When you’re starting second year, it’s understandable to think that all your days of fun are over. Work is suddenly intense, the Wild West feeling of halls is gone and now you have to worry about gross stuff like bills and council tax exemption.
This is why it’s all the more important to alleviate your misery by picking up some extracurricular activities. Here at Debut, we’ve gone on and on about why things like societies, executive committees and sports teams are good for you, but here’s why getting involved in all this in second year is definitely the way to go.
You have a squad
First year is when you weave together the fabric of your social tapestry. By now, you should know who’s going to be a recurring character in your university story and who was just making cameo appearances.
Presumably, you’ve moved into a house with some people you’re happy to share your life with. Once you’ve got that solid home base, it’s time to expand and make some friends with similar interests – and where better than some societies?
You’ve got contacts
In addition to finding lifelong pals, you’ve probably made a few older friends and acquaintances that are already doing the whole societies thing.
Follow their shining example and commit to some extracurriculars. Not only will you learn a lot on your own, but you can benefit from their wealth of experience, no matter what society you join. We all know that teamwork makes the dream work!
You’re more uni savvy
You know your SU is for more than just a sticky night out. You know where the best meeting rooms are, the least busy computer clusters, you know your way around campus. Basically, you’re a bit more aware of what’s going on. That being said, why not apply some of that knowledge to something you love?
Societies need people (on their exec. committee and in general) that can navigate their way around the physical and administrative maze that universities and student unions can be sometimes. With a year of experience, you’re more than capable of handling it.
You have more time than you think
Maybe it’s second year and maybe now your work counts toward your final degree classification. Maybe that’s terrifying. But you’ll still have more time than you would in final year, when the crunch really starts. If you don’t go all in on societies now, you may never get the chance.
You’re more organised
Your workload has increased this year, sure, but in first year the amount of work you were expected to do autonomously increased significantly.
Through the fire and flames of that transition, a halfway competent student at the very least will have been formed, whether you feel it or not. There’s no better way to test that than picking up some new activities, and it’ll help you handle that work/life balance in future.
Like it or not, you’ve calmed down
Diddums, you’re growing up. In first year, you wanted to be doing other things and that’s okay. In the moment, you may have felt guilty. Maybe you felt that every time you downed a pint with a potential chum you were flushing your life down the drain. But that’s what first year is for!
The fun doesn’t have to stop, but now you’re a second year it’s out with matching-t-shirt nights-out and in with the society socials.
Careers-wise, the timing is perfect
Because by the time you hit third year, it may already be too late. Believe it or not, now is the perfect time to be setting yourself up for the job hunt.
Extracurriculars round you off as a person and show off skills that you just don’t get from being academic. Whether you going for a summer internship or a big grad job, doing a little something extra might just be the thing that tips you over the edge.
