Participation

The key to student life is participation. Don’t spectate, participate! Make the most of the unique opportunities you get as a student - both the learning and the social things. You’ll never have such a varied choice or such a wide range of people around you as when you are a student, so enjoy it and explore new ideas and activities. Test yourself, try new things and see what you can achieve. Student life should be an intense voyage of discovery. There will be opportunities to join societies and to join sports clubs that participate in representative or recreational sport. Whatever you fancy, sign up and make new friends with similar interests. It can be a good way to get to know other students in a social context.

You may even want to become involved in running your club, maybe as a club captain or treasurer or secretary, and that’s all fine stuff for the old CV, which you should be trying to build up gradually over your time at uni. Participation gives you the opportunity to be different, to develop yourself and add value to your life and your employability. So don’t sit on the sidelines, there’s something for everybody and, if you want to start up a new club or a society, it’s pretty easy. Just contact NSA's Student Activities Officer and he’ll tell you what you need to know and help get you started.

Very little comes free or cheap once you’ve left school, but your club may be entitled to some funding from the NSA budget to help support your activities. There will also be opportunities to participate in student representation, as a programme rep for your class, or to sit on NSA or University decision-making committees and forums. NSA trains programme reps and helps you to get the best you can out of your participation. For more information on being a rep and on being part of NSA decision-making bodies, see the Survival Guide (pick up a free copy from NSA at 12 Merchiston Place).