STORY BY
AMANDA ROBERTSON

DESIGN BY
EMMA GHAEMMAGHAMI

With all the stress of college life – assignments, exams, meetings, social life, the list goes on – it can be easy to become engrossed in your own thoughts while on campus. People often forget to notice the world around them on the beautiful campus of Alabama, but members of the Cloud Watching Club encourage others to do just that.

Founded in Fall 2018 by Katelyn Adams, the Cloud Watching Club is a fairly new addition to the ever growing list of clubs on campus. The group of cloud watchers meet every other week on The Quad, and use GroupMe to communicate meeting times, send photos of clouds, and remind others to take time to appreciate the beauty around them. And it’s not just clouds that the group likes to observe; they also enjoying viewing sunsets and other natural wonders that busy students tend to take for granted.

The club started out when Katelyn, founder and current president of the Cloud Watching Club, asked a few of her friends if they would be interested in going out and looking up at the clouds together as something fun to do on warm afternoons on campus. Encouraged by the number of people who were excited about the idea, Katelyn applied to UA Source to become an official club at the University. Since then, the group has grown significantly and there are nearly 150 members in the GroupMe.

When I asked Katelyn what she liked most about the group, she shared this: “I love being a part of the cloud watching club because of everyone’s shared joy for something as simple as watching clouds. With the growth of technology, I walk around campus and see so many people looking down; but the goal of the cloud watching club is to encourage people to stop for a moment each day and look up. The clouds are different every day, and cloud watchers appreciate the sky and the beauty of the world we are blessed to live in.”

The group is always excited about expanding and sharing their appreciate of nature with others. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a part of the UA Cloud Watching Club, visit The Source website, search for the club, and click the link to join their GroupMe!