Four societies that changed my time at Warwick Business School

Are you interested in finding out more about the amazing array of societies available at Warwick? Final year student, Cassylda provides an overview of societies she has been part of whilst studying at WBS.

In this blog, I will be giving you an insight into the societies I am currently part of and have been in during my three year BSc Management course at WBS. When I first arrived at Warwick, I was overwhelmed with the plethora of societies available, and I was enticed by things I hadn’t tried before such as Latin and Ballroom Dancing and Cheerleading. I was also drawn to things I already had experience of like volunteering and contemporary dance.

Warwick African Caribbean Society

Warwick African Caribbean Society (ACS) was a huge part of my integration into Warwick. From the group chat, before I started university, to the games nights and overall support throughout university, I felt it aided my transition so much due to the cultural community aspect of the society. Additionally, in the first term of my first year, I participated in their yearly show ‘Afrofest’ which is a cultural celebration of music, dance, drama and fashion. It was a perfect opportunity to make new friends in such a short period of time (due to the hours spent in rehearsals!). The final show and afterparty was a huge success and were a great celebration of all we had achieved and put together!

Warwick Inspire

The first society I joined was a small volunteering society called Warwick Inspire. I was able to visit local secondary schools in Coventry and run workshops and assemblies educating the young students on university life and how to access university courses through scholarships and bursaries available to students from lower socio-economic or minority backgrounds. I then became President of Warwick Inspire in my second year and decided to launch our very first conference – Inspire +. This was an opportunity to hear from guests from minority backgrounds working in different industries and was available to all students across the whole of campus. It was a success with many attendees and such a productive day networking, building relationships and learning from one another. I also organised our first domestic tour to London. We took the coach in the morning and spent the day exploring before going to the theatre, and finally visiting the famous Christmas markets. In the evening, we went for a delicious meal in a traditional Lebanese restaurant and ended the night with a great time at Winter Wonderland. It was hands down one of the most jam-packed but enjoyable days of the year, where the volunteers had some great fun and made some great memories together!

Warwick Classical and Modern Dance Sports Club

Another society that made up a huge part of my university experience was Warwick Classical and Modern Dance Sports Club. In my first year, I attended a range of classes from Beginner Jazz to Advanced Contemporary. I got to perform in termly shows and also auditioned and got into two competitive teams. This meant we got to represent Warwick at Kings College London, Cardiff and Loughborough University to compete. My wildcard acro-contemporary team even placed 3^rd at Cardiff against so many universities! Waking up at 4am to get the coach to the different university cities as a team was one of the best feelings ever and definitely one of the highlights of my second year. I also had the opportunity to teach the beginner lyrical class in my second year and intermediate contemporary in my final year of university which was also a great experience. I choreographed the dance for the Intermediate Jazz competition team this year too with my partner, which was also a fun experience auditioning, selecting and rehearsing with our chosen dancers.

As a part of Classical Modern Dance, there were also a lot of social aspects, the highlights being the domestic tour to Liverpool and an international tour to Croatia. During both trips, we got the opportunity to receive dance training in another city, whilst spending quality time together and bonding with one another. If and when the travel restrictions are lifted I would highly recommend going on society tours in order to really strengthen and solidify your friendships with other club members in a new and exciting location!

Warwick Cheerleading Club – Warwick Devils

A final society I tried in my final year was the Warwick cheerleading club – Warwick Devils! I auditioned for the stunt team and got one chance to stunt in real life with my stunt team before lockdown. Despite this, it was such a fun experience to round off my final year at university and went to show that you can pick up any new society and skill at any point during your university journey at Warwick.

Discover more about the amazing array of societies you can get involved in by reading our student society blog by Mario.