September, which brings a slight break from the sweltering heat, also signaled the start of another Fall Festival at Diablo Valley College last week. Like last year, this year’s festival beamed with fall-themed colors and harvest accessories. Some of the clubs set up games and activities to welcome local passersby, giving students an opportunity to connect with their peers and learn about student-run organizations.

When they weren’t playing bean bag toss and winning candy at the Welcome Service table, students were busy checking out the range of clubs in the DVC Commons area.

“We found the Fall Festival through the Leo Club,” said student Karen Kezia. “It’s a volunteering club, and it does services like helping the environment. It just depends on what type of volunteering (you’re interested in). We also do fun activities like face painting.”

Priscilla Kwok, Kezia’s friend, said that clubs are another great place to make connections.

“We meet friends at clubs, which we find at the Fall Fest,” Kwok said.

The DVC clubs especially aimed to promote themselves and establish connections with non-members. The Math Club showed great potential early into the semester.

“We have 60 members, including 10 officers. We want to provide for anyone who does math,” said Sharon Lee Yen, the club president. “There is a lack of STEM activities at school, and we want to use the math club to bridge that gap.”

Some clubs take their activities off-campus, going to different locations to discover a variety of career opportunities. Specifically, the Math Club is planning a trip to Google, Intel, and even to a transfer panel for students who plan to apply to UC Berkeley.

Another club at Fall Fest, DVHackers, is geared towards people interested in technology.

“We try to prepare people for the professional world. We do interviews in a mock setting. We also do events and workshops, where we have alumni talk. The last thing we do is group projects,” said Jake Williams, one of the DVHackers officers tabling that day. “So even if you’re not a science major, but you’re interested in technology, you should come to learn a little bit.”

According to the online resource DVCSync, 70 clubs exist on campus with different concentrations and interests. Students can find out more about these organizations at DVCSync.