Despite our small population, Castilleja’s club fair is booming every year. I’m not exaggerating when I say there is a club for everything, from creative writing to rock climbing to baked goods. Many juniors and seniors, myself included, are splitting their time between staffing tables for their various clubs, ACE Orgs, and affinity groups.

I vividly remember being a freshman, so inundated by options that I almost did not sign up for anything except robotics, which I had decided I wanted to do before I even got to Castilleja. I also remember the few seniors I knew pitching their extracurriculars of choice to me with a near terrifying zeal in their eyes.

The senior class at Castilleja has a fierce loyalty to their extracurricular activities—the ones they’ve been a part of for so long that they’ve risen to lead. So, as a brand-new senior, I feel it’s my duty to tell you all about the extra curricular activities you must be doing.

Theater

I can tell you with confidence that the theater community at Castilleja is the most chill and not at all flamboyant extracurricular there is. You wouldn’t even know the Castilleja theater kids in a crowd; being a theater kid totally isn’t a facet of their personality and reputation. They also have so much time on their hands for homework, social activities, sleeping, and breathing. You can most definitely have hobbies while doing theater, especially during tech week, when you have so much time and are totally not falling asleep on your desk in English class. My former seat mates in English class, Claire Wong ‘24 and Michelle Leonard ‘24 can attest (or maybe not, they might be asleep).

Mock Trial

Castilleja’s Mock Trial team is the pinnacle of student happiness, as evidenced by their witnesses’ astounding ability to cry on command. Students in mock trial can be spotted walking around campus dressed either in full formal court attire or mock trial branded sweat pants (no, there is no in between). They are skilled with constructing points and proving arguments, so much so that it has become a hobby to, with the utmost civility, fight—sorry, debate—with other students. If you’ve ever spoken to the esteemed attorney Reece Sharp ‘24 you know that she has more opinions and arguments than she has time to tell you about. They have a ton of time for drafting essays in between their never-ending competitions.

Water Polo

Castilleja water polo (WoPo) players are the most in-shape students in the whole school. Despite that, they walk around the school inexplicably sore from the practices they claim are so much fun. They are often the loudest, most zealous sport on campus with many players taking on swimming or club water polo during the off season. These athletes may be part fish with all the time they spend in the pool. They have tons of time for school, even with all that time in the pool that they are known to stay in all the way until the end of last period, never missing it for games, ever. If you love waking up early in the morning and perpetual chlorine damage, WoPo is for you. They are warm-blooded fish to be sure. They have to be, in order to practice in the cold pool, rain or shine.

Robotics

Now, I would be remiss not to name-drop my own extracurricular of choice: team 1700 Gatorbotics. Castilleja Robotics members are champions at both winning the Engineering Inspiration award and taking vitamin D supplements from spending so much time in the basement. We are the safest extracurricular (#SafetyAllStar) and we only rarely end up with slightly injured members. It’s a good thing we have adults who can yell at me to put my hair up before my head ends up stuck in our mechanisms (it was a close call). Our attendance is also flawless. We never ever miss days of school on end for competitions. Last spring, my teammates and I were very much at Castilleja for almost a week, totally not halfway across the country. All of us, especially our esteemed drive team, also totally had time to catch up on missed homework.

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As much as I love sarcasm and satire, I feel I owe a little honestly to our middle schoolers and underclassmen. So I will tell you that while I remember my freshman year digital clubs fair, I also remember my junior year clubs fair. I remember getting email after emails about meetings to talk over the beginning of the year from more clubs than I care to admit. That was when I realized that I maybe had too much on my plate. If I told you I didn’t struggle through last year laden with meetings, appointments, lab hours, writing, and so much more, I would be lying to you.

However, I would also be lying to you if I said I didn’t enjoy the opportunities those extracurriculars gave me. So my tips are as follows: say yes to things you feel passionate about, say no to things you feel obligated to do because of friends, teachers, and parents (I know that last one is easier said than done), and take breaks. Make time for little hobbies that you enjoy where you can. Maybe you can’t find time for those hobbies during tech week, CCS, or competition season, but look for time later. I promise you won’t regret making time.