Some of the advice you’ll be besieged with daily during your early days of college will involve clubs and societies. The recurring mantra “Get involved!” will ring in your ears. Well older college students aren’t one bit like your parents. When they give you counsel you should make sure you take heed and listen!
UCD has over 150 sports clubs and 100 societies. These range from the small to the large to the VERY large (the L&H has 5000 members).
Ryan Tubridy speaking at a comedy debate in UCD
In the last few years I’ve been an occasional participant in this society life. Soup runs with St. Vincent DePaul have meant that instead of sitting in half-heartedly watching the X-Factor I’ve spent many Sunday nights giving soup and sandwiches to the homeless of Dublin. Involvement with the L&H has helped me attend debating competitions (for free) in Galway, Cork, Maynooth and London. The L&H and Lawsoc have also enabled me to see firsthand guests like Tony Hawk, the Janitor from Scrubs, Alan Rickman (Snape from Harry Potter) and Noam Chomsky.
Will Ferrell with L&H Auditor Michael McGrath in UCD
In first year I played for one of the UCD Hockey Teams, which was a great way to interact with other sports enthusiasts from across the college. I also had a brief stint on the UCD dodgeball team (unsurprisingly this one ended with bruises).
Writing for the University Observer has seen me interview bands like Kasabian, Hockey, Republic of Loose (twice), Delorentos and Ash along with Bill Bailey, Mr Scruff, and various others. This led to me being offered an internship in the Santa Barbara Independent during the summer after second year.
Bill Bailey being presented with the James Joyce Award by the L&H in UCD
Sports in UCD extend beyond the usual to trampolining, squash and the rifle club among others. If you don’t discover a society that appeals to you then you can set up your own!
The trampolines are REALLY big
Remember when you come to college that if you’re enthusiastic the opportunities are endless. And this is true too in terms of the amount of people you can meet. At the start of the year all clubs and societies will set up stands and you pay just €2 to join (and get lots of free stuff). Don’t be intimidated, a year or two ago those who are now running the whole show were in your first-year shoes. Get involved (and reap the benefits).
The trampolines are REALLY big
Remember when you come to college that if you’re enthusiastic the opportunities are endless. And this is true too in terms of the amount of people you can meet. At the start of the year all clubs and societies will set up stands and you pay just €2 to join (and get lots of free stuff). Don’t be intimidated, a year or two ago those who are now running the whole show were in your first-year shoes. Get involved (and reap the benefits).
Full list of UCD student societies: http://www.ucd.ie/socs.htm
Full list of UCD student sports clubs: http://www.ucd.ie/sport/
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