The cafeteria and lower gym were packed to the brim on Friday with Longfellow Middle School eighth graders surveying their activities options for freshman year.

The activities that were presented included McLean’s sports teams, Model United Nations, Best Buddies, DECA, Debate, Drama Club, It’s Academic, and many others.

The activities fair is a helpful tool for the freshmen to learn about opportunities at McLean, but it also encourages freshmen to get involved early and join the McLean community.

“A lot of these kids don’t really have older siblings and so they don’t know what they can get involved with and how to do it so this activities fair really helps them get connected with other people that have similar interests,” senior Mary-Kate Mahoney said. “[They can see] things that they may have not know they wanted to do but they see it and get inspired.”

Participating in activities helps ease the transition to high school, as freshmen are able to befriend upperclassmen and find their niche at the school. The goal of the activities fair is to encourage rising freshmen to explore and discover their passions, and the excited nature of the room suggest that next year’s freshmen will do just that.