You stare at the pile of goodies you managed to collect throughout the week, strewn all over the floor of your dorm room amongst messy clumps of otherwise useless flyers and old food wrappers. Your wallet is bursting at the seams with the substantial amount of new membership cards you’ve been given in exchange for two euros in the Fresher’s tent or upwards of fifteen euros in the sports centre.
You look at all of your new possessions and think, now what? Because understandably, a lot of the new clubs you’ve joined have tons of events lined up for the coming weeks – and most of them are happening at the same time. How do you decide?
Personally, I was torn between two things:
a. wanting to go to events that felt more like home, like the Malaysian Society and the Islamic Society, or
b. wanting to go to events that took me as far away from my comfort zone as possible, like the International Students Society and the L&H.
Because why not, right? I was new student in a new university and a new country, surrounded by people who identified with a culture completely different from my own. In the beginning, I tried the latter option. One day, after much thought and deliberation, I threw myself (and a friend) into an ISS event in the Global Lounge. It was definitely an interesting experience, and I don’t regret going, but I found that settling in was difficult enough already without having to deal with the stress of an awkward social environment. The next few days were spent thinking about the possibility of becoming involved with societies closer to home. Was that my goal? Did I want to be around the same people day in and day out?
The answer to that question: admittedly, no. I wanted to do something different and really put myself out there. However, after attending several events of different societies, I found that the ones I felt most comfortable with gave me the confidence to step up my game and eventually broaden my circle. It really worked, even though it took a while, and I don’t regret my decisions in the slightest.
The thing about Fresher’s week is, you feel like you’re presented with endless opportunities to be someone you wish you could be. For the next couple of weeks, you could be that person who does all these cool things, and goes to all these events and is able to make so many friends of different backgrounds. After a while though, you just want to settle down and commit to a group of people that made your second home a great one. By that time, it should be obvious to you who that group is.
And just remember, it’s never too late to be part of the society that you signed up for – even if it’s 10 weeks in and you’ve only shown your face once. UCD societies tend to be very welcoming people who take in anyone looking for a place to belong.
