Dear Devil’s Advocate,

  There are so many great clubs I want to join at Poly, but I’m a little shy, and I don’t know how to go about joining them. New groups really intimidate me, but next school year, I want to participate more in clubs. How can I get more involved?

Sincerely,

Underbooked Upper Schooler 

Dear Underbooked Upper Schooler,

When we first started writing this column, we were daunted. After all, neither of us had any experience giving advice as professional as the Devil’s Advocate. We weren’t sure how it would go. Would we get requests for advice? Would people actually read it? What if our advice wasn’t good?

With these questions in mind, we struggled to get started with our first column. But, as we brainstormed ideas, started writing, and began to have fun, we soon forgot about all of our worries, and before long, we had written our first Devil’s Advocate. Now, we look forward to our monthly column and open up a Google Doc with laughter and new ideas.

We know your situation isn’t exactly the same, but we hope this story helps. Joining any extracurricular can be intimidating, especially when you’re new to it, but if you jump in headfirst, fearlessly, we think you’ll start having fun with it, as we did with our column. 

Now, we know that’s easier said than done. So, we have a few suggestions to help you get more involved in the community. 

The Clubs Fair is a famous Poly event, one that you likely are acquainted with as a hectic afternoon of people frantically trying to get your email or bribe you with candy. However, if you lean into the spirit of the event, you’ll see that it’s the first stepping stone to your extracurricular experience at Poly, and it’s a blast. It’s just like shopping; this year, we had over sixty clubs to choose from. Remember, no matter what grade you’re in or what your talents are, people want you to join their clubs. They make signs and come up with slogans and pitches to recruit you. Don’t be scared to sign up for as many as you can (and don’t forget to stop by the Polygon table)! The Google Classroom invites and Gmail notifications may be annoying for a few days, but soon enough you’ll have a whole slate of new clubs that want you to get involved.

Second, try things! Join the clubs your friends are in to make the process a little bit easier, but also don’t be afraid to branch out and try a new one. Poly can be an intimidating place, but clubs are full of passionate peers who are genuinely excited to have new members. Trust us, you’re doing them a favor by joining!  If your teacher advises a club that sounds interesting, go check it out. If you hear about a new campus event and you’re free, stop by.  There’s no downside to trying something new. Worst comes to worst, you can always quit, but it’s far more likely that you’ll find a fun and welcoming community. Don’t think that writing your name down on a sign-up sheet binds you to that club for the rest of your Poly career. Instead, look at it as a way to see what’s out there, a map for new discoveries.

It’s so easy to start a club at Poly, and, if there’s a group you want to see, all you need is a teacher and a few friends to make it a reality. Just stop by Mr. Winston’s office, and you’ll have a table at the Clubs Fair in no time. Sometimes the best way to get involved in a club is to start it yourself, and if you ever need advice getting set up, you know who to ask. 

 Finally, if you want to take your involvement with a leadership position, the same advice applies: just jump in. Start early, be committed, discover your passions, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Show a real dedication to a club, and build up a community there, and before you know it, you’ll be a leader in the space. It’s not about one-upping your fellow club members, but rather carrying on that same interest and enthusiasm that helped you when you first joined. 

Soon enough, you’ll be taking clubs block from hell to heaven!

Sincerely,

The Devil’s Advocate

The Devil’s Advocate is the Polygon’s advice column. Need advice? Write [email protected] a letter explaining your problem and we’ll publish it anonymously with advice from the Devil’s Advocate.