Congratulations! You are going to university! Scary right… How do you make friends? How do you work the washing machine? Are you going to survive the three years? I’m only joking, of course, you’ll survive. You may count it as the best time of your life but for that, you need to make sure you have fun. And what’s the best way of having fun, joining societies.
Heres a guide on how to choose the right societies for you.
Everyone that I’ve known at uni has always said that joining a sports society is the best thing you are going to do, but I feel like they could have been a tad biased. But they do have a point, a sports society will bring many benefits while you are at uni.
Firstly it keeps you active. Uni can get quite sluggish, everyone says they end up putting on weight because you are cooking pasta all the time or ordering in, and you stop moving about as much. Uni is surprisingly a lot of sitting down, whether in lectures, seminars, the library, or when you are at home chilling with your housemates watching Netflix. So having a reason to get out of the house and be active for a positive reason is needed.
Another reason for sports societies is that you have a close bond with your teammates. You have something to bond over, talk about and possibly end up hurting each other as you play. Football, rugby, netball, even basketball requires teamwork and trust in your fellow teammates. So if you want to find close friends in your society then start looking here.
If you just want a place to be active then try boxing, cycling, even dance or pole fitness. These are great ways to improve your fitness as well as getting to know other people in the group.
Plus if you go out clubbing with your teammates you don’t have to worry about what to wear for the evening because you have a dress code. Or at least the rugby society does. They are always dressed smartly in their shirts and ties, well at the beginning of the evening they are… by 2 am the ties and shirts are off.
If you want to join a society that benefits the course you are studying then your decision becomes a lot simpler. If you are studying history, then join the historical society, or specialise more into art history or classicism. Or you have maths, English or creative writing, engineering, etc.
You have plenty of options and you will meet more people that are on your course which makes your seminars a lot easier because you’ll know the people you are put into groups with. It doesn’t just have to be your own subject however if you want to branch out and learn more about certain interests you have then you can join whichever you like.
There are also options that just benefit you overall, like debate society. This is a great option for enhancing your skills for your degree as well as general life and it just gives you a fun way to talk about topics you are passionate about.
Not every debate will be about is Trump right or wrong, some of them are quite fun. Like you could debate about who the best character in the Marvel Universe is, or if you’d prefer to be a pirate or a ninja. It doesn’t always have to be serious.
So academic societies may sound like they could be boring but you can have as much as in any other society, but you’ll also be benefiting your degree subject.
When I say for fun, I mean the societies that you aren’t going to do to support your degree but are just doing to follow your passions or for literal fun. This could mean the Disney and Harry Potter societies, it could also include drama or photography, even music or poker societies.
I don’t need to tell you that joining a society that is tailored to something that you already love would be a good idea, you can rant about what you love, possibly even learn more, but the main thing is that you’ll meet people that also share your passion.
These kind of societies are for people that are wanting to make friends rather than gain anything credential from the experience.
Best case scenario you’ve gone through the list of societies your uni has to offer and you’ve found lots that appeal to you. Now the question is how many do you choose.
This depends fully on how much time you can spare around your course because you don’t want to cut into your study time. As well as on how often that society meets up. A sports society or say drama will take up a lot more of your time because you have different practices and training you’d need to attend.
But say the Disney society that doesn’t require any prep work or outside training isn’t going to take a lot of commitment from you.
The decision is up to you but on average a person can comfortably attend 2 societies, and this provides plenty of people to socialise and integrate into.
The other issue that you’re going to want to take into consideration when choosing your societies is the cost that is involved in being a part of them.
There is a set price for joining a society at uni that normally covers the insurance, which can be around £5. But additional costs can add up depending on which society you join so be sure you go in aware of what’s ahead.
If you join the horse riding society then chances are you are looking at a few hundred quid to pay for the membership to the stables and everything else that is involved. Most of the other societies will include trips places which of course come with a fee. And if you join the Poker society then you know you’ll be losing some money there as well.
If you are still unsure what it is you want from a society then why not try taking this quiz that will tell you what society to join, or the closest your uni has to it. It works quite well, I was told I should join the Student Newspaper to match my passions and motive of finding friends, see what it says for you.
Click the link and see.
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