The first Gaming Club was chartered on campus over the summer and held a fundraising event for their first in-person event at the Center for Inclusion and Belonging on Wednesday.
Club President Leah Storms, a 19-year-old biology and English major, said there was no community for gamers and asked around about starting her own club. She said a number of members showed interest and the club was chartered rather quickly.
“I am still really excited since this is the first ever club I started or even ran,” Storms said. “I enjoyed having many conversations with students and finding our common interests to mainly be games.”
The club held a “Super Smash Bros.” tournament at the fundraiser with contestants competing to win a prize of $25. Cost of entry into the tournament was $5. Pizza, popcorn and soda was also for sale.
Some students brought their own games and consoles, while others took turns with equipment set up by the club.
David Ayala, a civil engineering major, 18, was playing “Pokemon Y” on his PC. He said he used an emulator to transfer the game to his PC from the Nintendo 3DS version. An emulator is a tool that can convert games that are old, rare or made for a different console.
“I don’t have a lot of time outside to do what I like to do, so this is just a nice place where I can relax and do what I want,” Ayala said.
Ayala said he has made friends in the club and some of his other friends are already members.
“I just like hanging out with people who have similar interests,” Ayala said. “I don’t have a lot of people I could talk to about this topic, so it’s just nice.”
Gaming Club Treasurer Abner Zamora, a 19-year-old pre-nursing major, said he was one of the first members to join and he is proud of how far the club has progressed so far.
“To get to this place here now and have this many members, and active members, it feels great to be a part of it,” Zamora said.
Zamora said his goals for the club this year are to have larger events like the fundraiser and add more active members to their discord or in-person events.
As treasurer, Zamora said he is responsible for keeping track of the equipment they use as well as the food bought and money raised.
“It’s not really a difficult job, but it’s a job that I feel is essential for the club to maintain,” Zamora said. “Overall, it’s a really great experience to be a part of this club and I can’t wait to see how large this club can become.”
The Gaming Club holds virtual meetings at various times disclosed in their discord chat. Anyone interested in joining can reach out to Club President Leah Storms via email at [email protected]
“My favorite part of this club is the people. They really formed together and made this community what it is now,” Storms said. “I couldn’t ask for a better batch of individuals who only want to express themselves through games and finding ways to improve or help others get to their skill level.”
