Society involvement boosts students personal and professional development

The President of GCU’s Drama Society has opened up about the positive impact extracurricular activities at University can have on students’ mental health and career prospects.

Hannah Woods’ moved to Scotland during the pandemic and struggled to connect with other students on her course. However, GCU Students’ Association’s Drama Society gave her an outlet to truly be herself.

“I’ve always been involved in drama ever since I was a child,” explained Hannah.

“When I moved to Scotland from Cheshire for my degree, I was looking for ways to stay part of the drama scene. I found the GCU Drama Society in my second year and it made such a difference to me.”

“I was quite nervous for my first meeting because I have a lot of anxiety about meeting new people. When I did turn up for the first time, I found that everyone was really inviting and it was so much fun.

“Being a part of the Society has massively helped my mental health. As I mentioned earlier, I do get quite anxious about things and drama is my main way of relieving that. You just get to be absolutely ridiculous and no-one judges you. The more ridiculous you are, the better it plays out on stage.”

Having conquered her initial nerves, Hannah found her place within the Society and at the start of last year became their President. She’s now looking to continuously expand the group and help other students benefit in the same way she has.

“Last year we didn’t have enough people in the Drama Society to put on a production, which I think was backlog from Covid with people not wanting to take part in certain things.

“We’ve now got 14 members, which is more than enough to put on a production, so we’re looking at performing Gregory’s Girl. I think the Freshers’ Fair had a really positive impact on our numbers and there was a lot of focus on our ‘Come and Try’ sessions.

“No-one knew each other before they started out in the Society. In the first few weeks everyone was really shy and didn’t say that much. Last week was probably the first time we all talked non-stop about weird drama stories and shared pictures and videos from shows that we’ve done in the past.”

As well as being a massive drama fan, Hannah is also involved in other societies and believe the benefits can positively impact students’ future careers.

She explained: “Being a part of multiple societies allows me to deal with my anxiety, depression and general feelings of isolation.

“Drama is all about putting on that performance and a job interview is kind of like a performance in terms of presenting yourself in the best way.

“Some people might be involved in a Society that’s of no relation to their course, but it could open up a new opportunity that they would never have come across otherwise.”

Hannah added: “We’re definitely hoping for other students to come and join us. We want to show everyone the GCU Drama Society exist and that it’s a fun place to be.

“Anyone and everyone is welcome here and it really is the perfect way to add something different to your time at GCU.”

Find out more about the GCU Drama Society or follow them on Instagram

By Ross Clark      
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter