As a student attending a college in a small town, I know the important role that clubs have in the social life of a student. Aber is actually not all that different. There is not much "to-do" here: meaning, there is not a lot of variety to the town's social scene or entertainment offerings. It may be beautiful, but sometimes it is not enough to sit and stare. Sometimes, you just have to get out and do. And like Alabama, Aberystwyth students have recognized this and created a plethora of clubs ("societies" is the word for it here, though).
Before I talk about the clubs I've gotten a taste of, I do want to say that while the nightlife and entertainment options are limited, they are definitely still fun. The best thing to do to avoid the mundane-ness of anything, I think, is to find a group of friends that can make any situation interesting. I have been lucky enough to fall into a group that does just that. Even though there are only two clubs and an odd mix of different yet similar pubs every time we go out, we have a lot of fun. Note: I think, like Alabama, house parties are definitely an institution here, as well.
Like I said before, however, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to clubs and societies. If you feel you have trouble finding a group of friends to belong to, the groups here make it very easy to find one. I swear at the Fresher's Fair (Get On Board Day, back home) there were hundreds of groups. For a school that is supposed to be quite small, it was surprising. Just walking around they have all the basic groups like: Rugby, Football, American Football, Glee, Theatre, Improv Theatre, Comedy, Ballroom Dance, Paintball, Ultimate Frisbee, Volleyball, Pigeon Shooting, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. I signed up for a few of these on the Fair days, and I have friends that are doing some of these activities, but I didn't find my niche in any of these groups.
In the past few weeks I have really only tried out two groups, but I have found both of them to be pretty darn awesome. The first one was the Scottish Reeling Society and the second, which I attended for the first time last week, was the Mock UN Society. I attempted to post a Scottish Reeling video in an earlier post, and since then, I have come to realize, what those gifted folks are doing is not what we are doing. And you know what, I can't find a good video so I'll just let you concoct you're own ideas. But the club is a lot of fun and there are some great, friendly, fun people in the group, so I can't wait to get to know them better.
Mock UN is something I have found interesting since that Mary-Kate and Ashley movie where they went to a conference with their high school. My friend Ann told me about the first meeting she went to and I begged her to let me come with her to check it out. I actually really loved it! I didn't know that I had strong opinions about anything political (I tend to like to stay neutral and hear everyone else's opinions and then make up my mind, but I even suggested an amendment to a bill-y thingy. That was pretty cool, right? I plan to keep going and I am super excited to get to know everyone in the group better. They all seem very fun and intelligent, and I am hoping, not belligerent when it comes to their opinions - that is why I have shied away from debate teams and clubs before, because my experience has been that people are just rude. I am very excited to keep going and learning more about international politics.
I have to say that while friends and clubs are all very important to social life here at Uni (that felt weird saying it like that), the Union is the spice. We have a representative body at Alabama, but it is almost impossible for them to do to anything like throw parties or movie nights for us the way the Union does here. Every Monday there are two free movies in the Union bar, and a few nights a month the Union hosts interesting club nights. My first out of the ordinary club experience was a foam party up there (the Union is on the hill with the rest of campus) and this Thursday is Latin Night. If I lived on campus this place would be my first stop every time I wanted to go out, but, pauvre moi, I live in town and it takes a good bit to schlep all the way up there.
I can't wait to see what the next night out brings!
No comments:
Post a Comment