{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/primesocialclubs","webpackCompilationHash":"bc518eed74bf3a859c55","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"headline":"The Extracurricular Expat","author":"PATRICK WOODHAM","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.socialclubs/Performative_Male_Contest_cropped-fd122bc8004cf2648c93cdec2be45a04.png","covercred":"Luna Fukumoto","coveralt":"An illustration of a grassy field with students gathered around playing guitar, drinking matcha, and carrying books.","articleType":"article","updated":"","content":[{"type":"text","value":"I woke up at 7:30 a.m. Debating whether this was worth it, I got up because I had a friend to hold me accountable, knowing I would try to skip it – but I still went back to bed. Then, I remembered the purpose behind my mission, so I got up and got dressed. I normally wake up early to drink coffee, but my routine was changing. As a New Yorker, birds have been my greatest enemy ever since a pigeon pooped on me in second grade. But this had a purpose."},{"type":"text","value":"I was going to join the Bruin Birding Club on a walk."},{"type":"text","value":"Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have yearned for connection but are hindered by a variety of factors. In a study from UC Santa Barbara Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, 40% of adolescents reported a diminished social well-being (connectedness to peers and family, integration with community, etc.) three years after COVID-19 restrictions were put in place. A press release from Stanford discussed how Gen Z young adults have lower levels of happiness relative to other age groups. While there is no one reason, it coincides with two other trends: growing economic inequality and negativity-filled media ecosystems."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"I wanted to experience the ways others may be finding community in an ever-more disconnected world.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"I wanted to test this out for myself. I wanted to see if I could attend different social clubs and find a community there. Even if their activities may be unconventional or against the grain, I wanted to experience the ways others may be finding community in an ever-more disconnected world. So I visited four different clubs and joined whatever open events they had available."},{"type":"text","value":"By the time we arrived, there were about 25 people waiting with a diverse set of ages and majors. We split into two groups after the usual \"name, year, major\" introductions. From their intros, people seemed excited to see birds, a stark contrast from me, who did not know birds could be interesting. From first-years to doctoral students studying anything from history to applied math, everyone was there to embark on a hike through North Campus and catalog any birds they found."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"An illustration of Patrick looking through binoculars and pointing at the sky towards a flock of birds.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.socialclubs/birdingclub1&2combined-29079ea609410787fdec2f52b213ad97.png\",\"credit\":\"Luna Fukumoto/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Bird species were being yelled out every few minutes. However, chirps would silence the group as some birders tried to guess the species. While some were recognizable by their names, others were because of their actions. \"Misogyny\" and \"Misandry\" are two birds known to members of this club (Misogyny is notably more of a nuisance)."},{"type":"text","value":"What made the experience pleasant, more than anything else, was the people. I never felt I was in the wrong place for trying something new. Everyone was open to teaching me their favorite bird fact."},{"type":"text","value":"Even though I dreaded the first few minutes, the last few felt like I had found a new friend group."},{"type":"text","value":"Video Game Appreciation Club was the next group I visited. I wanted to explore a more stationary activity. Even though I have been playing video games all my life, I was still nervous to go. I prefer my video games in solitude and barely tell anyone when I play because I find comfort in consuming my single-player games alone. I opted to go because I wanted to change my opinion and try experiencing video games with other people."},{"type":"text","value":"After a confusing set of twists and turns in the Mathematical Sciences Building, I found the actual meeting room on the building’s fifth floor – which I had originally entered on – for the VGA’s ape-themed game night. In front of me was an old CRT TV that was going to house SEGA’s Super Monkey Ball. On the projector was Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza, released only a few months ago. Behind me was a computer with an emulator for Sony’s Ape Escape."},{"type":"text","value":"Similar to the bird walk, the beginning was the usual introductions that every college student has done a million times – but with a twist – name, year, major and favorite video game. I picked Hades, a popular dungeon crawler from 2020."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"An illustration of a group of students gathered around a television playing monkey and banana themed video games.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.socialclubs/videogameclub1-4076cf71ef8b542ab46f8282dbc078d3.png\",\"credit\":\"Luna Fukumoto/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Sheffield Hocker, a fourth-year communications student, founded the club in winter 2024 with a few friends. He said he wanted to emulate clubs that watch films together and have a casual space to share a hobby that feels less intimidating in comparison to competitive gaming communities. Hocker added that as a transfer student, he knows the difficulties of trying to acclimate to UCLA."},{"type":"text","value":"\"I know how stressful it is at the beginning being here and not knowing anybody,\" he said. \"It’s such a big campus, and there’s a lot of really intimidating stuff, so just to have a place that I’m hoping is very welcoming and fun and light – I’m hoping that’s something people can resonate with.\""},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"I never felt I was in the wrong place for trying something new.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"As a third-year traditional student, I do not completely understand the struggle of friends at the beginning of one’s collegiate tenure. As opposed to the shared unknown of being a freshman, a transfer student is dropped into the deep end of the pool, where everyone is already friends and knows what they like. If you come in knowing no one or do not live in the transfer living-learning community, housed in De Neve Holly, it’s easy to understand how quickly that can become isolating if you do not have a good idea of how to make friends."},{"type":"text","value":"The understanding of that struggle is what brings clubs like VGA and Bruin Birding together."},{"type":"text","value":"Adeline Hung, a second-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student and co-marketing and communications director of Bruin Birding, said even though two people may be strangers, both of you knowing about birds or nature is enough to make a connection."},{"type":"text","value":"\"Sometimes you meet people who you’ve never seen before, but because of birds, you have the same topic about nature, and you get to know them more,\" Hung said. \"Surprisingly, they might know the same facts as you know, and you have a common language from the start.\""},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"An illustration of a remote control on the ground with its cord extending out of the frame.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.socialclubs/videogameclub2.cropped-7c33fe45c29eedf3961b989a62e08109.png\",\"credit\":\"Luna Fukumoto/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Emma Hwang, a third-year ecology, behavior and evolution student and co-president of Bruin Birding, said she enjoys seeing people connect with one another while birdwatching. Hwang added that she’s especially happy when she sees people new to bird watching. Through the club, they are able to build their understanding of the activity."},{"type":"text","value":"In addition to camaraderie, some also join over their shared love to make others laugh."},{"type":"text","value":"Shenanigans Comedy Club at UCLA held a performative male contest. A performative male, according to <a href=\"https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/09/17/why-performative-masc-contests-are-the-new-queer-event-you-need-to-see/\">Book Club Chicago</a>, is a man with \"traditionally feminine hobbies with the sole intent of cultivating an inauthentic aesthetic that might appeal to progressive women.\" These contests appear to have evolved out of celebrity and pop culture character-lookalike contests cropping up across the country since last year. While I do have some grievances with the internet joke, I set them aside to see the contest for myself. I wanted to find a different way to form a community."},{"type":"text","value":"At 4 p.m. on Janss Steps, I found a crowd of people with matchas in hand, unsheathed guitars and tampons in abundance. Some contestants brought books such as \"I Am Malala.\" One contestant even had a Walkman in their pocket."},{"type":"text","value":"Throughout the show, contestants showed off how performative they could be. One read \"A Kids Book About Feminism\" from start to finish. Another briefly serenaded the crowd with their guitar. While they all had different ways to perform in front of the crowd, they did share one thing in common – making everyone laugh."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"I found a crowd of people with matchas in hand, unsheathed guitars and tampons in abundance.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Occasionally, someone would proclaim how much they loved women or shout out female family members and public figures. As each contestant described their outfit, it slowly escalated from thrifting to making the outfit entirely by hand, defeating the purpose of the sustainability trope they were trying to uphold. But it did not matter what I thought. Everyone in the crowd was enjoying the sight of seeing these contestants try to play up a version of a man whose only goal is to court women – so much so that they make a fool of themselves. After the contest, people took pictures with the winner, and the contestants traded Instagram handles with one another."},{"type":"text","value":"Andy Liu, a third-year psychobiology student and president of Shenanigans Comedy Club, said he has been a member since his first year, and Shenanigans helped him find community. He added that while he wants large and public events like these to advertise the club itself, the overarching goal was to foster community and help people meet."},{"type":"text","value":"I eventually found myself grabbing lunch in the Court of Sciences for my next stop – The Quiet Club at UCLA. I waited a bit until I realized I had no idea how to find the club. I was in the right place at the right time, but I assumed asking random tables, \"Are you the quiet club?\" was a bad idea. I saw one of the board members, confirming that I was thankfully right in my guess."},{"type":"text","value":"About eight people came to the table with a mix of chicken tenders, sandwiches and Yoshinoya plates. There was no initial \"name, year, major\" routine until someone asked. This started a conversation, but it quickly ended in a lull. I was antsy to continue adding to the conversation but stopped myself so as not to ruin the sanctity of the club, which was created as a space for introverts."},{"type":"text","value":"However, in spite of the aforementioned club name, people tried to make conversation by divulging their stories of how they got to UCLA or why they chose the school. Even though I had hit my own limit of awkward silence and pauses, others seemed to bask in it and found comfort in a way that I never could."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"While I’m no scientist, I think we have become less open to meeting new people and more content with being alone.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Post-quarantine socializing has changed. While I’m no scientist, I think we have become less open to meeting new people and more content with being alone. Social clubs help to combat this. While some are a bit more overt in their pursuits of connection, others do it in alternative ways that feel comfortable to them. No matter what way, they all have the same goal in mind of bringing people together in this isolated world."},{"type":"text","value":"What I learned from visiting all of these clubs is to go out and make friends. I am already normally an extroverted person, but I wanted to make more friends. I wanted to see how it felt to join different communities in their endeavors to carve out their own within the larger UCLA community."},{"type":"text","value":"So this is where I implore you, reader."},{"type":"text","value":"Talk to the person next to you in class. Join the club you have always wanted to join. Do that fun thing with a friend you have been putting off for three months."},{"type":"text","value":"Who knows? You might find your new community."}]}},"pageContext":{"isCreatedByStatefulCreatePages":false,"term":"fall25","slug":"prime.socialclubs"}}}