Three tips for graduates from Clubland USA
Ishaan, Ben and Leonard share the best advice for future club rats
There’s one thing that all of us here at Clubland USA have in common besides our love for club life: none of us attended our commencement ceremonies.
Our academic journeys overlapped with a pandemic that sent us away from classrooms, fraternity houses and the like back to our childhood bedrooms. For Ben and Ishaan, a commencement ceremony simply was not made available to them. For myself, I had completed my courses and already moved to New York and had lost interest in the idea of returning to my alma mater in Baltimore to walk across the stage.
Years ago, a wise mentor shared with me that the best gift that someone could give you was advice. Good advice, he said, will spare you from the experiences that others had to discover via more difficult means.
In that spirit, Clubland USA writers provide some friendly advice for aspiring club rats on Graduation Day.
IJ:
If you’re on the cusp of graduating, remember that the closest feeling to being on a college campus is your club: you’re going to bump into people you know, time and time again; sometimes, you’re going to become friends with people from the mere (but not wholly insignificant) fact that you will see them often, passing in the hallways, ordering drinks at the bar, or dining in the grill. But your club also isn’t your fraternity. It’s a liminal space where young and old blood mix together. Reputations—good ones, at any rate—are hard to acquire, and easy to tarnish, so be on your best behaviour. Word travels fast around Clubland, and your social credit is just as important, if not more, than your credit score.
BK:
Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. I did not grow up in Clubland. None of my grandparents were club rats and neither are my parents; but the latent club rat gene still found a way to manifest in me. I was initially hesitant to commit to a club because I was so concerned about embarrassing myself or not finding anyone who I would click with. Both of these concerns were assuaged in short order after actually committing to a club, but if I had never taken that first step into Clubland—if I had not gotten comfortable with being uncomfortable—I never would have discovered just how great club life can be.
LR:
Ask yourself, “Will the club become a part of my weekly life?” To make this clear, think about your friends, prospective mentors and business associates, family and even prospective romantic partners. Would coming here for cocktails, dinner, a round of squash or golf be a treat or a chore for them? If it’s the latter, you’ll stop coming to your club, resent the bills or worse, cancel the membership. If it’s the former, you’ll always have an excuse to stop by and memories to excite you through the ages.