Club Sports

Everyone has a tough time making friends freshman year, and I was no exception to this rule.  I didn't make friends with the people on my floor because they were all older than me.  I wasn't the type of girl to rush a sorority.  I just felt left out and like I didn't have any friends.  This is where club frisbee and the club sports program came in.

There are so many club sports that you can join!  You can find them all at: sites.psu.edu/clubsports

Here are my reasons for joining a club sport:

1. It's good exercise. Going to the gym by myself was hard.  It was difficult to motivate myself to go to the gym when I always had so much homework.  Joining frisbee forced me to go workout at a specific time regardless of how much homework I had.  This drastically improved my grades. 

2. There is a sense of community.  Like I said, making friends freshman year was difficult for me because I got caught up in homework.  Club frisbee gave me my core group of friends.  Nothing bonds you better than sweating together, and any club sport will do this for you.

3. Leadership roles.  A lot of club sports aren't too big once you start going to every practice.  For this reason, it is very easy to obtain a leadership role, as there are less people competing for them.  I was elected VP of Frisbee after being on the team for only 8 months!  This also means that you have a better chance of dancing in THON!

4. THON.  A lot of club sports get involved in THON.  This is one of Penn States greatest achievements in my mind.  Nowhere else in the world will you see a 46 hour party for pediatric cancer patients.  It's the most wonderful thing in the world, and many club sports are involved.

5. Competition.  Like most engineers at Penn State, I am very competitive; you have to be in order to get those good grades that you want.  Sometimes, it's not good to compete in the classroom.  Penn State's club sports program is highly competitive, with over 50 of our clubs winning national titles.  If you need a little heathy competition, this is the place to go.

"But what if I want to get involved, but I'm not good enough at any sport." Don't worry! A lot of lesser known clubs are still highly competitive and don't make cuts. Club frisbee and club quidditch are two of these clubs. Keep an open mind!

Katie Farnum is a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and is a Mentor for WEPO 2015!