What if Societies Did Not Exist?
By: Leah Oake
Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash
Imagine, you just spent the summer break basking in the sun, enjoying delicious food and drinks and saying goodbye to your friends as they leave for university. You wonder if the friendships you will make in university will be as great as your high school friendships were. You met your friends from high school because you all had a similar interest that connected you together. Maybe it was a sport, Dungeons and Dragons, or a culture. You anxiously pack your bag for your first day at a new school – a university. You fill your bag with five new notebooks, you carefully organize your pencil case with the newest mechanical pencils and sticky notes. You are ready, you spent 75$ on school supplies and you are not going to waste it. The morning is full of jitters and excitement. You practically inhale your breakfast because you can hardly wait to get to campus. When you walk on campus you're met by the warm sun that covers you in its gentle glow. You are greeted by new faces and interesting areas to explore. You look at the tall beautiful buildings and try to scout out the area. You go through your day, taking classes, making small talk, and meeting professors.
But as the day progresses you are left wondering if the people you made small talk with in your classes will be the university friends you dreamed of. You only learned their major, and it wasn’t yours. After this class you may never run into them again. As you look around at the friend groups you feel a sensation of dread. You keep repeating the phrase ‘where are my people?’ You think back to your time in high school and the clubs you were a part of. Wait, that’s your answer! You rush to the information desk and ask them about their clubs, teams, or groups you could join. They say: Sorry, we don't have any societies at SMU. And just like you are left with a painful realization that university might not be what you thought it’d be.
What would happen if Societies did not exist at SMU? Classes would keep on running, people would continue to graduate, and SMUSA (the student union) would continue to operate as a student union, however, without societies students are guaranteed a less-than-ideal experience. They are given fewer opportunities to network, mingle, and to say it simply; have fun. Societies are a pivotal part of the university experience. People come to university with a flurry of intense emotions; anxiety, excitement, fear and joy. Those emotions mellow once they find a group of like-minded individuals where they can be themselves fully without limitation. For me, that was the Drama Society. I came to university prepared to make new friends and I met them through the Drama Society. Those friends taught me numerous things about myself and have allowed me to feel fully comfortable in who I am. If I did not get involved with societies my first year I can guarantee I would be significantly less happy with my university life. I likely would have come to school for class and then immediately left. This might work for some people but a lot of us need to feel as though we have a community of people we can turn to when life gets tough and we need a break. That is what societies are for. Societies create everlasting friendships which can make the duration of your university experience incredible. Having societies available for students to join in their first year is a necessary resource. A student's academic journey can be challenging, stressful and exhausting, so having an outlet that is purely fun is crucial for a student's well being.
Societies are not only for putting together events, they are made to create a home for people. The friendships that come out of societies do not solely exist in the context of events and meetings, the friendships transcend outside of the society realm. Those events and meetings can connect someone with a person who they will have coffee dates with for years and years to come. The community societies nurture and foster are irreplaceable. So, that brings me to the main point of this article; students. Students are the necessary element a university needs to keep the school running. Without students, the university would cease to exist. A university's main goal needs to be focusing on students' well-being, which can be done by supporting the development of societies. If universities focus on the development of societies they in turn focus on their students. I encourage you to look into supporting your societies and finding one that suits you because you are the people who create change for student morale. If you see a newly developed society that sparks your interest – join it! Without having space for new societies, future students may be forced to isolate themselves. Societies need to support each other. Societies should feel encouraged to collaborate, share ideas, and support each other in their endeavors! It may seem like the Commerce Society and the Ancient Studies Society have nothing in common but you never know! All societies should work with each other to create an impenetrable force around the incredible community of societies SMU has developed. Without societies, students would not have a university experience that reached its full potential. Societies are the foundation of any institution and they elevate morale and school spirit. If societies didn't exist neither would SMU.