But the highlight of this whole experience was the orientation week in the university campus. Not only were the new students provided with all the guidance to make their life a lot easier but also provided with on-hands experience of the countless clubs and societies flourishing at U of G.
The east and west quadrangles of the university were fully occupied by stalls dedicated to various clubs and societies which attracted the new students with some lively demonstrations of their activities.
The visitors were simply spoilt for choices with the variety of clubs/societies ranging from Art & Music to Language & Culture and from Political & Activism to Food & Drink. I spent a fair bit of time observing two student members of the Scottish Sword Fighting Club go at each other.
It was really interesting to find student societies dedicated to social issues like racism, feminism, LGBTQ+ and environment. Similarly, the 'Comic Creators Club', 'MedTech Society', 'Zoological Society' and the 'Anatomy Society' particularly caught my attention. The live demonstration by the members of the 'Pole Dancing Club' was the eye-catcher around the cloisters.
The interesting thing to note was the sincerity and maturity with which the students handle some of the sensitive and queer societies like the 'Anti-racism Society', something which is so relevant with the vast variety of nationalities represented across the university. Similarly, the 'Glasgow University Applied Visual Arts (GUAVA) Society' conducting fortnightly life drawing sessions which are open to all students is something that is probably unthinkable in other countries.
I am yet to make up my mind on which clubs or societies to enroll for given the huge amount of options to choose from. The other things I got to take back from the orientation were the free goodies and free slices of Dominos pizza ! 😋
