When I first came to Berkeley, I remember walking through campus and feeling like everything already existed. Every niche interest had a club. Every career path had an org. Every hobby had a table on Sproul. It felt like if you had an idea, someone had probably already done it. But at the same time, I kept thinking about immersive storytelling: theme parks, haunted attractions, live experiences. I loved that world, but I did not really see a club centered around it.
That is when the thought hit me. What if it just does not exist yet? That question is what led to starting TEA at Berkeley.
TEA stands for Themed Entertainment Association. Themed entertainment is basically storytelling in physical space. Think theme park lands, immersive theater, haunted houses, interactive exhibits, experiential events. It blends design, narrative, technology, and production into something people can actually step inside. I wanted to go beyond just admiring those experiences from afar, but I wanted to design them, and I wanted other students to have a place to design them too.
The Process of Starting It
Starting a club at Berkeley is exciting in theory, but the actual process forces you to get serious fast. The first step was defining the mission. Not just a vague statement about creativity, but something specific. What is TEA? What do we actually do? Why should someone give us their time every week? I had to sit down and articulate that we were not just a theme park fan club. We were a project based organization focused on designing immersive experiences from concept to pitch.
Then came the official recognition process through the LEAD Center. That meant writing a constitution. Outlining officer positions. Defining how leadership transitions would work. Setting membership expectations. Completing required trainings. It felt formal, but it also made the idea feel real. Writing the constitution forced me to think long term. What happens after I graduate? How do we make sure this is sustainable? How do decisions get made? It pushed me to treat TEA like something meant to last, not just something experimental for one semester .I also had to build a founding team. You cannot create something alone. I reached out to friends and classmates who were excited about immersive design and storytelling. We talked through what kind of culture we wanted: collaborative, supportive, ambitious but not intimidating, because that early alignment shaped everything on how we would approach the semester.
Turning Vision Into Action
Once TEA officially existed, the next challenge was execution. An idea only matters if you actually follow through. From the beginning, I knew I wanted meetings to be hands on. Not just slides and talking, because every week needed to feel like progress. We started structuring meetings around design challenges. One week might be developing the concept for a themed land, another might be building out the story arc of an attraction. We focused on full experiences through queue, environment, emotional beats, exit and more. We talked about how guests move through space, where tension builds, where relief happens, and how lighting, sound, and layout shape emotion. The practice helped lead us into what TEA’s real deal of the semester is: competition.
Haunt Comp
One of the biggest focuses for TEA was participating in Haunt Comp. Haunt Comp is essentially a themed entertainment design competition where teams create a fully developed haunted attraction concept. That includes backstory, spatial layout, character design, marketing angle, and pitch materials. When we committed to Haunt Comp, the club shifted into a shared goal with a deadline and stakes. We split into teams and dove deep, from choosing scare tactics, mapping out floor plans, seeing whether a narrative twist made sense, thinking about pacing. considering how guests would feel at each stage, etc.
Designing a haunt forced us to think holistically. It had to function as an actual experience, and seeing members present their haunt concepts with full confidence was surreal. People who had never designed immersive attractions before were breaking down environmental storytelling in such creative ways because we gave people the space to try.
Building a Real Team
Something I did not fully anticipate was how important time outside of meetings would become. We made a conscious effort to hang out beyond structured sessions. We took a trip together to a Valentine’s themed haunt. It was technically research, but it also felt like a bonding experience. We walked through the attraction analyzing lighting and transitions, then immediately screaming and laughing in the next room. Afterward, we debriefed over food, breaking down what worked and what did not. That shared experience strengthened our design conversations later. We had a common reference point. We also watched the Super Bowl together. No agenda, but just snacks, jerseys, and chaotic reactions to every play. It had nothing to do with immersive design, but everything to do with community.
Creative work is vulnerable. You are sharing ideas that might flop or pitching concepts that might not land, but when you have spent time just hanging out and building trust, it becomes easier to take those risks. There were also late night sessions working on Haunt Comp materials: sketching, revising, refining slides, stress testing story arcs. It felt intense but collaborative, but TEA stopped feeling like a weekly meeting and started feeling like a team.
What TEA Does Now
At its core, TEA is about designing experiences from scratch. We build attraction concepts, we craft immersive narratives, we practice pitching ideas, we explore how design, business, and storytelling intersect. Some members are interested in architecture, some in theater, some in engineering, some in marketing. TEA gives them a space to collaborate across those disciplines. We focus on turning imagination into something structured and presentable as we are always drafting, revising, and refining.
Leadership Lessons
Starting TEA taught me that vision is only the beginning. Consistency matters more: showing up every week, planning ahead, communicating clearly, letting other officers lead sessions, trusting the team. I learned that delegation makes a club stronger. When other people feel ownership, they invest more deeply. I also realized that sustainability has to be intentional. That means mentoring younger members, documenting processes, and encouraging new ideas so the club continues evolving.
Why It Was Worth It
Berkeley can be intense. It is easy to get caught up in grades, internships, and constant productivity. Starting TEA reminded me that college is also about building something because you care about it. There is something powerful about looking around a room and knowing that this space exists because you decided to act on an idea, just because you filled out the paperwork and because you believed immersive storytelling deserved a home here.
TEA started as a thought. Now it is a team that designs together, competes together, explores haunts together, and supports each other creatively. If you ever find yourself thinking, I wish this existed at Berkeley, maybe that thought is not random. Sometimes the best way to find your community here is to create it!