Ten Tips On How To Survive The Society Sign Up Panic

The Fresher’s Fair is one of the most important parts of Fresher’s week. Hungover, lost and confused, Fresher’s (and the second and third years) will drag themselves out of bed to sign up to societies. However, this is often not an easy task, as you get persuaded to join nearly every society and use up a large chunk of your loan leaving you broke for the rest of the term… Not ideal! Here at HCX, we’ve got together ten top tips on how to avoid signing up to everything, in a bid to boost that CV and expand your horizons.

1. Do your research! Read up on all the socities first so that you know what they are and which ones you are interested in. This way you will know which socities to find at the fair and you won’t end up joining every one you walk past that has hot boys or sweets involved. 
    
2. Stick to your budget! Make sure you know how much you can afford to spend on signing up to societies. One good way of ensuring you will not go over budget is to take out cash and not pay by card, as we can all get a tad over zealous with our cards at times!
    
3. Don’t be nervous about signing up on your own. It can be easy to only sign up to the socities that your friends are joining but if you have always wanted to try women’s football then go for it! Lots of other people will be in the same position and it is a great way to make new friends.  
    
4. Be realistic. There is only so much free time you will have, so be realistic about how many societies you can dedicate your time too. There is always next year to try other societies if you want to be part of more. 
5. Be adventurous! University is a great time to try new things and there are so many different socities to choose from that you can sign up to something that might seem very strange and be completely new to you but you could end up loving it! If you decide it is not for you, you do not have to continue to go so don’t let that put you off. [pagebreak]
6. CV in mind. If you are looking for things to join to enhance your CV, think carefully about what will add to it. If you want to pursue journalisn, then the University magazines and papers are a good start (joining HCX goes without saying!) but also joining socities that demonstrate a skill or are unusual, such as DebSoc, will give you something to talk about and set you apart from everybody else.
    
7. Get there early. The queues at the sign up can be very long, especially as the day progresses, so it is wise to get their early to avoid waiting a long time at each stand.
    
8. Sign up online! Remeber that you can sign up to the GUILD socities, not the AU clubs, online via their website if you cannot bear to go to the fair in person. 
9. Don’t Panic! Whether you are a fresher experiencing it all for the first time, or a seasoned third year who is trying to cram it all in before they graduate, do not panic! You can often join socities in the couple of weeks after the fair if you suddenly realise you’ve missed one.
    
10. Come and visit HCX! HCX will be at the Fresher’s Fair so come along, say hi and ask any questions that you might have! See you there!