At KHS there seems to be a trend. Every year clubs spring up seemingly out of nowhere, revolving around some bizarre concept that makes me doubt there are many clubs like them outside these walls. clubs that stray from the beaten path, that provide a meeting place for like minded individuals.These clubs represent the fringes of society with their adulation of Asian cultural exports, videogaming, Disney and even meat. Yet these clubs also represent something else; these clubs represent the growing diversity of KHS and most everyone’s acceptance of these changes.

At many high schools the girl who watches Gurren Lagann gets ostracized by her peers including some who have watched every episode twice. the football player wearing the Olaf shirts gets called out in the locker room by people who are supposed to be his teammates. The kid who watches Korean dramas doesn’t write about them in the school newspaper, he makes sure no one ever finds out about it. Humanity isn’t all one homogenized blob, different people have different interests , that is at the core of being human. In all these cases the people described get teased for their individuality, their humanity. Most schools wouldn’t allow a meat club, a gaming club or even a Disney club. What we have here at KHS seems entirely unique.

Beyond allowing for the self-expression and creation of friendships clubs also change the culture and attitudes of KHS at large. As people join clubs they obviously affect their club mates but they also affect their friends outside the clubs. The jock and the nerd work a booth together at Anime St. Louis, the slacker and the preppy find out they both have a passion for Korean pop music, they find a common interest and through that forget their differences. This provides a gateway for more of the same as the many people in the many clubs grow and change and slowly start the process of understanding one another.

There are dozens of varied, interesting clubs spanning vastly different topics. If you want a club it’s there, even if it hasn’t been established, it’s just been waiting for you to bring it into being. This is the beauty of KHS, of what the administration and the students have created together. There is less need to hide who you are, less need to cram yourself in a box too small to fit all you could be. These clubs forge friendships, allow for self-expression and breath color and life into these walls. What we have here are the tools to express individuality.

What we have here is a beacon calling everyone who wants to find themselves, who want to find people like them.