On March 14-15th last year, Solomon Square was packed with students who visited the “Club Fair.” Each club showed off its colors to the new incoming students. The excitement was quite different from last year’s fair amid Corona 19.

Kyung-hee Park (Department of Art & Design, Class of 22), who visited the club fair that day, said, “I can feel that the number of participants has increased compared to last year’s fair. It feels like how it was before COVID-19.”

Min-seo Kim (Department of Business Administration, Class of 21), student president of the Club Association, said, “The number of students coming to school has increased due to the transition to full-scale face-to-face classes, and the participation rate of the event was very high this year. During the busiest participation time of the day, so many students were visiting the booths that not all of them could make rounds or know what the activities were. The student association prepared more event products than expected, but they were quickly sold out.”

According to the Club Association, seven new clubs were created after the fair.

The university culture is revitalizing after a long run with COVID. The change is detected in the club activities called ‘The flower of university life.’ The club frenzy is blowing along with the spring breeze at Sahmyook University.

It seems that all new students joined at least one club. Woo-seok Kim (Department of Artificial Intelligence Convergence, Class of 23) said, “Everyone wants to join a club for various reasons, such as self-development and exchanges with other departmental students.” He applied to the programming club GDSC.

The number of applicants for each club also increased significantly compared to the previous year. The dance club, Plague, planned to recruit 12 new applicants, but 33 students signed up. Last year, there were only 12 applicants. The cheerleading club, Adios, also saw a significant increase in applicants from 30 last year to 42 this year.

The club frenzy also left interesting episodes in the selection process. Won-seok Jang (Department of IT Convergence Engineering, Class of 19), president of the photography club, Light Sense, said, “Some of the students showed off their talents by singing, vocal mimicry, and model walking. An applicant even wanted to go hiking with the interviewer on his back.

Chae-yoon Han (Department of Artificial Intelligence Convergence, Class of 22), president of Adios, said, “I was surprised by an applicant who showed off his cheerleading skills without any accompaniment, saying that he had memorized the Adios choreography in advance.”

Not only new students but also currently enrolled students have high expectations for this year’s club activities. Kyung-hee Park, a photography club member, Viewfinder, said, “I am looking forward to the club activities more because I can create new experiences and memories with the members.”

Kang Chae-yeon Kang (Department of Aviation, Tourism and Foreign Languages, Class of 22), president of Plague, expressed anticipation, saying, “As the number of male members has increased more than last year, we will be able to show off various aspects such as men’s groups and mixed performances.”

Club executives are also busy.

By converting club activities conducted as non-face-to-face for three years, finally becoming face-to-face, the clubs are planning many activities, not limiting themselves to club fairs or festivals.

“Last year, the focus was on revitalizing club activities that were dampened during the pandemic,” said Won-seok Jang, president of Light Sense. That’s why I took more commercial and popular filming activities rather than the quality of my work. However, this year, as all activities have been changed to face-to-face, we plan to approach them more artistically and professionally.”

Chae-yeon Kang, president of Plague, said, “Previously, we had performed only at officially planned school events. However, this year, we will create and proceed with projects on our own or participate more actively in other activities on campus under the name of Plague.

The Club Association also organizes various face-to-face events to promote clubs. Another club fair will be held at the beginning of the second semester. The club festival, which was held for the first-time last year, will be held May 16-17th.