Become a stand-up comic
Do you think you’re as funny as Tina Fey or Jack Whitehall? Join your university comedy society, and you could team up with like-minded merrymakers to write killer gags, or work on honing your delivery to get those audiences roaring with laughter. Who knows, you might even one day decide to ditch your doctor day job to get back in the spotlight.
Every week is fancy dress week
There’s certainly no other time in your life where you’ll be expected to don fancy dress on such a regular basis. Whether it’s dressing up as something beginning with the letter A or as a fictional character, whatever club or society you’re part of, there’ll be some kind of imposed fancy dress code. Save money by sharing your outfits with your housemates.
Learn to unicycle
Hanging out on a unicycle today is more in vogue than you might think. And if basic self-balancing seems a tad too easy, you could really challenge yourself by combining it with playing hockey or basketball.
Jump out of a plane
Instead of spending your weekends nursing a hangover in bed, why not be a bit more vertical and enjoy free-falling 15,000 feet out of a plane instead? Once you’ve learned to skydive solo, you can start competing against other universities in the Skydiving Nationals. Holidays can take on a new dimension as you embark on trips with your fellow adrenaline-loving junkies.
Volunteering: ‘It shows that you are interested in the world’
It may have only have been for three weeks but for Girlie Toindepi, 20, a volunteering programme last summer – helping disadvantaged children in Guatemala – was transformative. “It helped me learn to be more vocal and it inspired me to continue working with children,” says the Nottingham Trent psychology student, who is now learning Spanish. “I believe my volunteering experience helped me get the job I have now, as a support worker for a child with learning difficulties.”
Volunteering not only makes a huge difference to a community, but it can provide many personal benefits too, such as the opportunity to meet people from all types of backgrounds. Plus, as university can be stressful at times, devoting part of your week to helping others can improve your own wellbeing and perspective, as well as helping to develop a whole bunch of skills such as listening, time-management and multitasking.
Shaun Delaney, volunteering development manager at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, says university is a particularly great time in your life to volunteer. “For many, university is a time to explore skills, interests and talents with a newfound freedom,” he says. “Volunteering is a great way to try out a huge range of things in a supportive way with no commitment. It’s a great way to try out a vocation before deciding what jobs you might want to go for when you graduate.”
Volunteering can also make you stand out to a future employer. “It shows that you are proactive, interested in the world, take opportunities and willing to go outside your comfort zone,” says Helen Moore Start, a volunteering coordinator at Manchester Metropolitan University. “Graduate roles attract a lot of applicants, many of which will have similar schooling and education, so having some eye-catching volunteering on there that shows a piece of your personality could be what lands you the role.”