November 21, 2014, by Matt

GeogSoc on Geog Blog…

Thanks to Kieran Phelan and his GeogSoc committee for their post below…

It’s an extremely busy time of year for all at University! Whilst it’s wonderful to see the vacation period, with all its very exciting festivities, appearing on the horizon, it’s still a very stressful period, filled with coursework, internship and graduate scheme deadlines!

The University of Nottingham’s Geography Society, more commonly known as GeogSoc to students, has been equally as busy, putting together a broad range of activities for Geography students to get involved with! Being one of the largest student-led university societies on campus, and being the only group that specifically seeks to represent and provide for those who study or have an interest in Geography, we have remained busy working to put on a fantastic mix of sporting, academic, employability and social events/activities for our members!

We kicked off this year, as always, with our crazy Crayola-themed social event. It was fantastically supported by our members; a complete sell-out and a great way to meet others on the course- especially for our new intake of Fresher’s! We also ran our alternative bar night at Bunker and Playground at Forum, providing our members with yet another chance to better get to know other members- again, very well attended and supported by our members!

Whilst continuing the tradition of delivering great Social events- an aspect of society life that GeogSoc are renowned for, we also have had a number of ‘GeogSoc Firsts’; running our first ever trip since the recent creation of ‘Trip Secretary’ as well as launching the Mentoring Support Scheme in conjunction with the School of Geography are just two examples. The mentoring programme is accredited through the Nottingham Advantage Award and aimed at better supporting students to transition from school to university study. Many of our members seized the opportunity to be paired up with students at an earlier point within their academic careers to themselves, and have worked over the past term very successfully to support and mentor their mentees through their first year at University. The feedback we have received has been incredibly positive, and an initiative that we hope to build upon in the near future!

Our trip was equally as successful! Megan, our Trip Secretary, bravely (or stupidly), set about organizing a Monopoly Themed trip to London! Equipped with a list of ‘Chance’ card themed activities, we split into teams and were challenged to set about London and undertake specific activities in front or near locations upon a Monopoly board, taking photos along the way! Whilst the weather was dank and cold- we had the most fun and rather cheekily spotted Helena Bonham Carter whilst waiting for the coach driver to pick us up! Good company, rubbish whether- well what do you expect…after all, it was a Geography trip!?!?!

Making such fantastic progress last year with Careers and Employability, we wanted to make sure that we continued working hard focussing these! GeogSoc Committee members helped with the running of the Annual Careers Speed Network Event held at the Ropewalk. We had a wealth of different alumni members from a variety of fields, with our members really enjoying the informal nature of the event, as well as the refreshments!

In feedback, many of our members expressed an interest in pursuing careers within Conservation- a very competitive career path. Teaming up with Steve, the Highfield’s Park Ranger, and Conservation Society, we organized an ‘Insight into Conservation’ afternoon run as part of Try It week, a SU week long events programme to encouraged students to try different student activities on campus! Whilst turn out was limited (definitely quality rather than quantity), for those who did turn up, they had chance to ask questions to the Ranger, an alumni of the University, as well as turn their hand briefly to conservation work by the Lake on campus! Our link with Conservation Society is one that will continue throughout this year!

Lastly, we held a Guest Speaker event with WSP Consulting, an internationally world leading professional services consultancy firm. Focussing on their graduate careers within the Transport Planning Department, our members had the opportunity to listen to the firsthand experiences of a current graduate on the scheme, as well as ask questions about how to apply.

The last few weeks, although bound to be extremely busy, are scheduled to be action packed and fun filled. With the final touches being made to the Annual GeogSoc Lecture, the BBC Guest Speaker event organized collaboratively by GeogSoc and Creative Writing Society, and the GeogSoc and MechEng Christmas Party, it’s a term that will definitely end on a high!

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