Emily is a third year LLB student, an editor for the City Law review and a member of Central City Allstars, the competitive cheer team.
When picking and starting university, one thing to consider is the different types of societies offered!
I remember scrolling through pages and 
pages of societies and clubs to try and get a feel for the social life at different universities.
Most universities offer a wide range of social clubs and activities for their students – outside of the more social based clubs, universities usually offer clubs based on academic interests, religion, and sports.
Moreover, you have the option to create a society if the university doesn’t offer something. For example, if you’re really interested in certain video games, you could probably create an Animal Crossing club to meet people with the same hobbies and share turnip prices.
Why join a society or club?
1. Joining the society linked to your course is a great way to meet other students
Societies give you a chance to talk more with students that you share a lecture with. Lectures aren’t the most social atmosphere. Most lectures have a five to ten minute break in the middle, which isn’t a lot of time to make friends. But if you see someone at a society meeting who you recognize from a lecture, you have more time to get to know them. 
Joining the society linked or connected to your course is a really great way to add more companionship into your studies!
Most departments and programs will have a society linked to them. Since I’m a law student I can join the Law Society or the Pro Bono Society. Both of those are societies based around different areas of law and are designed for law students. But that’s not specific to law – almost every course has a society connected to it.
2. Making friends with people in their second or third year is really useful
By getting to mingle with other students you can get insight into what courses and professors they liked, what exams were extra difficult, and what internships they’re doing to prepare for life after university.
I’ve made lots of really great friends who can help guide me through which classes to pick or which professors to seek out.
Getting involved in academic societies can be a real boost. However, you don’t just have to be around the same people all the time.
3. Joining other clubs is a great way to meet people that you wouldn’t typically interact with.
Pre-covid times, there would be a fair at the start of the year to introduce you to all the societies and let you sign up. At City, you can find lots of digital events already planned here.
I highly recommend going to any meetings that might seem interesting to you. University is a great time to go out of your comfort zone.
One of the things I signed up for when I first got to uni was a fencing lesson! As an international student, I was shocked to see that people actually fenced. I thought it was a thing mostly in movies. But through the fencing club, I was able to take a lesson and learn the basics. I also learned that I was not very good at it. I decided not to keep going to the club or try out for the team, but it still really appreciated the opportunity just to try it. 
Later on, I eventually tried out and became a part of our cheerleading team. I never thought I could be a cheerleader, but now I spend every Friday throwing girls in the air. And usually catching them.
Having the option to try new sports has really improved my university social life. Through sports, I’m able to get to know people from other programs, many of which I never would have gotten to meet otherwise.
I love being able to see my teammates around university. Some of my closest friends are from different courses!
My top tip is to try and get involved
Start off by just trying the first meeting or going to a practice. For me, being a part of university life outside of my course makes me feel more at home here. Getting involved in societies is a really great way to meet all types of people and experience more from your time at university.
Find out more about City’s Societies here or you can look up other university’s students union for more information on their societies.
You can also read about:
- Emily’s reason for choosing to studying Law at City
- Anas’s day in the life of studying Law at City (in pre-covid times)
- Niffy’s first year guide to making friends at uni
