City College students share their interests at Unity Day event
Field trips, hanging out, prayer, study groups and services flock Ram Plaza.
Under cloudy skies threatening rain, music carried across Ram Plaza on Oct. 21, as officer Hunter Padilla kept the energy high with his DJing for Unity Day. Dozens of student clubs, college resource centers and student services filled the plaza with tables organized by InterClub Council, each offering students a way in: a study group, a Friday dinner, a place to pray or a room full of people who like the same cartoons.
For some clubs, the draw is faith and connection.
Saphia Abdul and Fallak Sajjad from the Muslim Students Association said the club serves to build community. The club offers Friday prayers in the Rams Reflection Room, located downstairs in the Student Union Building.
“The Rams Reflection Room is a dedicated space where members of the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) community can ‘pray, meditate, reflect, or simply enjoy a quiet moment,’” according to the website.
The local Hillel group, the Jewish organization on campus, offers Friday night Sabbath dinners among other events.
Others point to a career path, and for some, that’s the sciences, Emilyanne Gepilano with the the City College branch of the Society of Women Engineers said.
“So we visit local engineering facilities, and then we also do research in industry panels,” Gepilano said. The engineering society also does job tours, talks at local schools, travels to conferences, visits UC Berkeley and does community building.
“We're having a camping trip to an observatory in Sonoma County coming up,” said Celia Navarro with the Physics Club. Open to all STEM majors, they hold weekly study sessions and have published a colorful set of zines, one for each semester of physics, packed with useful formulas.
The purpose of FLEX Club, Finance Leadership Economics Exchange, is “just to grow your network and get people around you in the same mindset, with the same goals or entrepreneur ambitions,” Patrick Cassidy, a club member, said.
They have free tickets for the next event, Start Up World Cup, between Nov. 4-6.
Some clubs have a much simpler pitch. What does the Anime and Manga Club do? They hang out and talk about anime and manga. It’s a social club, according to Jeannette Huynh, a club member.
