By Olivia Horne,
Edited with additions of Clubs information for 2025
When you’re studying in Florence, you’re trading the sprawling green campus lawns for small, historical city buildings. And, sometimes, you feel like you’re missing out on that classic college experience our classmates in Poughkeepsie are having. Fortunately, our student-run Marist Italy Clubs are a solution to bring a bit of that experience here!
Every year, students run a club fair for both the spring and fall semesters. Whether here for one semester, a year, or four years, students can pop in and see what clubs their classmates are creating and offering. Here are some of the amazing clubs from the last two years that people couldn’t get enough of. Maybe they’ll give you some club ideas of your own for next year!
Art History and Criticism Society: If you’re interested in the underrated and often overlooked art museums of Florence, this is the club for you! They hosted free trips to The Stibbert Museum, the Museo degli Innocenti, and the Casa Vasari and Horne Museum. The club offered great chances for learning about art beyond your typical art history classes.
Baking Club: This club comes together to try new recipes and make plenty of tasty treats! They use the well-equipped kitchen in the Marist Italy office, where there’s plenty of room for everyone to lend a hand.
Book Club: Can you think of a more classic club than this? Members vote on a book to all read together, reading through a few chapters at a time, and meet often to share their thoughts. Great for anyone who’s trying to read more and is interested in sharing their literary opinions!
Career Planning Club: We often forget that Marist has many great career planning resources, though not all of them are readily available outside of Poughkeepsie. This club was to help students take advantage of these resources from across the ocean, teaching them about resume making and job applications. They even taught members how to use Handshake, Marist’s internship and job-hunting program.
Dungeons and Dragons Club: The iconic board game, where anything can happen if your imagination allows it! Members got together to play this fantastical game, going on fictional adventures, and living by the luck of the die. Whether you’re a seasoned player or know nothing at all, the club was open for all.
Needle Drop Club: For all music lovers, this club picks one unique album to listen to each week. Then, members get together to discuss their thoughts and opinions. Perfect for anyone who wants to expand their music tastes and find a new favorite artist!
Sewing Club: Learn how to thread and use a professional sewing machine, practice different patterns and stitches, and transform scraps and clothing items from the student Market Swaps into new garments. Sewing Club is the club for emerging fashion designers who want to flex their construction skills!
Soap Magazine: This high-quality literary and art magazine is completely run by students! Their premier issue had the theme “Fresh Laundry”, and they have just released Issue Three with the theme “Mint” and are going strong. Any student is welcome to submit! Find the first three editions at their website: https://soapmag.art/home
Spud Buds Club: A club dedicated to the love of potatoes! Every week students met and conjured up their best culinary genius from the humble but noble ingredient: the potato. One of the most popular clubs in Marist Italy history.
Other clubs offered in 2023-2024 included the anime club, the movie club, the reading club, and even my own creative writing club! And in 2024-2025, there were more new additions including: Craft Club, Arts Club, Movie Club, Minecraft Club, Sims Club and even a Matcha Club!
It can be difficult to find community when studying in a foreign country. But discovering interests is a great way to meet new people. Thank you to all club leaders for all of your hard work!
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