By June Peers

With 110 clubs at Granada Hills Charter (GHC) for the 2023-24 school year, there is a wide variety of initiatives students can take to impact their community. This could be through leadership positions, participating in volunteer opportunities, or building unity among specific groups that share a common interest or identity.

In the Paws and Poms club, for example, senior and varsity cheerleader Lily Gonzalez took inspiration from established volunteering clubs, such as Cancer Kids First. However, she made her club uniquely her own by targeting two specific groups. As an animal lover herself, her mission was to maximize the amount of support shelter animals receive while also giving animal lovers a platform to discuss their appreciation for their pets. 

She also found that her passion for promoting school pride as a cheerleader could be incorporated into her mission of “cheering on our four-legged friends.” Thus, the unity of both animal lovers and cheerleaders gave way to the creation of Paws and Poms, which was established this school year.

“I decided to help bridge the social gap between sports teams and clubs as well as mitigate the negative connotations cheerleaders have,” Gonzalez said. “A nice, smart cheerleader is seen as an unprecedented concept, however, many Granada cheerleaders fit this description. Therefore, making a club for cheer to begin to break the cookie cutter mold was important.”

While many other clubs offer service hours, the inclusion of all these volunteering opportunities gives students insight into how there are many underserved communities, even dogs.

Many of the clubs this year seek to find their niche within our huge student population. For example, the founder of Accidental Music, senior Samantha Fuentes noticed that the music programs GHC offered were focused on mastering an instrument but had little emphasis on collaboration and individuality, both of which are commonly seen in a band setting. To widen the accessibility of student-run bands, Fuentes founded Accidental Music. 

Astonishingly, within just a year of the club’s establishment, over 150 members enrolled in the program. This is due in part to how members can express their unique music tastes to one another and have these differing genres included in the set list of their live performances.

“Accidental Music has a desire to be versatile and concentrate on genres that pique our interests, including rock, pop, and indie,” junior and Social Media Manager Nathalia Jimenez said. “Other GHC music programs, such as Orchestra and Marching Band, don’t have as much flexibility when selecting songs.”

Music cannot fit into just one box since there are so many instruments and styles to explore. Additionally, by providing a wide array of music programs, students can select which location best suits their method of performing, whether that be in Rawley Hall, at a football game, or in a big auditorium. Ultimately, art can take on many different forms, and how a musician decides to approach art should be at their disposal.

Students are utilizing these platforms to pursue their unique talents and interests to make an impact on our school community. Whether it’s fostering a love of animals or creating a space for diverse musical expression, the clubs cater to a range of passions.

However, it is not just specialized interest-based clubs that hold significance in our school’s tapestry of clubs. In recognition of the need for cultural representation, students like junior Alex Lopez have taken inspiration from statewide organizations to establish clubs like Brown Issues.

Lopez noticed that though GHC offers many cultural clubs, there was a lack of Latino representation, which is why he formed Brown Issues this year.

“The name ‘Brown Issues’ symbolizes our determination to address the problems the Latino community faces,” Lopez said.

The main problem Brown Issues addresses is the Latino immigrant experience in the U.S. and the discrimination these members are often subjected to. 

Without sharing different perspectives, students are left in the dark about these communities. Only by offering a diverse range of cultural clubs are students able to acknowledge and celebrate the vast array of communities at GHC.

Paws and Poms, Accidental Music, and Brown Issues are just a few examples of how essential club diversity is to accommodate each individual’s niche interests. However, even with the increased supply of clubs, the demand for leadership positions far surpasses what any school is capable of providing.

According to The Harvard Crimson, “In 2021, 83 percent of Harvard respondents were president of at least one club at their high school.”

It is abundantly clear that holding a leadership position not only comes with a prestigious title but also offers advantages during the college admissions process. Consequently, some students feel pressured to apply for and accept positions that don’t match their interests. Moreover, given that there is so much demand for these positions, being offered such a role seems like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that one would be “foolish” to turn down. 

It is important to note, however, that clubs don’t exist for the sole purpose of being advertised on a college application. Devoting your time to your passions can always ensure fulfillment in one’s self, but devoting that time to creating an inauthentic résumé cannot. If there is one lesson to take away from the high school experience, it is that college should never be the reason for compromising your identity.