Getting involved in clubs at USC is one way to find a community and a great group of people. While this first semester is coming to an end, it’s time to see if there are any other clubs for you, or if you want to start your own. During the first few weeks of school, there is an involvement fair where you can explore all the 100+ club and organization options. In addition, clubs are also listed on Engage SC (a platform that lists USC’s organizations, members, etc.).
When I was first a freshman, I had no idea what clubs I wanted to join and what I’d get out of them. To start, I’d recommend walking through the involvement fair and filling out interest forms at tables that you find interesting. If there is an application to get into the club, those are usually due within the first month of the school semester. However, a lot of clubs are opened to all students of any major with no application.
One example is CASA (Chinese American Student Association), which has a giant pool of general members. All you need to do to join is pay a membership fee to get access to all the events, socials, and parties. I’ve been to a few club meetings, and everyone is very nice and friendly, and the effort you put into getting to know people will leave you with a new group of friends! Some general events they hold is a Valentine’s Day game show, celebrating Chinese New Year, and tailgate for football games together.
It’s nice to have a group of friends or individual friends you know from different clubs. In addition to CASA, I’m also a part of Spoon University (a USC food club). Sometimes, other executive board members and I go out to get a bite to eat! The last place we went to was Anju house (photos featured) and the food was amazing! Spoon also hosts general member events where we bring in companies or restaurants to talk about their food/share their food. The last speaker we brought in was the owner of Little-Pan (a food-stop across from campus), where she shared her experiences and shared her delicious food with us.
The club I would say I am most involved in is my sorority organization. I’m a part of Delta Phi Kappa which is under the Asian Greek Council (AGC). There are also other cultural fraternities and sororities under different councils such as Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), Interfraternity Council (IFC), Panhellenic Council, and many more. For Greek life, I would say that what you get out of the organization depends on what you put into the organization. For instance, being a part of cabinet means you are dedicating a lot of time to plan events to get to know people or keep connections within the organization. However, if you don’t go to events or reach out to people, then it may be harder for you to get to know people/for them to get to know you. If you are thinking about joining Greek life, I recommend checking what organizations there are for you and signing up for their info sessions or rush events. Some helpful things to investigate when considering joining is cabinet size, philanthropy, events they hold, and how much money it costs to join. Even if you don’t plan on joining, rush is still an opportunity to get to meet new people and make new friends if you guys click!
Those are a few clubs that I am currently involved in at USC, but there are many more that I have joined (and still get newsletters for). I’ve joined more social clubs at USC; however, there are a bunch of philanthropy or professional orientated organizations! Just try a new club out and see how you’d like it! Who knows, maybe you have a secret talent or passion that you didn’t know about (mine was writing because I randomly joined a magazine organization).
