If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.

Students at FHC are fortunate enough to have many different opportunities presented to them by the school. However, sometimes the options aren’t enough. Recently, many different students at FHC have been building their own door in the form of newly created student-run school clubs.

Contrary to popular belief, school clubs are actually easy to start, according to many club founders. To start a club, all it takes a teacher willing to host, approval from the administration, and a short form. Senior Charlie Soucey, a founder of Economics Club, recalls that there was a small amount of hesitation in starting it due to rumors about the difficulty in starting a club. The process was easy, and Charlie and other co-founders were not aware how simple the steps were until they decided to start the procedure.

A large factor playing into the creation of many new clubs is the specified niches that different passions present. Students all have different passions, but the desire to gain expert insight into a hobby has caused many new clubs to pop up.

“Seeing other people start their own things with their specific interests is a driving factor [in the creation of a club],” Charlie said. “We saw these other people who had their own interests going after it and not being afraid to start a club in something that’s maybe more specific or not as widespread of interest.”

An important aspect of the creation of a club is advertising. Members are needed and required to keep a club interesting to students. Sophomore Tommy Hendricks is currently in the process of creating FHC Lifting Club. In this club, members will meet over the summer to work out and then possibly go get brunch after their hard work. In order to cap interest in the club, Tommy has created an advertising plan to apply at the end of the year.

“We will probably make an Instagram page and hopefully get it on FX at the end of the year,” Tommy said.

Economics also attacked advertising for the club in a similar way.

“We’re lucky in that two of the three founders [of Economics clubs] are members of FX,” Charlie said. “So it meant that we could make videos and broadcast it that way, and we have people on air mentioning it almost every time there’s a meeting. So we’re lucky in the fact that we have access to that medium of communication.”

The number of members isn’t a true way to measure the success of a club. What is important is the passion that the members have about their activity.

“We thought a lot of people would like to do it,” Tommy said, “And, why not get an extra lift in? Even if it’s only a couple of people, [it will be worth it].”

The most important aspect, however, isn’t the topic of the club, but the new opportunities students gain interacting with one another. Counselor Rick Bolhuis was an active club member in his high school years. He now is able to recognize the importance of clubs in high school life.

“We spend so much time in these halls and these classrooms, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Bolhuis said. “But if it’s just school, school, school all the time, that can be taxing. I think that interacting with [fellow students] in a different way is the best benefit [of clubs].”

On top of the valuable face-to-face contact with peers, students gain skills applicable to everyday life when they join a club. This helps students of all ages prepare for interactions they will face with other members of society when they go to college or partake in other future plans.

“College is a different monster in that most folks are living there, spending large amounts of time outside the classroom there, and they’re just around somewhere on campus,” Bolhuis said. “So you have to have that interaction piece, and [students] get these clubs [at FHC] and get them to improve their social skills maybe or their interactions with other people.”

The abilities that students gain, however, will help them beyond a social standpoint. The new capabilities students gain can help them master skills needed in day to day life, but not learned in a simple six-hour school day.

“I think that being able to invest and understand the market is an important skill people should have because it can be a huge factor in making money and can be supplemental to your income in the future,” Charlie said. “Finances is a pretty important part of the world; I think it can be pretty beneficial.”

All in all, clubs provide new experiences students would not be able to gain elsewhere. Students gain valuable social experiences, real-world preparation, and the ability to fine-tune their interests. Students, faculty and other staff members are all in agreement: school clubs are a great thing to get involved with.

“If there’s any appropriate positive way for a teen to get tapped in with another group of teens, I think that’s a good thing,” Bolhuis said. “Find something that you can do that you’re passionate about and run with it.”