I spent a week in the KCL Surf Club as a girl from The Midlands, and here’s how it went

I have often found myself scrolling through the KCLSU list of societies searching for some inspiration and a new hobby. There are so many on there that I usually just give up on trying to pick one and close my laptop.

However, this year during Freshers’ Week of my second year at King’s, I decided to take the plunge. Thus, I spontaneously decided to go along to the KCL Surf Club. Niche, I know.

Now, surfing is something that I honestly don’t think I have ever had a single thought about – I’m from the Midlands after all. The coast is not in sight neither there nor here in London. Hence all the society members are constantly being asked where they even go surfing.

Although the weekly social events take place here in London, the society are great at organising trips away to coastal areas to actually engage in some surfing.

They have been on multiple trips to Newquay and will be going there again next month on a Freshers’ trip. So this would be the perfect opportunity for any new and inexperienced surfers to try out the sport. International travel is involved too – with trips to Morocco and Portugal as previous trips the society has undertaken. I know they are eager to do more in the future.

Really, university societies are and should be for the purpose of students who would like to pick up a new hobby and meet new people. In my case, I mostly went along to meet other students.

As a non-surfer, I was definitely a little nervous to go. I was wondering if I’d have anything to even talk about. But in reality, it was completely fine. The committee members were welcoming and as a second year, I was glad when many of the other new members who came along were also older students.

It’s also important to note that not everyone was a pro surfer, some of them had only picked it up during uni, so that also made me feel less out of place.

I went to all three of the Surf Club’s Freshers’ Week events – an icebreaker, sports night at The Vault, and a pub crawl.

I think I was only nervous on the first night as I didn’t know what to expect but seeing the same faces again on the other days made things a lot easier. In my first year, I was often guilty of going along to one event of many societies and then never again. So, I would definitely say that being consistent in just one society was for me, a much better way to get to know people.

Overall, although I was apprehensive at first, I’m glad that I decided to go along to the KCL Surf Club and I will definitely be seen at some of their future events, maybe I’ll even try my hand at some actual surfing soon.

So, take this as your sign to just go for it and go along to any random society you fancy as you may have a great time and meet some great people!

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• A dummy’s guide to your first semester at King’s College London
• The five types of people you’re bound to meet during your first semester at King’s
• Here are 10 ways to be an academic weapon this semester at King’s