By: Katherine Waters, Staff Writer
To many Wofford students, certain clubs on campus do not exist beyond fliers plastered on doors or notices in the daily announcements. However, these groups are able to flourish despite their lack of popularity. The interest fair at the start of the semester allowed club leaders to advertise to new students and add to their lists of members, which may include Wofford faculty and staff.
“I talked to President Samhat last semester. A professor recommended me to talk to him because he overheard that he had an interest in woodturning,” says Kevin Szostak, president of the Wofford Woodpeckers. “I spoke with him, and he said that a colleague of his was like yeah, that’d be a really good hobby for you to do,’ and when he told me that, I was really excited. So he’s getting involved in this, and I’m actually meeting with him soon to talk about what we’re going to do this semester.”
The only prerequisite to join many of these activities is an interest in the subject; prior experience does not hinder a student’s ability to learn something new. Tae Kwon Do president Daniel Altman suggests that students can take up the martial art as an alternative to typical fitness routines.
“The thing about Tae Kwon Do is that anyone can do it, if you’ve practiced it for 30 years or have never done any martial art a day in your life,” he says. “And it’s such a good workout that it doesn’t matter what kind of shape you’re in. You can be in the best shape of your life and still have a really good workout from it.”
Szostak adds that some of the best woodworkers do not fit the stereotypes. He calls Ann Taylor and Cate Griffin, both sophomores, his “head honchos.”
“It’s fun because at the interest fair, all the sorority girls were walking by, and they got crowds of them to come over, like ‘come look at this, we can do this, and you can do this.’”
The fly fishing club, which has been on campus since 2001, is able to provide all necessary supplies to new members so that no one who wants to learn is prevented by the cost of waders, rods and other equipment. The committee in charge of the club says that the group is open to all students who are interested in the outdoors or who want to do something off of Wofford’s campus, regardless of whatever other organizations they are affiliated with.
President Rob Hart believes that one of the greatest rewards in leading the club comes from teaching a beginner how to fly fish.
“Being able to have that experience of taking someone who’s never been fishing before…there’s nothing like putting someone who’s never learned to fish on a dry fly and putting them on a fish and seeing them light up,” he says.
“Then they get the bug that you caught when you were little.”
All three of these clubs offer students the opportunity to learn a new skill or hobby that they can keep with them outside of their time at Wofford. Members can start woodworking by crafting their own pens, or they can catch a fish with a fly that they made.
“With our style of Tae Kwon Do, you start from the very basic white belt, and you can promote all the way up to black belt in probably about three years,” says Altman. “So if you start as a freshman, you can be a black belt by the time you graduate as long as you stick with it and put in the time.”
No matter where your interests lie, the clubs at Wofford are ready and willing to accommodate any new members. Interested students should look to the daily announcements e-mails and the fliers posted on doors and bulletin boards across campus for more information.
