Activities night is Tuesday, September 13 and Wednesday, September 14, from 4-8 PM in the Shatner Building.

If you haven’t experienced the keener-chaos of activities night, then you should charge the front lines this year. The 45-minute wait in line is worth it, even if only to take advantage of the free food. Of the hundred or so clubs and services that go through the effort of fashioning a posterboard display, you should stop by at least half. You’ll end up with a handful of looseleaf information sheets when you leave, and you might want to go to a couple meetings. What may start off as a resumé booster may turn into your reason for existence. Even if you don’t fall in love with any clubs, many students do not realize how many cool clubs there are at McGill.

Energy Association

You probably shouldn’t own an SUV if you want to be in this club. The Energy Association seeks to raise awareness about the future of renewable resources by organizing events ranging from discussion forums to guest speakers. More specifically, it attempts to educate students on the oil and gas industry and on the future of energy resources, the impact of energy on the economy, and which careers are available in the energy sector. Join the club to watch the CFL bulbs light up above the heads of your clubmates.

Quidditch Team

The McGill Quidditch team was founded in 2009. Quidditch is a co-ed, full- contact sport, that attracts a diverse group of players ranging from Harry Potter fans to those who have never read the books or seen the films. Every year the Quidditch Team competes in the World Cup against hundreds of other schools from around the world. This year the event will be held in New York City. If you’re into having fun, playing something different, and hanging out with a lot of cool and interesting people who  pretend to fly, this is the sport for you.

The Flintknappers Club

Interested in archaeology? Created in 2002, the Flintknappers club specializes in teaching students the skills needed to make stone tools. In this day and age it might not be obvious why one would need to know how to make tools out of stone, but understanding the art of flint-knapping teaches archaeology students how to identify lithic technology encountered in the field. What’s more, this craft can be remarkably handy when camping or on extreme survival weekends; and admit it, smashing rocks is a lot of fun.

Free Tea Club

There’s only one cure for Montreal winters: tea. The Free Tea Club promotes tea drinking in the undergraduate McGill community. They host tea-drinking events where students can sample different teas, learn how to brew tea properly, and engage in traditional tea-drinking activities such as Shogi-Japanese chess. Even if you’re a coffee lover, you’re still welcome in this club.

Best Buddies

Best Buddies is a friendship program that pairs McGill students with adults who have intellectual disabilities in the Montreal community. The program provides the adult buddies with the opportunity to have experiences which most people take for granted, such as going for coffee, watching a movie, or hanging out with a good friend.

Co-head of Best Buddies Emily Kristensen believes being involved in Best Buddies is an extremely rewarding experience for both parties: students become integrated into the larger Montreal community where they can explore the city while giving their buddies the opportunity to participate in community activities with a peer who provides them with support.

Anyone can join. Experience working with people with intellectual disabilities is not required. “All it takes is enthusiasm in the program’s purpose, a commitment to the required participation, and a big heart,” says Kristensen.

McGill Outdoors Club

If hiking, camping, skiing, or canoeing are your things, the McGill Outdoors Club is for you. Students in the Outdoors Club spend their weekends getting fresh air and enjoying the great outdoors. The club is the oldest of its kind in Montreal, established in 1936, and includes members from other universities, as well as alumni. Even if you’ve spent the last twenty years of your life sedentary, it’s not too late to become an outdoorsman. The Outdoors Club organizes beginner courses in many disciplines, including telemark skiing, ice climbing, and first aid.

McGill First Aid Service

McGill First Aid Service is a club run by students which offers emergency first aid service for McGill students and the greater Montreal community. All members of the club—there are about 60—are trained at Red Cross Emergency First Responder level. First Aid volunteers are working behind the scenes across campus day and night. From sports games  to 4 Floors, the First Aid Service is there.

To apply to the First Aid Service, students need to be enrolled at McGill and hold a certification of Standard First Aid and CPR-C. The recruitment process consists of working on-call, and a couple months of training. If you can’t commit that much time, the First Aid Service offers courses to certify individuals in Canadian Red Cross first aid.

Club Cinema 16

The new kid in town this semester is Club Cinema 16. But don’t let its fresh face fool you, it means business. Creating a “platform for genuinely alternative films,” as its President Charles Tuck explains, Club Cinema 16 will emphasize “radical cinema, art house films and other marginalia. Women and queer filmmakers, regional cinemas, camp, porn and contemporary video art are all on the list.”

However, because these films are shot on 16mm film—about half the size and half the price of the standard gauge 35mm film used in Hollywood—they are facing technological challenges.

“We seem to think that everything is available to us on the Internet these days­—it’s not,” says Tuck. This is where Club Cinema 16 comes in. They will be screening 16mm films in the McGill Cultural Studies Theatre located at 3475 Peel. Not only can students watch these screenings for free, but it is open to the public as well. In addition to screening alternative films, Club Cinema 16 will also be accepting submissions of student work.