SJND Club Rush ‘24
Written by Anne Obuchi SJND ’25, Pilot Island Editor-in-Chief
Do you know you have thirty minutes?
This year, SJND’s annual Club Rush displayed 51 student-led clubs in the quad for our Pilots to join. Bombarded by colorful tri-folds, posters, give-aways, games, and opportunities — in one hour, these 52 clubs take no prisoners, they take sign ups, though.
Club Rush is a culmination of weeks of planning and, in some cases, reflect years worth of club history. SJND’s Filipino-American Student Organization, FASO, has a tradition of serving lumpia at each Club Rush. Girl Up hands out beaded bracelets to students who spin-to-win after signing up. This one hour of club display exists hectically, but filled with spirit.
As a school that values community, this is a great reflection of it. Not only cultural affinity groups — students can sign up for clubs with shared common interests. Film, books, chess, student service, dance, sciences. Really, we have it all.
And if we didn’t have it, we could have it.
We have more clubs than any other time in recent years. Fifty-one clubs for over 450 students school-wide, each with officers and passionate student leaders who pulled together their sparse, spare time and pooled together their money for Club Rush. Motivated by enthusiasm and slightly hindered by the bustle.
Set up for Club Rush is like watching a rat race. Except the rats are high schoolers and they’re all carrying tri-folds. The forty minutes of preparation is marked by club leaders fretting over decorations and officer rotations. Some obstacles are more natural than others.
“It’s just so windy,” Maddie Olsen (SJND ‘25), president of STEAM and co-president of Gardening Club says. “I’m half-lucky, STEAM is always in NDH, just in case of needing to protect some of the projects we bring out for display. But on the other hand, the Gardening Club is always outside. It’s our whole thing. Once I got smacked in the face by our trifold because it kept flying off the table.”
I watched Zoe Deaker (SJND ‘25), pin her trifold to the Quad tables with binder clips, a river stone, and some small twigs — doesn’t innovation excite?
We would love to thank Trigo De Jesus Rico-Salgado ‘25 and Mr. McKee for helping our student leaders organize and put on Club Rush. We can’t wait for what is in store for our talented student leaders this school year!
SJND Pilot Island Editorial Staff 2024–2025:
Editor-in-Chief: Anne Obuchi ‘25
News Editors: Jaslyn Ho ’26 and Jeanette McClure ‘27
Features Editors: Naomi Seche ’26 and Anabel Arista ‘27
Opinion Editors: Nicolaus Thyen ’27 and Victor Pham ‘27
Reviews Editor: Austin Ly ’27 and Sean Kimbrew ‘27
Sports Editors: Jayla Anderson ’27 and Jeremiah Myers ‘27
