Cal Poly is home to a number of clubs and organizations, giving students the opportunity to broaden their horizons and meet new people. Some of these clubs even present students with the opportunity to exercise the right side of their brain, whether it be through creative writing, dancing or conversing with others over a work of art. The following are some creative clubs on campus students can check out.
The Writer’s Collective
When economics senior Phil Chen was a sophomore, he took a poetry class where he discovered his passion for writing — though he felt a community of writers with an interest in creative writing was missing on campus.
And so The Writer’s Collective was born.
“The Writer’s Collective is an organization that aims to create a community of like-minded individuals who are all interested in some type of creative writing,” executive officer and English senior Paige Smith said. “It’s basically a club where we gather together and share pieces of writing with one another and workshop them and just kind of share ideas and inspire each other.”
Chen, an executive officer of the club, said The Writer’s Collective provides students with the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other.
“Seeing and hearing other people’s writing helps my own writing style,” Chen said.
The approximately 20 to 25 active members of the group gather bi-monthly, sometimes holding what they call “workshops.”
“We get together and someone brings in a piece and they read it aloud to everyone and if that person wants feedback on it or comments for improvement, constructive criticism, that kind of thing, they can ask for that and then the rest of the group kind of chips in and says, ‘this is your strong point,’ or ‘this is where you can see some help,’ that kind of thing,” Smith said.
Club members don’t have to be the best writers, or even English majors.
“We just have a really good group of interesting people who are super passionate about what they do,” Smith said. “I think it’s cool that it’s not something that’s associated with a major because it shows how dedicated people really are to their writing that they’re taking this outside time out of their studies to come and do it on their own.”
Chen hopes to someday publish a few books.
“I definitely want to continue writing after (I graduate),” he said.
The club isn’t only for students who like to write, but also for those who like to hear writing and be inspired.
“Every meeting that I go, to I’m absolutely blown away by the amount of talent that we have at Cal Poly in regard to writing and creativity,” Chen said. “There’s so much you can do with a pen and paper.”
Students who want to put their pen to the test and join The Writer’s Collective can email the club at cpwriterscollective@gmail.com.
Swing Club
Along with picking up a pen, students can also dust off their dancing shoes.
Students who enjoy a good Lindy Hop or two should dance their way on over to the Cal Poly Swing Club.
“The Swing Club, as an organization, we cater a lot toward the student body but also toward our community,” vice president and English junior Brittany Hanson said. “We have a lot of community members come out and learn how to swing dance from us.”
Hanson, who has been swing dancing for approximately six years, said the goal of the club is to “spread the love of swing dancing and jazz.”
The approximately 60-member club is sometimes involved in competitions, with one big event coming up at the beginning of May.
“We have a Jack and Jill competition there where you enter by yourself, you don’t need a partner and you randomly get assigned a partner a few different times,” Hanson said. “It’s usually really cool because we get a lot of people from all over the country that come to this event, so it’s like some of the best swing dancers on the West Coast for sure.”
Those interested in swing don’t have to be experts, though.
“It’s a really great way to meet friends,” Hanson said. “We’re not judgmental about your dancing. It’s really fun and we’re very inclusive. I would say that my Swing Club friends are like my family. We’re all really close and we all work together a lot too.”
Lessons are $3 and are open to students and members of the community with no need for a partner. Lessons are on Sundays at 2 p.m. in the Architecture and Environmental Design building, room 225.
Studio Art Club
Another outlet for students seeking artistic involvement on campus is the Studio Art Club.
“(The Studio Art Club) a place to help us get to know each other in a less competitive environment because it can get pretty intense in those classrooms trying to impress teachers,” president and art and design junior Rachel Leonard said. “It’s nice to just go out and look at art and talk honestly with everyone without that pressure.”
While Leonard said the club aims to make everyone closer in the art and design department, she also said it’s an opportunity for students to experience art in non-classroom settings.
The approximately 20-member Studio Art Club goes on various field trips, including its recent trip to San Francisco where club members visited various museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Asian Art Museum where they saw China’s Terracotta Warriors.
“(It) was really cool because, I mean, we hear about (the Terracotta Warriors) in class all the time and we finally get to see it,” Leonard said.
Being an art and design major isn’t a requirement to join the club, though both Leonard and vice president and art and design junior Sienna Nelson encourage art and design freshmen to join.
“It’s a great community,” Nelson said. “Don’t be intimidated. We don’t want to exclude people.”
Students who wish to join can visit the club’s Facebook page.