With the end of the term approaching, Choate has become an overly hard-working community. Both students and faculty members are stressing out because of all the work involved in preparing for the final tests and the winter exams. Clubs have continued to hold regular meetings, but club presidents and officers are seeing member participation dwindle as the hype generated by the lively club fair in the Fall fades.

Some suggest that having a presence on Facebook, the popular social-networking site, might help spread enthusiasm for a student group. But the typical academic workload at Choate is a hurdle that can be difficult for club leaders to overcome, which has a negative impact on club activity and on the regularity of club meetings. It doesn’t help that most club leaders are seniors and juniors who are entrenched in the college application process.

So does this mean the end of Choate clubs? I don’t think so. Century-long traditions don’t fade out easily. However, in an age when Choate students are constantly surfing the waves of mainstream media while trying to juggle their social lives with their schoolwork, clubs may have difficulty keeping interest and participation alive. While I don’t have much experience in club leadership myself, I like to apply the motto from Apple’s 1997 “Think Different” ad campaign whenever possible. I believe that one way to revive club spirit is for club presidents and officers to think differently.

In my hobby of web design, I am always up against the challenge of grabbing viewers’ attention. A web site has to make an impression on the viewer within the first five seconds, because, just like Choaties, viewers value their time. It takes “something different” to make that memorable impression that keeps a viewer coming back to a web site again and again.

I feel that clubs can work the same way. A member needs to be hooked during the first meeting, and that will be enough to bring him or her back for the second meeting. To think differently does not necessarily mean that the club’s interests have to change. The ways in which meetings are run and ideas are implemented determine how memorable a club will be as well. A member is probably more willing to come to a meeting with lively participation and continual progress than one with last-minute cancellations and no progress.

So the question remains: How can a club think differently? Everyone will, of course, have a different answer. But the simplest answer is that clubs need to try the things that have never been done before. Fortunately, Choate is already full of fresh ideas that have worked—just look at the hugely successful CIGA Thai Dinner and The Choate Daily Grind.

My message to club members frustrated by last-minute emails and a lack of club activity is a simple one: You can change things. Apply for office, or work from your current position. But whatever you choose to contribute, try things that are new. As seen by the success of the Apple family of products, such as the iPod, thinking differently is enough to change the world.