who want to celebrate and connect their shared interests, and many more clubs. “There are more ways for students to be involved on campus if clubs are not someone’s thing,” Collins said. There’s also the game room with ping pong, pool, board games… service learning, trying to find a place to portant to have fun and get to know people better. We’re here because we had 13 people in the game room every day playing ping pong. We liked playing together. … I said, ‘Why don’t we make a club?’ And here we are, a semester later!” The sign-up sheet on their table already had a full page of people interested in participating for the club, so the club fair allowed them to start building up a little like-minded community of their own. At their booth, the group had club buttons, lollipops, and prop ping pong paddles to get others interested in joining. The other booths offered snacks, candy, and drinks, and the fair had a giveaway for a gift card.

The different clubs that participated in this fair, in addition to the previously mentioned organizations, included Sigma Kappa Delta, a be involved.” If students want to get involved with clubs or make a club of their own, the NWACC Student Life website lists all current clubs and club advisers’ contact information. Students can also email studentlife@nwacc. edu to get in contact with the Student Life department to learn more about activities and opportunities for club involvement around campus.