HOW KEY CLUB CONTINUES TO SERVE

CHARITY MILES

Ryan Dang | 11 | Historian

Growing up, biking has always been an activity I really enjoy doing. It feels really satisfying when I’m finally able to leave the house and just bike around my neighborhood or to school. When I bike, I feel extremely relaxed and all of my worries seem to fade away. Additionally, with the Charity Miles event, I’m really glad that I have the opportunity to bike around and help my community at the same time. Over the weekend, I was able to get out of the house with others and just bike to a lot of different empty parks and hang out, with face masks of course! It was a really enjoyable time, and I was able to bike 7 miles for charity! Imagine that, I was able to have fun AND help those around me. What a steal! I’m really glad that Charity Miles is an offered volunteer event and I hope that it continues to be because it’s really motivational for me, who doesn’t like exercising that much, to be able to take something that’s relaxing like biking and being able to raise money for a healthy cause. I really appreciate all of Key Club’s hard work in trying to find volunteer events that anyone can just easily fit in their schedule. Even though it sucks not being able to meet in person and volunteering with other people, it’s really motivating to see that I can at least have multiple ways to help my community!

THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

Lance Sahagun | 12 | Treasurer

The motto of Key Club International is: have active in this club for the past 3 years, and from the many volunteering experiences I’ve had, from extensive cultural festivals to small scale carnivals for children, from beach cleanups, food distributions, and 5k marathons, I have never felt that the work we as a collective put into our community goes without a collective heart and spirit. There are times when you can obviously identify who is in this club just for the college applications or the resume or the expected volunteer hour requirement. Maybe some people are just bored and have no other way to spend their weekend. Whatever draws us to this club, I can say that Key Club fosters a spirit of action and empowerment within its members, whether they realize it or not. With respect to our preferred charities, I began to reflect on my own inability to truly describe how I felt in terms of our impact and platform. Initially, I felt uncomfortable questioning how we may misuse or under-utilize our ability to make statements larger than us. Upon looking through the recently released CNH District BLM Information Guide and announcement, I felt that we must begin somewhere in lending our support to marginalized communities and people beyond our comfort zone. The Innocence Project piqued my interest the most, not solely because of the work they do in exoneration, but the active nature of their efforts towards prison reform, support to exonerees, and education of unrightful mass incarceration. I understand*9+ the limits imposed on our club in terms of our advocacy and outreach. I was hesitant in the first place to even bring forward

THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

“Caring: Our Way of Life.” I have active in this club for the past 3 years, and from the many volve had, from extensive cultural festivals to small scale carnivals for children, from beach cleanups, food distributions, and 5k marathons, I have never felt that the work we as a collective put into our community goes without a collective heart and spirit. There are times when you can obviously identify who is in this club just for the college applications or the resume or the expected volunteer hour requirement. Maybe some people are just bored and have no other way to spend their weekend. Whatever draws us to this club, I can say that Key Club fosters a spirit of action and empowerment within its members, whether they realize it or not. With respect to our preferred charities, I began to reflect on my own inability to truly describe how I felt in terms of our impact and platform. Initially, I felt uncomfortable questioning how we may misuse utilize our ability to make statements larger than us. Upon looking through the recently released CNH District BLM Information Guide and announcement, I felt that we must begin somewhere in lending our support to marginalized communities and people beyond our comfort zone. The Innocence Project piqued my interest the most, not solely because of the work they do in exoneration, but the active nature of their efforts towards prison reform, support to exonerees, and education of unrightful mass incarceration. I understand*9+ the limits imposed on our club in terms of our advocacy and outreach. I was hesitant in the first place to even bring forward this idea out of fear that it would be taken as performative activism or reputation building, a means to address trending issues in order to remain relevant to an audience that doesn’t truly care. I know in my heart that this event extends beyond the surface level nature of simply donating to a relevant cause. My main goal with this fundraiser was to begin this conversation, to stand true to the inclusivity of which our club so proudly proclaims time and time again, to truly say that caring is our way of life. This should not be an issue of debate. All lives cannot matter until black lives do. This should not remain as a matter of politics, of toxic social media flame wars, of the inability to have civil discourse. Yet, I am in no right to tell you how you should feel or respond. This is simply giving you a choice, a perspective worth thinking about and applying to your own life. Looking forward, I hope to continue to use my term as your Treasurer to make sure these issues are not only addressed but are rather treated with the sensitivity and direct impact they deserve to the best of my ability. If there is one thing I’d want most for my future Treasurers to take to heart, it would be to use their unique position to not ignore nor gloss over such profound issues, but to treat them issues with the respect, attention, and action they deserve. Regardless of the emotion I feel surrounding this fundraiser, I cannot express enough my gratitude for the amount of participation. As I am counting up totals, we will exceed $300 raised within 2 weeks, which is over double what I projected us to fundraise. Thank you all, and I hope we can keep this momentum going.

Kenny Le | 12 | Vice President

COVID-19 sucks. But you all knew that! However, I seem to focus on the negatives of this virus a lot in real life and in fake life (Instagram), but there have been some blessings in disguise. For one thing, it has been so much easier to reach out to other schools. I don’t have to worry about distance at all, nor do I have to worry about other logistics that normally would come with socials. Also, the way that socials have been working has forced people from different schools to interact. Usually in socials, everyone congregates together at the very beginning and then dissociate into their own groups very quickly whether we like it or not. With virtual socials, they are forced into breakout rooms with different schools whether they like it or not. Okay but an article would not be written by Kenny if there wasn’t a touch of negativity in it. Whether the breakout groups work out or not is a complete gamble. We spend a long time trying to match people together, but sometimes personalities don’t mesh well, people aren’t that comfortable, etc. That has nothing to do with the people honestly. It is psychology that virtually, people are just less comfortable. You are able to see yourself (weird!), poor audio quality causes stress (science!), if people don’t turn on their webcam the natural inclination to react based on people’s facial expressions is gone, but at the same time if everyone turns on their screen, then people may start to think (oh is my face okay? Is my background fine? Is my video blurry?) distracting from the conversation. I could go on about the dynamics of video socials, but you get the point. HOWEVER, do not stop reading the article on that low note. To me, the advantages of virtual socials have completely outweighed any disadvantages. It is one of the few times I get to see people’s faces. They are the only times I get to interact with other club Presidents. I have talked to way more people outside of Oxford solely because of online socials. Also, they are fun! So, please join our socials guys. We work so hard. Thanks.

Helen Tran | 12 | Publicist

With just about a month into our school year, I already feel a bit overwhelmed and scared about the future. As a senior, it’s pretty sad to think that this is my final year in high school. On the other hand, I’m very excited to see what the next few years of my life will be like. Can you believe that five years spent at Oxford have led to this very moment? That being said, Key Club has played a significant role in making my high school experience memorable, starting from freshman year and even now. Although this might not be how I anticipated ending my senior year, I’m still making the most of it both inside Key Club and outside Key Club. I know that moving to a virtual structure has its limitations; however, I encourage everyone to make the most of it! For instance, although I’m a bit of a shy person, I tried my best to participate and engage as much as I could during the August DCM. I found myself getting especially competitive during the scavenger hunt, which unfortunately, my group lost. But anyways, this is my final year in Key Club and I want to leave with no regrets. Virtual DCM’s are just one example of how I’m still making the most of Key Club. I also enjoy making fun of Toebi in our groupchat, sprinting to get those Charity Miles hours in, and so forth! The list is truly endless. Just two years ago, I remember saying bye to seniors at the banquet as a sophomore and it feels weird to be in their shoes now. As cliche as this may sound, I encourage all of you to venture out of your comfort zone so that you truly make the most of the four years in Key Club. I don’t want this article to sound too much like a goodbye because after all, there’s still a full school year ahead and I can’t wait to see what ~virtual~ memories await! This is more like me saying cheers to being a senior and making unforgettable memories! To the ℅ 2021, going virtual certainly won’t stop us from leaving our mark on both Key Club and Oxford!