It’s only halfway through term 2 but it’s beginning to feel close to the Easter holidays already. Deadlines are being brought up and coursework presentations are underway. This week is my final week as an exec member on any society and with that in mind this week’s topic will be a nostalgic cast back on RocSoc, which I hope will give you an idea of what being a part of a society can do for your university experience.

I joined RocSoc in first year, initially just as a member, with the hope of making some new friends with similar interests to me. Not only was I instantly welcomed by the community there but it gave me something consistent to look forward to every Monday night. Towards the end of first year I ran for Treasurer and took my first exec position on a society, got my first exec t-shirt and the RocSoc treasury which felt like a strange personal accessory to go with a toy.

Since then I have dedicated every Monday and Wednesday night, as well as a few Saturdays, to RocSoc and I don’t regret a minute of it. Not only have I met some of the best people I know there, but I have heard some great bands and learned a lot along the way. Together we’ve put on events, trips and given our members and locals a regular spot to listen to music as well as play some of their own. I was also able to develop my own pricing strategy which brought the society back into profit and work on my confidence in various roles that required me to push myself and be more sociable.

There were moments of sadness when all the third years, that had made me so welcome when I came in a trembling fresher, took their leave. It was strange to see many of them leaving to become ‘proper adults’, tying back their long hair and wearing suits, especially having seen them near enough living in band shirts and prancing about on stage. But with the new era came a new wave of fresher’s to change things up again as well as a new exec with different ideas for the society altogether. RocSoc evolved again and started holding more specialised events such as guitar hero socials or jam nights. With new people the music tastes diversified and we started hearing more Japanese metal and pop punk, whilst not always appreciated it was good to have the range.

Sadly, due to the floods, this final term was not everything we hoped it would be. Our venue was flooded, we had to cancel events and we could not put on our final trip as a goodbye from the current exec. Tonight we host the elections and hope that whoever takes our place hits the ground running to keep RocSoc alive and well. Joining the exec of a society you care about can be the best thing about university, not only in terms of making friends but in experience. It will give you the chance to do things you never thought you would and to be part of something that really feels worthwhile.