Tag Archives: Clubs

Fresher’s Fortnight – A Guide to Clubs, Societies & Teams

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So, Fresher’s fair either looms or has rolled around and for the latter that means you need to decide if you’re taking on that all important first meeting. For some, the extracurriculars become a part of their student life, for others it’s something they keep in touch with on occasion and for others it’s just not for them. Whilst all of which are perfectly valid to experience (and sometimes should be), here’s a guide to help you to expand on what I touched on in my previous article here.

 

Visit the Fair

If your university, student union or guild put on a gathering of clubs/societies/groups (depending on what your institution calls them) during fresher’s week, then it’s worth going to see the collection available to you at a glance, regardless of your year group. This will be one of few opportunities to compare interests, ask questions with members and organisers and for the larger groups a chance to get to know people on a one to one level before you commit your coin to them. If you need any more incentive, this is the haven of free stuff and competitions too (one fond memory was entering to win my height in pizza!)

Don’t Be Afraid to Try Something New (Or You’re Passionate About)

Clubs and Societies come in all shapes and sizes, from food appreciation to LARPing to religion, to crafts and performing arts to subject specific activities. If it sounds good, it’s worth saying hello and finding out more. Don’t forget that there’s no obligation to do anything you haven’t agreed to, so enjoy, discover and potentially meet some new friends and connections with the same interests as you.

But Don’t Sign Up For Everything

As exciting as it can be to take on everything you see, you’ll quickly find you won’t have as much time as you anticipated. I’ve found in experience it’s best doing the above and making a mental note of what interests you most and sign up to your picks of those. If it turns out you don’t like them, you can then always join the others.

Socials

If you’re unsure whether to join a team or a more committed club, see if they offer a social event such as a party, meal or night out. This way you can trial your time with the members before paying in any subscription that you may not have wanted to. These events are usually fun and informal to help you relax and feel welcomed by the members. Don’t forget they are human beings that just want to have fun just like yourself, so don’t be afraid to be friendly, ask questions and join in where appropriate. If it all goes well you’ll be off to a good start and making friends in no time.

Remember the Take Home

Whatever motivates you to join your society, you should be able to get out what you put into it and ensure you have something lasting from it once you graduate and join the ‘real world’. Be that something great to put on your CV/resume, physical items or future opportunities sprung out from it, trophies and medals from competitions, friends or venture partners or even just the great memories of it contributing to who you are now and how you’ve made your mark on the world. So choose carefully and pick something you know may make you proud to look back on.

Have you recently joined any societies? To the graduates and non-freshers? What are your favourite memories of first joining a society, club or team? Any horror stories (no personal names or attacks though!) Feel free to leave them down in the comments below.

 

Mike

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Fresher’s Week: 6 Useful Things To Check Off

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It’s that time of year again! When no-longer children fly the coop to explore a subject of their interests, or perhaps return after a couple of years there already in pursuit of the most expensive and valuable piece of paper you will ever own (well, until you decide to do a Masters or PhD!). Whilst some of you may have already arrived and settled in, and others may still be packing their bags and shopping for supplies, here’s a few things you should make sure to do in your first week or two of starting the new University semester.

Bring Your Documentation!

There’s no doubt when you first got accepted you’ll have been given a letter and some forms with reference information on. It’s important to keep hold of this, at least until after you’ve registered. Particularly for UK based students, it’s really important to bring your financial information as proof if you’re paying by student loan and your payment details if not.

If you’re returning for additional years, please check with your institution what additional documents you might need to register in addition to your finance.

Get Your Kit Before the Sales End!

If you’re leaving home, make sure you pick up all your housewares and essentials before the sales end. Rebuilding your life can be an expensive business, not to mention course materials and the instruments you need to do your assignments and homework on. If you’re not sure where to start or want something to double check by, please feel free to check our my Student Essentials post I wrote last year, I’ll be here when you get back.

Meet Your Neighbours

If you’ve moved into different accommodation that’s shared, it’s good courtesy to meet your fellow house or floormates, whom you’re going to be sharing facilities with for the next year. Many a lifelong friendship has started in student accommodation, but as with every epic journey of friendship, it starts with a first step. So be brave and knock first. You never know, you might just get a few knocks on the door in return. If you’re still staying at home, it’s worth introducing yourself to any newcomers on your street or on campus – many people will have travelled to an entirely new town and surroundings, so it’s nice to have a friendly and welcoming face when faced with a completely new environment.

Sign Up For The Vital Essentials

I’m a true hypocrite for this one (all the more reason to preach it!) but when the opportunity comes, it pays to sign up for medical services such as the doctors, dentist and opticians as well as knowing where the nearest hospital or medical centre is. Particularly with weeks of booze filled fun and winder diseases around the corner, it’s good to know you can head somewhere should your health go south.

Sign Up For the Less Essentials (But More Fun)

No fresher’s week is ever complete without a fair – a chance for both the university and student union/student body/Guild to showcase different extra curricular activities (sometimes known as clubs or societies) you can enjoy with your friends and colleagues outside of contact time. From chocolate to archery to debatable conversation to wildlife conservation – there’s usually something out there for everyone, and on the rare chance you are in that “unusually” bracket, you can often make your own with a few members and some ratification from the officials. Sign up is usually free and membership at bargain prices, so don’t just sit there…get out and do something special!

If socs and clubs aren’t your thing, maybe look into your university’s athletic union – there’s often a whole bunch of sports to choose from including football (both kinds), racquet sports, bowling, jousting,and swimming etc, with the possibility of this helping boost your exercise, allow you to have fun and potentially find a secret calling (after all, the NFL draft in the USA is traditionally performed with college football players).

Make the Most of Your First Week

For newcomers to university, there is always a lot going off for you to choose from to help meet new people, make new friends and learn more about the area. By day, take advantage of discounted tours and trips to local attractions, enjoy fair days and cookouts and fun events to get you into the student spirit. At night the bars and clubs come alive with cheap offers to entice you to spend away.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure to try at least 2 things out there – you may regret it later on down the line when you hear your friends talk the memory of something only they shared.

Use Your Frugal Instincts

One of the great things about student life, is the ability to get money off shopping items often with a large amount of the price sliced off. Look for coupons in your Student Union or Guild, flyers dropped in the postbox or mailbox, special offers for certain nights at bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants, sign up for your university’s discount program or a body like the NUS and Student Beans in the UK and keep an eye out for special offers with banks and phone networks.

 

Whilst this a very short list of the many things you must do and experience, I hope it’s enough to inspire you before you start, or help you continue if you’re already on campus.

For returning students, what other factors do you feel are important to remember? Maybe you disagree with what was included? Please feel free to continue the conversation down in the comments field.

Mike

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Sports, Societies & Socials

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So, no doubt you’ve settled into your new abode and met a few new friends or been reunited with others. As many fresher’s weeks have drawn to a close and lessons are now in swing, there’s no doubt you’ve been around the fairs and the student union and been given flyer after flyer after sign up sheet, suggesting you join this and that.

If you feel a little in over your head or are beginning to question if you should have really signed up for every table you visited then don’t panic. Thankfully most of the sheets at fresher’s fairs are mostly there to gather interest and you usually don’t commit to joining a society until you’ve either paid ‘subs’ or been to the first few meetings.

Let’s break some of these groups down to get a better idea and hopefully demystify some of the assumptions.

Now bearing in mind colleges and universities around the world will operate slightly differently (sometimes inside a country itself you can have different institutions with different governance and representation), so this guide won’t fit every place perfectly. For that reason I’ve missed out specific lifestyles (such as Greek Life) and tried to cater generically to both Student Unions, Guilds and organisations alike. For the sake of translation, most student organised groups will be referred to as “societies” and teaching rooms as “labs” or “spaces” and job roles described as generically as possible.

VIP Club Nights and Dining Discounts

The offers you’ll have received here are usually vouchers for drinks deals and discounted entry to dedicated student nights. Some clubs occasionally give away or offer discounted VIP subscription to encourage you to visit them more. There’s never any commitment to do this of course and sometimes the more you connect with the better chance you’ll have of a cheap night out.

As for food discount codes and cards, it’s always worth a quick read thorough the terms and conditions, particularly when it comes to deals. Sadly most places won’t let you apply for discounts alongside deals (e.g: For Domino’s Pizza, you can either have x% off with your discount code OR you can have a deal such as ‘Two for Tuesday’ or a seasonal offer, not both), but again shop around the different takeaways to work out who will give you the most nosh for your dosh.

General Clubs & Societies

These are great little groups (sometimes known informally in their short form as as ‘socs’) often formed by students for students (with the occasional help from staff if it’s related to a subject or department), often free or for a very low joining fee. The scope of societies is as large as anyone’s imagination (within lawful reason) from chocolate to history to gaming to geocaching.

If you missed the sign up at fresher’s fair, there’s almost always an opportunity to join at a later date. Simply turn up at a meeting night or contact either a society member or even your student activities co-ordinator (if you have a specific one) and likewise if you wish to leave, give one of the above the courtesy of some notice rather than just not turning up, or you may keep hearing from them regarding events and subscription fees.

If you society doesn’t exist yet, why not start it yourself? It’s usually just a word with a student activities co-ordinator, a few signatures from your initial members, a decision on if your society will be a free and if so how you will fund activities) or subscription based one, submission of the paperwork to have it ratified by your SU/Guild council or guild to make it a formally approved and supported society and an initial general meeting (which becomes an annual requirement) in which you democratically elect a president (if not already agreed), a secretary and a treasurer. How formally you wish to enforce these rules in your society is up to you during each year in office (within many societies the title is just a formality), however bear in mind if the co-ordinator needs to enquire on something for whatever reason, these elected members will be the ones contacted first. Once you’re ratified, you’re away and the rest is up to you and your members to organise (although your guild or union will always be there to help should you need any advice or basic support on matter such as fund-raising, locations or issues with members).

If your society is of an academic nature, it’s worth speaking to your relevant department when you set it up. Whilst as non-students they may not be allowed to run the society itself, they may be able to provide support on a voluntary basis or allow you to use equipment or a teaching space in free hours (for instance, a Science Club may let you have supervised access to lab equipment or a Drama society have access to a performance space). If you have the funds you may be able to book spaces both on and off campus to host events (e.g: a play or a special night function) or seek sponsorship to get it for a discount/free provided you promote their services.

Whilst societies are often pretty relaxed, there may be some ground rules you may have to follow, particularly if it’s not a free membership. The president does have the right to exercise these within reason, so please respect them if you want to reap the benefits and memories of being in a society.

The Athletic Union and Sports Teams

Most universities will separate sporting activities into their own sub division known as the Athletic Union or AU (though not all Student Unions or Guilds have this). Alternatively the University themselves may manage the sports teams. Much like at school these aren’t strictly as formal as the ‘real world’ sports clubs, but unlike student societies will expect a degree of commitment, particularly if you’re competing in a university league or competition).

Once you’ve registered your initial interest at Fresher’s Fair, you’ll be invited to ‘try out’ for your chosen sport(s). If you meet the criteria for a position you’ll be invited to join the team. For larger universities, there may also be reserve teams, so if you make the grade but somebody else go there first too, don’t despair! Unlike a football table, University team are often fairly equal in ranking and are just as responsible to fighting for the competition and league titles.

Sports clubs are usually funded through sponsorship, either by business who will often be printed on your uniforms or by bars, pubs, taverns and clubs whom you’ll be expected as team entity (not necessarily as individuals) to visit on various nights out (sometimes on a dedicated ‘AU Night’ or ‘Socials’).

In addition to your match days, practice sessions and evening socials there’s often a chance to go ‘on tour’. This in effect is an organised semi-holiday/semi-sports week with your teams and other teams from your campus to join other university teams in  a predetermined country (which changes each year at the discretion of the tour company organisers) and often has activities geared towards friendly inter-campus and inter group activities.

University Opportunities

As the heading suggests, the University also like to get involved at the fair too, offering opportunities to students to help them out in addition to participating in the student union. This can be both voluntary and paid job roles for both immediate start and information on positions for the future.

Opportunities can involve outreach work for supporting the staff on open and applicant days & to visits to colleges and sixth forms, to becoming a university ambassador who may be part of the above in addition to further internal and public events  – representing the face of the university. There’s also opportunities to support different departments such as lab assistants for students in higher years or performance technicians and front of house staff for theatrical, musical and conferencing events.

Outside of academic roles, there’s also opportunities in the community such as wardens for student accommodation (be it a dorm/room advisor, part-time and live in residential wardens, fire safety officers or accommodation reps) which can allow both the mix of some or all of the following: reliving the fresher student life again, having responsibilities to safety or accommodation matters (all of which look great on CV and Resumé type documents) or generally just the warm feeling that you’ve made newcomers to the adult world feel welcome and supported as I’m sure you hopefully would have felt when you first started university. If you’re a fresher yourself. I wouldn’t recommend these roles for immediate start (and often it’s quite hard to get them for your current year as they usually start just before you arrive) and would wait until the second year when you will have got your head around how your university works.

Hopefully this has provided some insight to the life around uni outside of lesson time and as always I’m keen to hear your additions and comments in the comment box below if you have any.

Thanks for reading and hope the start to your respective years is going well.

 

Mike