In order to gain the most out of your time at university and ensure you emerge as a well-rounded individual now independent from your parents (not a twenty-something year old with a five figure debt and acutely-damaged liver) many people feel it is necessary to join a society. Societies at unay can range from what would be considered conventional, netball, to the bloody bizarre, such as the Custard Wrestling Society (it’s true, Cardiff University, look it up if you don’t believe me).
But, similar to most of my fellow freshers out there, I am lost as to which to join. On the day of the society fair I passed a group of people playing Quidditch in the park (the members of the Harry Potter society), could this be the one for me? Perhaps not, I thought, as I saw someone zoom past me on their fake broom (it was a mop).
Social pressure within the society fair is particularly hard to resist for someone like me who has a huuugggeee FOMO (fear of missing out). In some kind of odd impression of Jim Carrey from the film Yes Man! I signed up for at least twenty different societies and teams. Before you pay £30 (which is extortionate for any student) for a membership to these clubs though, I seriously recommend you go to one of the GIAG (Give It A Go) sessions…
First on my list was cheerleading. I myself am not particularly flexible; I tend to think that if God had wanted my foot to be by the back of my head he would have put it there. The trial started with some basic dance routines where the coach encouraged us to ‘Go for it gurl!’ and ‘Work it, work it!’ …In the immortal words of Janice Ian, this guy really did seem “Too gay to function”.
After a three hour trial and audition session where my body had been bent into positions closely resembling a human pretzel, I was told that I – most unfortunately – had not made the team. But I’m not bitter, not at all.
Next on the agenda was volley ball. I sensed that this would not go any better than cheerleading despite the fact that my two flatmates, Jess and Scarlett, were joining me. I was not wrong. When we arrived a supremely perky girl pranced (there really is no other way to describe it) over to us to welcome us to the team. We were split into groups so we could play tournaments and lost all of our matches. A group of Chinese girls turned up half-way though and formed a team of only eight people against our 11 and even they beat us. (They weren’t in sports kit – ONE OF THEM WAS IN UGG BOOTS). Despite this we were invited by perky girl to ‘Come on along to next weeks session!’ and had it not been for the rather suspect bruises that appeared on our arms, which made it look like we’d been experimenting with henna tattoos, I’m sure we would have joined.
The final GIAG session which I want to mention was the student radio station. The radio stations at universities tend to be where only the most alt of the alternative go. They are so edgy that just looking at these guys can give you a paper cut; two of the girls in the meeting we went to had purple hair (must be the new blond). The meetings are used to compose a playlist of songs to be broadcast across campus when the radio is on air. As new members, Jess and I were expected to suggest songs. But I felt that the coolest band I knew, Alt-J, who have the word alt in the name, were not good enough and would see me laughed out of the room. We did end up joining though, if not just to get discounts off tickets at local ‘gigs’ – which to our disappointment did not include any performances by Taylor or Carly-Rae.
In the end though, you’re always going to be the new person in the group if you’re a fresher. I’ve found societies are a really great way of meeting people and ensuring that in between lectures you don’t just fester in your room but actually take advantage of what’s on offer to you. So take a deep breath and try something new. You don’t have to commit for the whole year but it really is worth it, even if just for the funny stories you can recount.
#cringe
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