A lost freshman roams the darkness of Loyola Hall. He has made a few friends, but he has yet to genuinely find his people, the people who truly are interested in what he enjoys doing outside of school: hiking.

He walks out of the front double doors and aimlessly turns right, head down to not reveal his state of dismay. Yet, he hears a multitude of voices in the near distance.

Looking up and immediately blinded by the glisteing light from the sun, he simply walks toward the crowd. Here, he realizes that today is the “Activities Fair”.  He darts toward the Hiking Club booth, ready to meet people just like him.

The Activities  Fair is a special day in the Loyola calendar year; as depicted above, many students struggle to immediately find their people at Loyola.

The Activities Fair gives them a chance to find people who share the same interests as them, igniting both friendships and passions in the hearts of many of our Cub brothers.

The entire front circle was filled with interested students and booths of old and new clubs.

But what makes each Activities Fair unique from the last is the array of new clubs that students start.

Daniel Mack ‘25, a co-founder of the Hiking Club, stated his experience at the Activities Fair: “It’s hard being a new club to compete with a lot of the established clubs. And even though we didn’t have all the fancy things a lot of the other clubs had, it felt like everyone went around to all the clubs equally.”

Seeing your idea come to life and flourish at the Activities Fair is nothing short of a truly remarkable feeling.

Matteo Gacina ‘25, a new member of the Hiking Club, found the Activities Fair as exciting as it has been for the last three years: “I thought that the Activities Fair was a perfect way to kick off the school year. With all these clubs, some new and some old, it allows the underclassmen to gain a grasp on Loyola.”

You never know what could happen as a result of spending 15 minutes at lunch walking around the Activities Fair. You could learn about an interest that you end up dedicating your life to.