By Elisa Peregrina

The ongoing pandemic has left students with little to normal experiences having to do with education and the activities these institutions provide.
At Brookdale, there are so many club opportunities from academic, volunteering, and the arts. The same way classes went to virtual learning in order to keep providing the students their education – many clubs did the same thing.
Some made the transition easier than others, but for others such as the dance club, being virtual has been a disadvantage. This has not altered their spirits one bit as they are able to get people involved week to week.
“The pandemic has been super hard on our club. This is my first year at Brookdale, but I have been told that pre-COVID the dance club was having a hard time getting members to join,” club president Arianna Smith said.
While working virtually can be challenging, Smith and secretary Molly Fennessy have been working hard to make Zoom meetings an exciting experience.
“These ladies have done a fantastic job in starting this club back up and trying to keep things going. Every week is a different virtual fun meeting. The hardest part is keeping the interest up and people coming back each week, but Arianna and Molly do their best to make that happen,” said Sherri Vanderspiegel, the dance club instructor.
One recent event was the Dance Club’s TikTok Dance Party workout on March 9. This was a free hour session of fun trendy dances that have grown popular with the use of the app TikTok, especially during the pandemic.
They are finding new and innovative ways to get students involved.
“I had a strong desire to be part of clubs and sports teams coming into college, so when I was told I had the task of starting the club back up I was excited for the challenge,” Smith said.
Behind the scenes of these meetings, they are constantly promoting them through flyers, via social media, sending emails twice a week and searching for new ideas in the community.
Team members have the hard part of putting together these classes, so the students who get involved can just enjoy and have fun.
Although going virtual is not the easiest thing with such a physically involved club, it’s still a great way to get active, meet people and “have somewhat of a normal college experience,” Smith said. And a perk of that is it’s all from the comfort of your own home!
Weekly meetings occur Tuesday’s from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. While they are virtual for now, the instructor hopes for in-person meetings in the fall, so it’s never too late to get involved.