Welcome to the Club(s)

As we start to get more at home with the idea of being students again, its time for some club hopping. SOM has a large variety of clubs for us to get involved with and a completely unscientific survey says that we've joined on average 4.2 clubs. You could broadly categorize the clubs into two groups. The first set are the professional clubs - these are the clubs that work very closely with the CDO and students on professional endeavors. They are a great way to network with your classmates who are into the same professional tracks as you - and probably most importantly (from my perspective!), the second years. I am part of the Marketing and Media & Entertainment clubs. We've had a few sessions to walk through recruiting trends, interview prep and general download of second year wisdom. I just sent an email to one of the second years in the Marketing club to ask for help with resume writing. Since SOM is such a tightly knit community, in addition to our classmates, we've gotten to know the second years pretty well. They are valuable resources on topics as varied as their summer internship experiences to the best sushi in New Haven. The clubs have some amazing events lined up and I can see how they will be a great resource for all of us.In addition to the professional clubs sorted by industry, there are also the regional clubs which are pretty great. They focus on business issues in specific regions, and are also a great way to learn more about the culture of those regions. The second set are the social clubs. These are geared towards- well, everything else. Food and Wine's been having wine tasting class. Arts and Culture took a trip to the Yale Cabaret (to see a fantastic production of Orestes by one of our joint degree classmates). And then of course, there's Food For Thought. FFT is a student run cafe/commissary hybrid that is completely volunteer run and proceeds go to the Internship Fund. For students who choose to work in non-profit/social sector for their internships, the Internship Fund provides a stipend of sorts. Its a convenient way to occupy yourself when you have an hour between classes and just be more involved. To receive funding from the Internship Fund, first years must work a certain number of shifts - but a lot of folks also do it just for the fun of it. Dean Oster was a volunteer last week! Clubs are an integral part of SOM life and a great way to seek out folks with the same interests - whether its squash or entrepreneurship. And if you are visiting SOM this fall, stop by Food For Thought!