Week of Welcome is an annual event held by Long Beach State University’s ASI at the start of each semester. On Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., students had the opportunity to check out clubs, extracurriculars, student organizations and university resources offered by the university on display.
Here’s what they had to say about it.
First-year students Gabriela Ortega and Trina Thai were more than satisfied with their first Week of Welcome experience at Long Beach State.
“What was surprising to me was how many clubs there are here,” said Thai, a biochemistry major. “There is definitely at least one club on campus that everyone could join.”
“I especially appreciated all the different sports teams that there were,” said Ortega, a child development major. “I ended up signing up for soccer and volleyball.”
“I was interested in checking out more of the cultural clubs,” said Daniel Yu, a first-year business marketing major. “It feels nice to be able to find my own community here as well as see all the other clubs involving my interests.”
Z’nya Spears, a first-year pre-molecular cellular biology major, was also excited to see all that Long Beach had to offer to her during Week of Welcome.
“The first club I went to see was the PACT program, which is a physician assistants club,” Spears said. “I want to be a physician’s assistant, so knowing that there is a club that will give me experience and prepare me for the career I want to pursue is awesome.”
“I also went to check out the D9’s, which are the first nine black sororities and fraternities. That’s where I got my rose,” she said.
“If I’m being honest, this year’s Week of Welcome felt a little dry. I liked the drawing and food clubs, but overall, I feel like I saw more sororities and fraternities rather than clubs,” said Carter Carmargo, a second-year pre-illustration major.
“I will say though, it is nice to see everyone out and about, interacting and talking to each other,” he said.
Samantha Guillory, a third-year communication studies major, was impressed by the inclusivity at Week of Welcome.
“Week of Welcome is crowded, but I love how many clubs are here,” said Guillory. “Two clubs specifically that I was excited to learn more about were the thrifting club and arts and crafts club.”