Close your eyes, what do you see? Subsidised holidays, constant draught to cool you down and skins the colour of coffee? During Freshers' Week you'll get a taste of the incentives societies are offering students in return for their membership. Signatures and subscriptions are crucial to societies when it comes to college grants and prestige. However, once you have joined and received your free donuts, chocolate, sweets and lollipops, it is up to you to make the most of the society. College can be a threatening, alienating place at first, even more so if you are away from home and on your own. One of the main benefits of joining clubs and societies is meeting people, many of whom are starting out like yourself, and others who have been there before. Given the vast number of societies you will surely find one that interests you. If your dream is to win the Monaco Grand Prix there is always the the Formula One Society (UCD). If you like things at a slower pace you might fancy the Capriccio Society (UCC). Though its' name may suggest Italian love poets, it focuses on poetry of a different kind, classical music. The extent of "out with the old, in with the new" witnessed after the last election shows that there is more than just political apathy among young people. If your ambition is to restore faith in our somewhat tarnished political system, there are branches of political parties active in most colleges. There are other ways of effecting change without affiliating yourself to any political party. Societies like the Red Cross, Amnesty International and the St Vincent de Paul enable you to do so.
For those of you who are potential thespians, drama societies are a way of acquiring the necessary experience to develop your talents. You don't have to have any experience to join. Gearoid MacDonnacha, a recent graduate of UCG, remembers in first year being invited to join the Cumann Dramaiochta. "I said would you go away, what would I be doing joining that?" He started off doing lighting and later branched off into script-writing and acting. Once aspiring to become a lawyer, Gearoid later pursued his growing interest in the arts and now works in television.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for joining the Cumann Dramaiochta, and my life wouldn't be as enjoyable as it has been." THERE ARE also opportunities to perform in competitions such as the annual Irish Student Drama Festival which attracts the best of Irish drama from around the country. Exercise, therapy for body and mind and if you enjoy life, you'll need it even more - given the staple diet of tins favoured by most students. Soccer, Gaelic football and hurling are played at fresher, intermediate and senior levels in most colleges. If contact sport isn't your thing, you can always avail of the college gym which offers discounts to students. Perhaps you need something more sensual to get you excited about exercising. In that case give the dance society a go. There is one society that will be of particular interest to first year students in UCC. It is the First Year Integration Society, which was set up to help students settle into college and overcome any problems they face, be it with courses, landlords or simply not knowing where to go in the city. This is the first year of the society, headed by auditor Donal Cahalane. It has put together a pocket book detailing important phone numbers, like emergency services, social events during the year and popular night clubs. It also contains a diary and phone book.
There is a fear among certain lecturers and students that society involvement may impinge on study time. Niall Buckley, auditor of the Law Society in UCD, assures them there is plenty of time to study.
"When March comes around, sessions stop, leaving plenty of time to study and get a 2:1. The benefit you get from participating in societies justifies that participation.' President of the Board of Irish College Societies and chairman of the Societies Guild in UCC, Richard Hammond, is of the same belief.
"Societies are absolutely necessary; without them college is no more than a degree factory. They take up as much time as you let them." Students who forsake society activities in pursuit of academic glory may live to regret it. If university education is to fulfil its purpose, it must draw from every aspect of the students, personality. Living in the real world, a good second-class honours degree with the benefits of society participation is far more useful than a first.
