The Medical Club, the Multimedia Club, and the Internet Society Club are three new clubs recently approved by the UHS Associated Student Body (ASB). These clubs are examples of those that have made necessary adjustments for member engagement as COVID-19 safety precautions have prompted the digitization of club events, meetings, and related activities.
“The main difference [in creating clubs] is that everything is now digitized, like turning in registration forms and club constitutions online rather than at the SAC,” Clubs Commissioner senior Henry Feuerborn said in an email interview. “I do wish that I could have interviewed the club presidents in person, since I feel that I’m better able to connect with them, both metaphorically and literally, since some of our applicants had some network issues.”
Medical Club aims to introduce interested students to the field of medicine.
“UHS Medical Club would like to spark passion in students and allow students to grow their interest in medicine, and explain the multitude of professions in the medical field,” co-president sophomore Bryan Tran said.
Tran’s personal interactions with many of his peers prompted him to create Medical Club, as they shared his same interest but were also overwhelmed by the field’s many possibilities.
“There are over a dozen different occupations, pathways, and specialties in the medical field,” Tran said. “I created this club to create available, easy to access information to help give students a better understanding of the medical field to help benefit them if they choose to pursue medicine in the future.”
The Medical Club has worked well with COVID-19 restrictions, as many of the club members’ educational opportunities are already set up for online formats.
“A few of the things we offer include interviews, Q&As with medical professionals, panels, projects, and community service,” second co-president sophomore Ryan Alavi said. “During COVID, we are coordinating with other organizations to provide self volunteer events for our members that can be done online.”
The Multimedia Club is UHS’ latest addition to the UHS Visual And Performing Arts (VAPA) community. The club’s purpose is to serve as a central hub for students with interests in visual arts.
“My friend Alex and I both share a love for film, photography and graphic design, and wanted to put our passion into a place where we would be able to serve our community,” co-president and junior Sanay Saboo said. “That desire formed the idea of making a group of similar people, and that idea became our club.”
The Multimedia Club is meant for students to express their artistic selves both with their fellow  friends and beyond UHS.
“Our goal is to bring together artists and aspiring creators from all across UNI and showcase their skill and talent in a form where we can provide both a platform for these people and help our community along the way,” Saboo said. “We aim to use our team of creators to advertise, promote and do work for nonprofits, various small businesses, locally based NGOs, and even other clubs, through the form of digital media.”
The club also educates and encourages improvement among its members, teaching them how to create art.
“We want not only experienced creators to join us, but those who share our passion but do not yet have the ability they desire,” Saboo said. “Besides this, we will also be hosting monthly competitions between our different creators to see who created the best media over that time.”
The club faces the challenge of tackling art’s physical aspects in an online environment, but has been able to provide service opportunities.
“We… have biweekly meetings where we can both educate and evaluate our member’s creations, as well as try to get people to reach out to prospective clients,” Saboo said. “Club events will be a little more difficult to schedule during the pandemic…however, we all are ready to take this challenge on headfirst, and make the most out of this situation.”
The Internet Society (ISOC) Club is the new UHS branch of its global parent organization, teaching interested members about internet security.
“This club encourages its members to partake in democratizing the actual Internet,” president Nathaneo Johnson said. “UNI’s ISOC chapter will consist of education in cyber regulation concerning various regions of the Internet, along with mock debates regarding initiating internet policies towards different nations.”
For both new and old clubs alike, club engagement has been a central aim during the pandemic.
“[During] first semester, we had a digital freshman club showcase, and during second semester, I would like to plan a similar event to get more students involved in our passionate clubs here at Uni,” Feuerborn said. “My primary goal is to make sure that underclassmen will continue to get involved in our club culture, so that when the seniors graduate, there is a strong base of support for our existing clubs.”