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By Seamus Toomey<\/p>\n
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Clubs and societies have so much to offer and often I feel this has been forgotten. I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to be a part of a few of them and know a large selection of the committee members of other clubs and socs. But too often I feel clubs and societies\u2019 importance in a student\u2019s life and development are overlooked for academic pursuits.<\/p>\n
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As C&S co-op\/guy who spends far too much time in the C&S office, I see and hear about all of the wonderful stories about people getting jobs from their committee positions or having the times of their lives or meeting the person they love in a club or society. It\u2019s something I think not many people understand, but being a part of a club or society is extremely beneficial to you, physically, mentally and socially.<\/p>\n
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To spend your 4 years in UL and just be a journalist at the end of them to me is a shame and a waste – same goes if you\u2019re just a nurse, just a sports scientist or just an economist. It means you\u2019ve not availed of all of the clubs and societies here, it means you\u2019ve spent four years studying, it means you\u2019ve missed out on the joys of skydiving, kayaking, surfing, playing music, boxing and tea appreciating.<\/p>\n
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If you\u2019re just a journalist at the end of your four years it is a shame, because to really experience all that this college has to offer by the end of those four years you should be a journalist\/comedian\/windsurfer and dancer.<\/p>\n
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I wasted the first two years of my college life not getting involved in more – I have Se\u00e1n Lynch to thank for involving me in ULFM in second year and I am grateful to be heavily involved in C&S as their co-op student this year. If I had not gotten this placement the likelihood is I\u2019d have gone somewhere else in the country, then gone on Erasmus and missed another entire year and another chance to have gotten involved in the many clubs and societies here.<\/p>\n
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More than that, I wouldn\u2019t have found out about the amazing activities so many of these clubs and societies do, like sub aqua, a club I didn\u2019t even know existed in UL, let alone know what they actually do (they dive around coasts at home and abroad and even explore ship wrecks).<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s crazy that these frequent and staggering events are happening under our noses and there\u2019s not a larger conscious effort by the entire university to get people aware of this and to get involved. Especially when you\u2019ve read through the C&S survey (which we\u2019re hoping to make public soon – no promises) which details positive experience after positive experience by our members.<\/p>\n
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The overwhelming response we got has prompted us to look at the benefits to mental health that C&S may have and while nothing has begun yet, I would be surprised if a connection between the two weren\u2019t found.<\/p>\n
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My own experience of getting involved with multiple clubs and societies this year has been entirely of benefit to me – I\u2019ve met so many people, I feel useful, I\u2019ve gotten more flexible (thanks Trampoline club) and I\u2019m not as bored as often. If I had more hours in the day I\u2019d join more clubs and societies and despite my 24 hour limit I may try to anyway.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s made me a happier person and I can\u2019t recommend enough the positives it\u2019ll bring you and hopefully, despite my late start, when I finish not so far into the future I\u2019ll be a qualified journalist, a comedian with a regular gig, a radio show host familiar with all of the equipment in a studio or maybe even a trampoline coach. Everyone starts somewhere right, why not UL?<\/p>\n