The choices of activities on offer range from a humble film society to a wine and cheese appreciation club, a cricket team to a live action roll playing society (LARP). Whatever you fancy you can do it, and if it’s not there, create it! To get into the spirit of things, here are 10 of our most interesting choices for things to get involved with at university.
Circus Society
Always wanted to learn how to juggle? Or do you have a dusty unicycle that needs to be put to good use? Come on, everyone would like to learn a circus skill. Join a friendly environment of fellow circus dwelling folk and learn how to impress your mates. These skills will always come in handy at festivals too.
Drama Society
Acting is the scariest thing in the world to some people. But university is a time to branch out and try something you're not comfortable with. Dramas societies tend to put on loads of productions a year that you can audition for. Alternatively, you can learn how to light a stage, help create props and costumes. They usually have workshops you can attend where, for the good part, you’ll be playing silly games and jumping around like a fool.
Ultimate Frisbee team
Is there anything more quintessentially ‘student’ than a good ol’ game of Frisbee? Well now, apparently, it’s become a competitive sport. Don’t be put off by the word competitive, however, as most teams will welcome any new members and let you play whether you’re serious about it or not. Let’s face it, good Frisbee skills can be quite essential in a student environment so get in there and master it before everyone else.
American Football team
More and more people are enjoying American ‘grid iron’ football in the UK and universities are some of the few places where you’re quite likely to find a team you can join complete with adjacent cheerleading squad.
Cheese and wine society
Well this does exactly what it says on the tin, really. Do you like wine? Do you like cheese? Well that puts you in good stead for the cheese and wine society. It’s not just sitting around chomping on cheese and supping on wine though. These societies can sometimes take old-school field trips to vineyards, cheese factories, or simply somewhere that sells a nice glass of red and a good blue cheese.
Salsa classes
Get your hips moving in a hot and steamy salsa class. Not only is this great exercise it’ll give you the opportunity to try out that Latin club night you’d never dreamed of going to before. It's also a great way of meeting new, similarly minded people on a night out.
Manga and Anime society
Obsessed with Manga comics or Anime? Perhaps you’ve always wanted to start a life long obsession with the Japanese cartoons? There’s no doubt that Manga and Anime lovers are a fanatic bunch but they’re sure to enjoy giving you a beginners guide to entering their world, and once you start you might be hooked for life.
University Radio
Most universities will have a radio station of some kind. They are often undersubscribed for DJs and people to get involved so it’s a perfect opportunity to see if you’ve got what it takes to be the next Terry Wogan. You might be a music obsessive and want to create a show that caters for similarly minded people, or you might want to start a discussion based show, debating news. Whatever you fancy they’ll be able to give you a go.
Human powered flight society
This has to go on our list even though it is a rare society indeed. The creation and development of human powered flying machines is what this industrious group tries to achieve. If you’ve got an engineering brain or just the legs of a Tour de France winning cyclist, than this is the one for you. Steam Boat Willy is the name of one of UCL’s attempts, so there’s a lot of fun to be had in the naming too…
Open Mic Night
If you’re musically inclined but a little shy open mic nights are a great way of getting to meet other budding singers and musicians. If you’re not up for playing in front of people then you can just get involved with the organising and attending. But if you do feel like whipping out the guitar and blasting out a rendition of Hallelujah there’ll be lots of supportive people to let you. It’s also a prime location to meet people to put together the legendary uni band!
Most groups have taster sessions so check out their stalls during Freshers week. For more general information on societies and clubs read our advice article, here.