Freshman year, I lived in an octo-suite in York River Hall with roommates who hated cleaning as much as I did. We vowed that we would clean once a month, and to reward ourselves for being competent adults we would throw a tea party afterwards. The cleaning portion of the plan tanked, but we quickly became inseparable friends bonding over our love of tea.
Halfway through the semester, one friend joked that we should start a tea appreciation club and name it “TNU.” We stayed up late that night creating a constitution which included more sarcasm and tea puns than substance. We refined it the next morning when we were less giggly and turned it in for approval, still more as an inside joke than anything else.
Jump to three years later, and TNU is still a fully functioning if not thriving tea appreciation club. Around 15 to 20 of us meet every few weeks to drink tea, play tea-related games and unwind from a stressful week. All because one person had an idea sparked by personal passion and a hobby shared by new friends. We created TNU through rampant silliness and it turned into something beautiful. Still best friends and roommates to this day, we can pass this sassy, well-hydrated club on to future tea-loving students.
CNU makes it so easy for students to engage in what we’re passionate about and gives endless opportunities for leadership. We still avoid cleaning like the plague, but planning, managing and leading an entire club has set us on the path toward competent adulthood. So what are you passionate about? What could your club be? If you’re sitting down to think, I suggest a hot cup of oolong.
