No student’s confidence should be diminished because of a rejection letter from a club on campus. With the amount of hard work it takes just to be admitted to Georgetown, students can be so qualified for clubs that the difference between what it takes to make it and to be denied becomes arbitrary. Yet this atmosphere on campus seems to be fairly internalized, influencing the social lives and self-esteem of students.

Many students want to join exclusive clubs because these organizations often encourage strong social bonds, providing students with easier and faster ways to make friends. These clubs tend to foster such strong communities because they have higher time commitments and because they have extensive resources to offer students such as specialized equipment, networking opportunities and training in real-life skills. Strong social bonds and skills training are in high demand, which allows clubs to be more exclusive during their selection periods. As a result, we cannot ask clubs to change their ways or the administration to intervene and force clubs to be less exclusive.

This leaves the responsibility of changing this culture in the hands of the students who are outside the clubs. Students must not place such strong value in the organizations and recognize that the social bonds they want can be found without a club membership, even if it seems more daunting. Students who are looking for high-quality or-quantity friendships should invest in the connections they already have, or in potential connections that they may be ignoring. With an effort toward more meaningful conversation and the avoidance of small talk, anyone on this campus can open up about what makes him interesting and build meaningful relationships without the crutch of a club.