Laura McGee Blog
Laura McGee is a 3rd Year Social and Public Policy student and President of the Social and Public Policy Society. She is also a member of the School's Student Experience Forum.
Being a home student and trying to get the ‘uni experience’
My name is Laura, and I am a 3rd year Social and Public Policy student who started the Social and Public Policy Society. I am also a home student, meaning I do not live in Glasgow but around 45 minutes away from campus, travelling to and from university and, like many other students, working part time. With Covid and being a home student with a busy work schedule I really felt as if I was not getting the same university experience as my peers. I tried to join a couple of societies over the past two years, both online and in person but felt as though they were such a huge commitment, meeting multiple times a week and when you live off campus it just doesn’t feel like a feasible commitment. I’ve spoken to other home students who feel the same and as if there isn’t much going on at the University to support someone not living on/near campus.
My thought process behind starting a society was creating something that could accommodate busy schedules and other commitments. I noticed that all social science subjects had their own society except Social and Public Policy. I talked to my peers and interest was high so I went ahead with and created the society. The SRC website is great, it lays out exactly how to start a society although it does take some time. I started by emailing undergrad students and lecturers, created a Facebook page, and then had an AGM in which I formed a committee of seven. I made it clear to everyone interested in the committee that although this was going to be a commitment it was not going to be a stressful job and would be a relaxed environment.
Since the creation of our society earlier this year, we have hosted study sessions, a sub-crawl and an end of year charity event raising over £200 for Refuweegee.
Starting this society has helped me feel more like a ‘Uni student’ and although I don’t live in Glasgow, I feel like I am getting more of a uni experience through this. The society has allowed me to make friends with people in my course which has only benefited my learning and I hope next year is even more successful for our society. As well as the social side aspect of starting a society, I have been able to keep in touch with lecturers and tutors in the Social and Public Policy subject. Watching people make friends through this society has been great and it’s amazing to see new and familiar faces at each event we host.
Being a part of a society is also just a lot of fun and I have definitely made some lifelong friends through doing it! So, if anyone is interested in starting or joining a society, just do it.
We are hoping to host a range of events next year and hope some of you reading this will think of joining this society or another one.