Students game competitively on a team in Valorant Club

Valorant, a video game based on two five-versus-five teams battling each other, boasts 14 million monthly players. Because of Valorant’s rising popularity, senior Collin Fitzpatrick decided to create his own team, in the form of a club called the “Valorant Club.”

“I’ve been playing the game with my friends for a long time, and during the pandemic, when we started playing together as a team, I was inspired to create an official school club,” Fitzpatrick said.

The team itself has already been successful, as they have entered in a variety of competitions against other school teams and picked up about 65 members.

“Last year there was a competition, and we came in second place, so we got trophies for that, which was pretty cool,” Fitzpatrick said.

The purpose of meetings varies, but the main focus is usually to “get organized” as upcoming competitions approach.

These victories don’t come from nowhere; tremendous effort goes into the assembly of this team, according to Fitzpatrick, who has been playing for almost two years. With this experience, Fitzpatrick can assist his team when competing against other schools.

“We have two focuses,” Fitzpatrick said. “The first is just to have fun with each other, and the second is to compete and perform well.”

Aesthetic Arts Club provides students with an artistic outlet

Gen Z has coined the phrase “that’s so aesthetic” as a way of saying something is beautiful or appealing. Club president sophomore Siena Chin decided to take her love for art to the next level by creating the Aesthetic Arts Club. This club gives students the opportunity to tap into their creative sides and forget about any stress or schoolwork that they are dealing with, even if it’s just for a little bit.

During meetings, students are given small assignments, such as mood boards, which are never due but highly encouraged. The club also plays games, like pictionary and charades.

Chin has always had an interest in art, which is part of what drove her to start the Aesthetic Arts Club in the first place.

“I really started doing art in fifth grade, where I would draw anime characters, book characters, or anything that I found inspiring and would want to recreate. Last year I took media arts, which I really enjoyed. This year I’m not actually doing media arts, but I really wanted to keep art a part of my daily life, which is why I made this club,” Chin said.

The club also focuses on positivity and ensuring that students are able “to relieve some stress, especially this year, since everybody’s just coming back to campus,” Chin said. With the little down time that high schoolers have, Chin hopes to “give them some time to relax and just kind of find peace of mind.”

In Environmental Outreach, students clean their community

Climate change may seem like a big, faraway issue, leaving students wondering how they can help. Environmental Outreach, a club at RUHS, is working to solve this pressing issue, one piece of trash at a time.

Junior Neeki Janani, Co-President of the club, has always found environmental issues “very interesting.” 

“Especially now, with all of the burning of fossil fuels and everything, it’s important that we do our part to help,” Janani said.

Working with Co-President junior Moana Kobayashi, the two hope to “inform people about pollution and environmental issues,” while also “providing a way for students at our school to earn service hours easily,” according to Janani.

The club provides instructions for how students can do their part in a fun and productive way.

“People go with their friends, log how much they cleaned up and take a photo, so we can keep a record of the types of trash,” Janani said.

The club, which currently has over 65 members, also does a variety of projects that they turn into contests. For example, last year they did an art project out of recycling.

Coming together on the first Wednesday of every month, Janani said the group has already done great work “informing more people about environmental issues and cleaning up the community.”