By Jama Abdirahman
Intale Shuba came to University of Washington Bothell last year as a transfer student to attain a bachelor’s degree in American and ethnic studies.
Moving to Washington from Florida meant starting over, meeting new people and adapting to a brand new environment.
During his second quarter at UW Bothell, Shuba came across a flier promoting the Black Student Union and quickly joined. He found a community of like-minded people on campus who shared similar beliefs and values.
Today he is the president of UW Bothell’s BSU and hopes more students can have similar experiences.
“Clubs give the ability to connect and network with students from different backgrounds. It doesn't necessarily even have to be cultural, it could be purely based on interest,” said Shuba who plans to graduate next spring.
“I think it’s just like diversity in thought, diversity in who you interact with and hopefully that helps you integrate a lot of ideas you wouldn't consider otherwise.”
Student clubs and organizations provide growth in multiple areas, such as leadership, networking and digging deeper into academic topics. This is a way students can get more out of their time attending the University. Belonging to clubs can be a transformative experience that prepares students to succeed in college and beyond graduation.
UW Bothell uses the Orgsync platform that allows students to connect with any of the more than 90 clubs on campus. Students can find meeting times and locations and identify club officers.
Students also can check the club wall on the top floor of the ARC. It is an area maintained by club council, the student-led organization that helps with event planning, marketing and any club-related needs.
Each club adds something unique and enriching to each student’s overall campus experience, says Murphy Bush, law economics and public policy (18’), and club council secretary.
“Being a part of a club gives you the experience of being able to put on events, and put on your resumes that you planned a 200-300 person event for speaker who flew across the country,” he says.
Being involved in clubs is a great way to build more community on campus, says Missy Dominguez, club council adviser and program manager for student engagement and activities.
“For a campus like UW Bothell, where many of our students commute from home or work, membership in one or more clubs not only makes the college experience more enjoyable but it makes it more likely that students are staying in college and graduating,” Dominguez says.
