So I also joined a couple clubs and societies during the year. To be precise, 4 clubs and 25 societies. I spent a fair amount of time interacting with a few of them, so I think they’re worth mentioning. I’ll put the full list below, and then mention a bit about them after that. I’ll highlight the ones I interacted with the most.

Clubs:

• Karate
• Archery
• Fencing
• Mountaineering

Societies:

• An Cumann Gaelach
• Arts Soc
• Chess Soc
• Dance Soc
• Dram Soc
• Draw Soc
• Electrical Engineering
• English & Literary
• Film Soc
• Food Soc
• French Soc
• Games Soc
• German Soc
• Horticulture
• International Students
• Internet Society (NetSoc)
• Japanese Soc
• Juggling
• LGBTQ+
• Literary & Historical Soc (L&H)
• Mature Students
• Music
• Musical
• Science
• Trad Music

Karate Club

The Karate club was my main club, and I was training with them 2-3 times a week. They practice Shotokan with JKA, which is quite a bit different from my style of Shorin-Ryu Shorin-Kan, but I tried to adapt to their style and learn the kata variations that they practice (while maintaining my own). I went on their club trip to Lisdoonvarna and Lahinch, where I got to know other members of the club and train with them. Later, I partcipated in a couple tournaments: The Kanazawa Cup (which had fierce competition and I was utterly defeated), and the Intercollegiates (where I fared much better getting third in Kata, third in Kumite, and first in Team Kumite with my teammate Ryan from DCU). I was also a regular at the team gym on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and joined most of the club’s events, whenever my schedule allowed.

Archery Club

I attended the Archery Club most Fridays, which was a nice relaxing way to end my busy weeks. I found out that I’m actually left-eye dominant (which I’d already suspected), and that to aim properly I should be shooting with my left hand (which was a difficult adjustment). I progressed significantly though, and while I scored a middling score at my first in-house beginners tournament, the next version of that tournament I went to I would have gotten second place (though they threw out my score for not being beginner enough anymore, which is cool, I guess…)

Fencing Club

The Fencing Club was a lot of fun as well, but I didn’t make it to as many trainings as I wish I could have. The trainings were reasonably late in the evening (8-10PM), which made getting transit back home a bit difficult, and it was so much gear to carry! I was still able to make a couple of their training days though, and a tournament at Trinity over the break (where we got devastated by some extremely talented and experienced fencers). A really fun group of people though, and I only wish that I had enough time and energy to do everything!

Mountaineering Club

I joined this one late in the second semester, and so I didn’t manage to make it on any of their hikes. I did do their intro climbing course at their indoor climbing wall in the sports center and was ready to take their belay test. Regrettably, it just didn’t align with my schedule, so it never happened. Perhaps sometime in the future I’ll do more climbing again.

An Cumann Gaelach

The Irish Language Society, I didn’t participate in too many events with them, because my Irish language skills are very elementary. They put on a couple of cultural events that I was able to attend though, including a Ceili Dance, and an Irish singing show and workshop.

Arts Soc

I regrettably didn’t have much time for Arts Soc events, but I joined because of my interest in art, and my reasonably art-heavy undergraduate program in Computer Graphics. I recall doing some photography in the National Botanic Gardens as part of a challenge they put on in collaboration with Film Soc.

Chess Soc

I like Chess, (even if I’m not very good at it) but somehow I didn’t manage to make it to any of their events. I did play a couple games of Chess with some people at the giant Chess Board on campus at the beginning of the term though (when it still had most of its pieces).

Dance Soc

I’m definitely not a dancer, but I did go and see the dance teams perform, and it was fun watching such an incredibly talented group. I attended a few of the dance workshops labeled as being for ‘beginners’ (I think they have a different idea of beginner than I do), which were pretty fun. I’m certain that somewhere in their archives they have some embarrassing videos of me.

Dram Soc

I didn’t interact much with the drama society, but I joined because of my past theater experience and interest in their productions. I was only able to make one play, which was their modernized rendition of Hamlet.

Draw Soc

I’ve always wanted to do more drawing, but I’m pretty terrible at it. (Drawing courses were my bane in my undergraduate program). I didn’t manage to participate much with this society, but I did enjoy seeing their other members contributions.

Electrical Engineering

EE Soc was primarily project-based, and while the projects looked interesting, they weren’t particularly in my field, so while I went to their opening presentation, I didn’t see much of this society beyond that.

English & Literary

I made it to one of the book reviews by LitSoc, which was a nice chance to hear about what others were reading. I did add their book club books to my queue, but otherwise didn’t make it to too many of their events. I managed to read quite a few books over the course of my studies though (many thanks to Dublin Bus for that).

Film Soc

Film Soc was fantastic. They put on three movies a week at the UCD Cinema, and I made it to as many as my schedule would allow. They often had popcorn and sodas for attendees (though I always seemed to miss the showings with the good popcorn). This was one of my favorite societies, and easily the best value.

Food Soc

The Food Society had a few events that I made it to where they provided various foods from local companies. This was usually Domino’s and Donuts, which didn’t seem like the most nutritional options, and not what I really would have expected from a food society (I guess there’s also a nutrition society for healtheir options), but they did put on a sort of ‘taste of Dublin’ marketplace, which had a bunch of samplers from local vendors, which was a highlight.

French Soc

I made it to a couple of the early French language exchanges, and one of their wine nights, but otherwise didn’t participate in this society nearly as much as I would have liked. I definitely want to practice my French language skills again and become more proficient in that language, and am hoping to do some vacationing in France at some point as well.

Games Soc

The Games Society was very routine about their events, so they weren’t overly exciting, but they did have some fun board games at their coffee mornings (always in the afternoon), and I went to a couple of their game nights when time allowed.

German Soc

I joined the German Society at the height of Oktoberfest events at UCD, and was hoping to learn a bit more German, but regrettably after the first language class, I didn’t manage to make it to any others. Maybe some day, but so many languages to learn, and only so much time…

Horticulture

The horticulture society seemed really cool, and I joined them late in my second semester, but still never managed to go visit the campus gardens.

International Students

I went to a few of the events put on by ISS, and they were always fun and very diverse. It was a very welcoming society, and they did a lot of collaborations with the other international culture societies as well.

Internet Society (NetSoc)

NetSoc was essentially the Computer Science society, so I spent a lot of time with them and ended up joining the committee as a Post-Grad Rep. I helped out at some of the events, and used my position to put on Global Game Jam in early February at UCD. A lot of great networking events and some fun coding challenges, and I couldn’t recommend this society to other computer science students enough.

Japanese Soc

I was a regular attendee for JSoc’s language classes, which were a nice refresher for my Japanese. They also put on a lot of fun events, and I was able to make it to a lot of them. This was one of the societies that I spent the most time with, and all the people involved with the society were really great.

Juggling

I joined this one a bit later in the fall semester after a collab with the Karate club. I was absolutely terrible at juggling when I first started, and I still am, but now I can kind of do it a little bit. Every week they’d bring out the props and just let people practice skills, so I found it was a really nice way to disengage and relax after classes (particularly during the exam season).

LGBTQ+

I joined this one late in the second semester to show support as an ally. Dublin (particularly UCD) seems very support of the LGBTQ+ community, which is pretty refreshing to see coming from rural California, where mistreatment and abuse of my friends in that community is all too commonplace. I didn’t really manage to make it to many of their events (though the cinema put on some discounted films for pride month that were really good), I was happy to contribute my support.

Literary & Historical Soc (L&H)

I joined L&H late, but their advertising for their inflammatory debates was always fantastic. The only one I made it to was a debate on whether the Irish language was exclusionary. They ended up ruling that it was not, but there were good arguments on both sides, and they even had members of the Dáil as part of the debate. Later in the semester they also gave a James Joyce award to Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series), which was a fun event, and absolutely packed. I’m glad Chico State didn’t have anything quite like this society when I was doing my undergrad, because I’m confident I would have been absolutely insufferable if exposed to a debate society at that time in my life. It was definitely fun and amusing to participate in now that I’m older though.

Mature Students

Speaking of being older, the mature student society is for older College students. What’s older? Apparently 24+, so I was definitely well qualified. They put on some good career workshops, some campus walks, and a fantastic Christmas party at the end of the term. A great group of people, and a welcome change from some of the more youth-oriented groups.

Music

Honestly, I didn’t end up doing anything with the music society. They had some music workshops, and some band-building groups that culminated in an end of the semester performance. While that was all very interesting, I unfortunately just didn’t have the time.

Musical

The musical society is like DramSoc, but with a particular focus on musicals. They put on a couple performances, and by being a member I would have gotten a discount to see them, had I the time. Alas, I did not.

Science

I joined the Science society as they’re sort of associated with the College of Science (which is the parent of Computer Science). They had a few events through the year, but none that particularly appealed to me. They did do some science showcases that were interesting though, and I did briefly visit their Clubhouse takeover at the end of the year with some neon test-tube shots and drinks served in flasks, which was good fun.

Trad Music

The Trad society was a music society with weekly sessions at Club Conradh na Gaeilge near St. Stephen’s Green. In the first semester, I was only able to make it to their Halloween session, but in the second semester I tried to fit it into my routine to go more frequently. My repertoir of tunes is slowly expanding, but the process is slow and a little painful. Fortunately, as a student-run trad group, they have been very inclusive and welcoming, and I’m learning and improving while playing with a group of some incredibly talented musicians, which is really cool.