The best parts of university? Most would say nightlife and some would say courses. But for many more, it’s clubs and societies that make the university experience so memorable.
Because the possibilities are endless.
You could meet your future partner at the Sci-Fi society.
Maybe your stint at student radio will set you up raise the proverbial roof at a festival one day.
Or perhaps your days of playing journalist at the student paper will be the first step towards taking over The Guardian.
But it’s not just weird and unlikely stuff that will happen to you when you join a society. There are a load of invaluable benefits to your chosen hobby...
1. Get transferable skills
The cool thing about societies? You learn stuff without realising.
Your chosen extracurricular will do a solid job of getting you to be more reliable, organised and better at communicating.
Essentially, you have to get on with your fellow society goers. Because fights ruin it for everyone else.
But these skills are invaluable. Once you hit the job market, even the supposed ‘little things’ like soft skills (think empathy, communication, etc) will give you an edge.
2. Give your CV a boost
If you’ve done something other than the bare minimum, it helps employers see you’re a well-rounded human being.
Especially if you’ve invested in your society or club to be a stakeholder, like president, captain or editor.
Think about it this way: most students will rock up to university for three years of postponing real life. It’s how you spend the time that you’re not studying that’ll interest employers after uni.
3. Make lifelong friends
When you’ve been assigned halls randomly, you can’t guarantee you’ll make friends there. And the same goes with your course.
There aren’t many places in the UK you’ll find fellow K Pop lovers in person, ready to discuss their favourite artists and tracks, other than K Pop Soc.
It’s one of those ‘find your tribe’ things. But it’s legit.
4. Get used to going outside your comfort zone
You’ll be asked to do things that you probably wouldn’t choose to do normally. Stuff like fundraisers, driving recruitment and being a buddy for new members.
But this is great.
It ties back in to the transferable skills we mentioned earlier. But we’ve given it its own point on the list because your comfort zone is dangerous and it should be left behind asap.
Because if you don’t stretch your wings and try new things, you risk leading a bit of a boring life. And no one wants that.
5. Try before you buy
Another huge plus? You can practice for your career.
Love the allure of being on TV? Try out the student station and see if you’re any good at it.
Obviously this won’t work for everything. Like French society probably won’t help you practice for your dream job. Unless you want to be a translator. But, a lot of societies will give you the skills and experience needed to make informed decisions about your future.
And they’re super fun with loads of opportunities to meet people in a variety of settings. So make sure you have a full university experience and try something out.
Check out the top rated clubs and societies on Student Hut.
