HEATHER OCCHINO
Special to The Leader
The semesterly-held Activities Night event was hosted in the Steele Hall Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 29 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Many students visited to check out what tables representing different clubs had to say.
SUNY Fredonia offers a variety of clubs for students to gain the opportunity to learn new things, make new friends and develop skills useful for both their academic careers and in life. The school offers clubs not only for students to exercise their vocal and musical talent, such as in Fredonia’s Divine Sound Gospel Choir Club, but also their bodies, like in the EnFusion dance club.
EnFusion has implemented dance routines for both prospective students and long-time members, which mostly involve dance regimes centered around music based on Afro beats, as noted by President, Leana Sharpe.
“What makes our team very interesting [is that] we don’t mostly do hip-hop. We don’t mostly just do Carribean music. We do every sort of Afro, or Black-based type of genre,” Sharpe shared.
Sharpe is a veteran in the club, as she became involved in it as a freshman and is graduating this year.
There is another musically-related club known as the Divine Sound Gospel Choir Club. While its group members sing mostly songs based in Christianity, President Ashley Sanders asserts that you do not have to be Christian to join the club. Sanders shared the reminder to anyone interested in joining that the choir is active; members travel to places as far as Buffalo to sing in churches. The choir has also hosted meet and greet events, such as open mic nights, in the past. This year, they plan on “doing a game night along with a movie night and then our annual concert,” according to Sanders.
A club at Fredonia some people may not be familiar with is the NSSLHA (National Student Speech Language Hearing Association). The club is designed to provide an opportunity for students majoring in communication disorders and sciences to explore professional development, as well as help “enhance the majors of CDS students in their studies, and just make sure that they’re in the right field honestly, because there’s a lot to it, but it’s a lot of fun,” said Lily Cales, treasurer and social chair.
Cales’ experience working in speech development hits close to home as she has a daughter who has a speech and language delay. She describes using her speech skills both as a parent and in the classroom as a unique experience. Cales also explains how it’s really cool to see a child articulate their needs and wants who wasn’t able to speak beforehand.
Feel free to visit the school’s website at fredonia.edu/student-life/clubs-organizations to find clubs which may pique your interest, such as the clubs listed above. As noted, club leaders don’t require prior experience, and encourage all to join.