Ana Caballero Ferreyro, UIMF Vice President and Richard Farrah, UIMF Club member at Club Rush Fall 2024.

          Each semester Utah Valley University (UVU) hosts a 2-day Club Rush event that centers on the different types of programs and clubs on campus. This semester, Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF) leaders and members signed up for specific shifts to man the table to encourage UVU students to join our club on September 18th and 19th. Through the Student-Engaged Learning (SEL) model, UIMF participants organized time slots to accommodate class schedules and promote the goals and efforts of the club. The SEL model encourages students to take a proactive approach to solving real world problems but to also encourage participation in events and activities on campus as well as off campus.

          The call time to set up the tables began at 8 am with a check in and collections of our necessary documents for the events. I arrived at campus at 7:30 am to retrieve our display, stress balls, pamphlets and brochures from our department admin. After collecting the cart, I walked over to the Grand Ballroom Atrium to get checked in before beginning the table set up. We were fortunate enough to have a spot outside of the ballroom where there was a lot of foot traffic. It’s also made getting in and out for classes a lot easier.

          The two day event began at 10 am and ended at 2 pm and the table had to have an attendee there the whole time. I created a sign up sheet for 1-hour time slots for two people, to ensure that there was a club member always present. Christ Louyoko, Ana Caballero Ferreyro, and Richard Farrah took initiative to help me promote our club to encourage other UVU students to join us. We were able to have 10 new members join our advocacy for Sustainable Mountain Development.

          While being present at Club Rush, Ana and I, looked around at different displays from other UVU clubs and organizations to gain inspiration on other ways we could spread the awareness of the things that UIMF do throughout the year. In our discussion we came up with a game plan to plan for our spring club rush. I had the idea to create stickers with the UIMF logo to pass out during club rush and any of our other events because you cannot really go wrong with stickers. We also came up with the idea to design club shirts for us to have that will allow us to have more visibility on campus.

          My experience with club rush this semester has given me insight to how I as president can do more for our club, whether it is looking at marketing swag, ideas for social/ club activities, or possible collaboration with other clubs. We don’t often get to share our efforts and initiatives on campus outside of the classroom setting, so being able to do so at club rush assisted in our goal to branch out and gain more exposure for our club.

• Janessa- Michelle Purcell, UIMF President