The NYU Shanghai community is brewing with interesting extracurricular activities arraying from pre-professional opportunities to successful sports teams. There are nearly 30 independent clubs, all student-run, giving students ample opportunity to expand their hobbies and interests! With the second incoming class, there will be plenty of openings for students, new and old, to create clubs that suit their interests. However, there have already been many prosperous clubs that together offer a range for every hobby! UBA: The NYU Shanghai-original Undergraduate Business Association is one of the most independent and successful pre-professional clubs. UBA has consistently hosted guest speakers, organized business case competitions and market portfolio challenges. Alex Mayes, President of UBA, along with a committed executive board and member base, hosted a variety of guest speakers last spring, including individuals from Yahoo!, CBI Consulting, Teneo Holdings, and the Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, even ending the year with a joint case competition. Mayes reassures that “this fall, UBA already has over a dozen guest speakers confirmed, including Justin Doebele, Chief Editorial Advisor of Forbes Indonesia; Dr. Neil Kerwin, President of American University; Chip Chaikin, partner at Blue Point Capital; and John Pasden, Founder and CEO of AllSet Learning, to name a few.” Their members, and the NYU Shanghai student body, can look forward to the inaugural TEDxNYUShanghai, hosted by UBA, which will be held in late-October. Literature: Literature is NYUSH’s take on a book club, but with some exciting changes. While sticking to the tradition of voting on and reading a new book each month, Literature also holds events such as Poetry Night, where independent poets can come and read their original works. Lu Pang, president of Literature, the only literary club at NYUSH, promises this next year will be an exciting one, continuing their history of Shanghai City Walks and numerous writing workshops. Because of their traditionally smaller following and monthly meetings, they have also made themselves a reputation for providing great untraditional club refreshments – such as Spread the Bagel and Subway sandwiches. Xiaolong Shakers: A club of self-proclaimed “dance lovers”, the XiaoLong Shakers have made a strong footprint at NYU Shanghai and the local area. Commonly known and spotted by their large baozi headpiece, anyone can recognize a Shaker immediately by their unique dance moves. The club is open to anyone, experienced or not, and does nearly every form of dance – best shown in their numerous YouTube videos shot dancing around East China Normal University. The XiaoLong Shakers promise to continue boosting morale this year, as they take Pudong by storm. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHlPlynpK7A[/embed] Collective Voice - More Than Debate: The Collective Voice began as a mash-up of a conversation and debate club. In their combination, meetings became weekly events with every other meeting focusing on one aspect of the club: Having open and free conversations about a current topic, or having formatted debates on the subject. Members can choose to participate in both aspects, or simply enjoy watching the debate. The Collective Voice made a splash in the Fall of 2013, with a popular debate about the legitimacy of the GPS curriculum. Ever since, meetings have been some of the largest NYUSH has seen, with both faculty, administration, and students coming to listen and participate. Queer and Ally Society: While NYU just landed The Princeton Review’s 14th spot for most LGBTQ-friendly universities, NYU Shanghai has already created our own safe haven for LGBTQ students in the Queer and Ally Society (Q&A Society). The Q&A Society has a loyal following that is passionate and dedicated to making NYU Shanghai a friendly and safe school for students of all orientations. Their largest event was a well-planned and supported Ally Week in the spring of 2014. Together with numerous other clubs, the Q&A Society got controversial and polarizing topics to be openly discussed and fostered education regarding topics that students may be uninformed about. Forums about sexual health in which students could submit questions anonymously represented the goals of the Q&A Society, which is open to all students, regardless of sexual orientation. This article was written by Emily Flippen. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Zhang Zhan