At Queen’s, I am a member of multiple societies in which I attend weekly. These include the sailing, air squadron, wakeboarding, lacrosse, fencing and trampolining societies. In my first 2 years at Queen’s, I have tried out so many societies (even more than listed) and have shortlisted these down to my favourite 6. I would recommend joining a society to meet new people and try out new things to anyone, whether you are a first year or in your final year, as it is never too late to pick up a new skill.

Sailing

The Sailing Club meets every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday and is the perfect opportunity to get outside of Belfast and to have a relaxing day of sailing off the coast of Bangor.

I attend every Saturday for team racing practice and an all-round lovely meet up at the clubhouse with my friends. The society has a number of 2-man sailing boats as well as ribs so we can enjoy a few hours taking it in turns swapping in and out of boats and changing crew to get to meet everyone.

The sailing team competes in different competitions all around Ireland and the UK and even go on a yearly trip abroad. Last year, we went to Croatia and spent the week learning how to sail yachts around Croatia and this year we are heading off to Athens for another amazing week with everyone. The sailing society host socials every Saturday night in order to help members get to know each other well and every social I have been to hosted by them has been amazing.

The Air Squadron

The Air Squadron meets every Wednesday evening and gives students the opportunity to learn how to fly small planes.

The air squadron has offered me the most insane opportunities such as a parachuting course, a skydiving course, skiing trips, historical trips to Malta, Berlin and Normandy.

This year, I am going rock climbing in Italy with the squadron as well as on a 2-week expedition walking to the North Pole from Greenland which I am looking forward to a lot.

The society organises adventure training for us, where last year we went coasteering in Portadown, kayaking, mountain biking and hiking all in the Mournes as well as rock climbing in Majorca.

The air squadron is my favourite society because I can book slots to go flying around my university timetable and they will organise transport to pick me up from Queen’s to take me flying.

Wakeboarding

The Wakeboarding and Waterski Club also meets on a Wednesday and I tend to go for an hour before heading off to my air squadron. It is based at Let’s Go Hydro and is easily accessible by bus.

I usually spend an hour in the cable park with one of the instructors focusing on practicing new tricks for wakeboarding.

The society host fun camping and wakeboarding weekends as well as a yearly trip abroad to a wakeboarding cable park competition. This year we are heading off to Lithuania for a competition against other universities and a fun week of team bonding.

Lacrosse

The Lacrosse Club meets every Monday and Wednesday night for training. It is perfect for those who are brand new to the sport as well as those who have been playing for years. I have competed in matches for the team as we regularly play against other universities.

Last weekend, we headed down to University College Dublin to compete in a tournament ending in excellent results for our team. They also host socials on a Monday and Wednesday night with fun themes such as a Wild Child night. The team is coached by a professional coach, Dee, who also helps us with fitness programs.

Fencing

On a Friday night, I attend the Fencing Club. The society is hosted on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday and holds training programs from a professional coach for beginners, intermediates and experts. We have many in the society who compete in the Irish or GB team who are always offering to help others to improve.

We attend varsities as well as other national competitions which are always great to attend to improve your skills. Fencing is a new skill in which I have acquired since joining Queen’s and I am very glad that I have joined the society in order to learn it.

Trampolining

On a Friday afternoon, before fencing, I attend Trampoline Club. This is a new club that I have joined this year and so far, I have met so many lovely people. The club meets on a Wednesday and Friday and has a professional coach as well as people who attend the society that are willing to help out.

Since joining, I have learnt how to do flips as well as new tricks which I was able to use the other weekend at Varsities in my competition piece. Everyone at the club were so welcoming and always organise meetups weather it is lunch before attending the club, house parties and socials after trampolining or nights out throughout the week.

So what's stopping you? Join a club or society today!!

*Some, but perhaps not all of Charlotte's clubs and societies; Trampolining , Wine and Cheese, Snowsports , Law Society, Hockey, Lacrosse, Mountaineering club, Wakeboarding society, Fencing society, Air squadron, Polo, Sailing, Equestrian team and Zambia project. 

TLDR: Charlotte has been to (or is going to):  Croatia, Greece, Malta, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Greenland, Majorca, Lithuania with all her different clubs and societies!!

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Charlotte Jennings  Politics and International Relations | Undergraduate Student | London, England I'm a Politics and International Relations student in my second year at Queen's. I am from London and currently live in student housing but lived in Elms BT9 last year. I love to be a busy person and am a member of multiple societies and teams at Queen's. I am also undertaking a charitable project at Queen's called the Zambia project where we host fundraisers in order to collect money and aid for our missionary trip to Zambia. In my spare time I teach water sports in Bangor and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Belfast even though it is very different to London. I would highly recommend the university to anyone as I have had the best experience here so far and have fallen in love with this country.