Last weekend, I went to a party at an apartment. After conversing with some seniors and garnering some important advice, I picked up on a few things that I wanted to try. I’m not from Pennsylvania, in fact I live about a 9 hour drive away from campus in Louisville, Kentucky. I was told by numerous people that connections are a key aspect of Penn State. I consider myself a very social and outgoing person, so despite not knowing any previous connections to the school, I think that it shouldn’t be too hard to meet and talk to people here on campus. In line with the advice about meeting people and staying connected, I was told to join one club that helps me for my career path, and one club for fun. That way, a lot of time is spent meeting and building relationships with people in this school that I would have never met previously. The next day, I went online and started searching for clubs and organizations to join. After some deliberation and debate with my friends on what I should do, I eventually decided on 2 clubs.
I joined club tennis for fun because I figured it would be a safe bet with coronavirus that I would still get to play at least a little bit compared to some other club sports. My high school won the state championship 4/4 years that I played in high school, and I like to think I’m a pretty good player, so I am excited to get out and meet people to play tennis with.
The other club I chose was much more experimental. In what is apparently a very elite and prestigious organization at Penn State, I stumbled my way into a Mock Trial tryout. I’ve never done anything like that, but it seemed interesting and I’m good at arguing with people so I figured I would give it a try. I was unaware how rigorous and exclusive the team was before I had to tryout, and I think that helped me. I wasn’t nervous like I assume many applicants were because I had nothing to gain or lose from making the team. Regardless, I made the team and I’ve had a great time meeting a lot of the members of the organization so far. In normal years, we travel to San Francisco or Washington D.C. to compete in tournaments. Unfortunately as of right now, these tournaments are in jeopardy of not being possible. However, I hope to compete soon enough with my new friends.
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I heard alot of great things about club tennis. I also joined earlier this semester. Hopefully, we will be able to get on the courts soon. As for mock trial, it never hurts to try something new. Good lucks in your clubs!
It’s a great idea to meet people by joining clubs. Mock Trial tryout sounds interesting.
As someone who mutes their competitive nature due to its ugly manifestations during friendly competitions and family board games, I find your pursuit of being ahead of the game very impressive. My friends and i had what we called an “underground tennis group,” because we were bored and i can say with complete honesty that it is not my sport, Despite what little i know about you besides your love of competition, Both clubs appear to be very good outlets for that side of you.