Freshers' Fair took place yesterday during the first half of the day. As usual, I decided to take pictures to commemorate the event. And because I am blogging for Soapbox again... I thought it'd be nice to display the many colours, the many types of stalls present. Let's just say, it was quite full. Some societies did not turn up, unfortunately, but oh well......
During the course of the entire day, I paid attention especially to two booths: the African Dance Society (which is newly-formed), and the Catholic Society (where my allegiance lies first).
With that, I present to you the pictures. Enjoy!
The customary balloon arch now bears the actual colours of the University of Hertfordshire (purple/pink/white), rather than the colours of the Students' Union (teal and orange). This is because the University of Hertfordshire is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
The setting up of the African Dance Society stall. The dances, to my knowledge, are going to be varied -- by the way...... the flyer you see here is drawn by yours truly.
One of the many Christian societies setting up their booths.
Catholic Society stall, Take 1. By the way, Peter, I love that smile. ^_^
Snowboarding Society booth, take 1. I initially didn't know what the "Huskis" banner stood for. It seems they're the only sports society to ever set up their stall within the Auditorium this time.
The Drama Society. As you can see from the amount of staff here, they're one of the more established societies around.
The Afro-Caribbean Society. The ACS is responsible for events in the Forum that target the Afro-Caribbean population.
The Sri Lankan Society.
The Malaysian Society. They are one of the newer societies around; having only been set up last year.
Seems there's another new society on the block, the Philosophy Society. *sad sigh* Mark Tanner would have loved this...
PSIFA. They're a society dedicated to movie fandom, video gaming, cosplay and the like. They are the oldest society in the University of Hertfordshire, apparently having a history spanning 30 years.
A bird's-eye view from the Auditorium staircase, long before the sea of people just started crowding in the place. I could comfortably make three laps around the Auditorium and take pictures.
I love this shot, by the way. We all think the chandelier in the Auditorium looks like a work of modern art, but this is one of the best shots I've ever taken of it.
The stage was prepared for performances by various societies.
The Oriental Society. Awesome costumes right there if I do say so myself.
The UHSU Chamber Orchestra is another new society only recently set up (in fact, this year!). I put my name down as a pianist and composer -- you never know what you'll find with societies like these!
Read International, University of Hertfordshire branch: a society dedicated to providing textbooks for schools across the world.
The Adullam Campus Fellowship. A few of them there knew me because of Kingdom of Herts' performance at Musical Explosion earlier this year. They posed for the camera.
The AhlulBayt Islamic Society.
The UH Christian Union.
UH Catholic Society, take two!
UH.... Quidditch Society? Yep, apparently they have a Quidditch Society. What would be even more accurate is if they had brooms that could be powered like motorbikes and which could fly in the air...
Snowboarding Society / Hertfordshire Huskis, take two.
Harry Potter Society. Check out the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff gear. This is one of the societies that had only been set up last year. Also check out the merch!
Absolutely love that dragon head.
The Chess Club.
The spread of treats on the Afro-Caribbean Society table. Now what made me go back there was this: I had given a flyer from the African Dance Society to them, and we decided to affiliate in some way, shape or form.
African Dance Society, take two! Minus myself, here's the lovely crew. Well, Evelina (at the centre) isn't really part of the crew, but still!
The UH Law Society is now the UHSU Law Society. Apparently they chose to do the same thing as what we did for the Catholic Society: they have chosen to make their presence known at Freshers' Fair, and for this, they had to affiliate with the Students Union (even a loose affiliation would suffice).
UH Catholic Society, TAKE. THREE! Check out the lovely people behind the booth. Also, awesome shot of Fr Mark right there if I do say so myself. ^_^
The Salem Campus Fellowship, another one of the many Christian societies around.
The Salsa Society. I see two familiar faces from my LLB years. ^_^
The Hope Fellowship. Another Christian society.
The picture corkboard on the Hope Fellowship's table. Admittedly, I like this shot. Looks quite homely if I do say so myself.
Paintball Society.......... or members of the British Army?
The Jewish Society.
A bird's-eye view of the ground floor, before it was overrun by a sea of people. Notice the stall on the ground floor selling Herts tees and hoodies. I actually wanted one...... I'll get one at a later point.
UHSU Media. Now over the last two years I had visited it for Soapbox, the Students' Union blog, for which I was a regular contributor. Soapbox is undergoing an overhaul as I speak, and well, I came to that stall for another reason: Union TV, and their possible music video projects. *hint hint nudge nudge wink wink*
The Auditorium. Now overrun by a sea of people.
Catholic Society, take four. Dear friends at CathSoc, Troisnyx is watching over you like a hawk hoping that you get four or more people. You're welcome.
Malaysian Society, take two. Reason why I took this picture is because of Novis, a familiar face from my LLB years. She's back!
Catholic Society booth, take five.
This didn't even need professional exposure from a camera lens. All it needed was one shake. This is enough proof as to how people were stampeding in.
The badges I picked up from the UHSU Media stall. For the uninitiated, Crush and Crush Underground are radio stations, Bluemoon is a monthly magazine, and Universe is a bi-weekly newspaper. And UnionTV needs no explanations. They are there for things like these.
The rest of the sports societies were outside the Forum. And it was raining when I took these pictures...... They used to be at the top floor of the Forum, but the number of activities (and societies for them) just mushroomed over the last couple of years.
A stall for an upcoming club night......? Black isn't my favourite colour, and I'm not the least bit interested.
There we go, the seven colours of Freshers' Fair 2012. Considering that this is the actual Freshers' Fair, and not Refreshers' Fair (the one that takes place in Semester B), there's a population for everything, a society for everyone. It still addresses every person's desire and need to associate with others -- for no man is an island. There are so many people, and everyone of us is there to feel a sense of belonging, a sense of justice and truth, a sense of creativity. This Freshers' Fair is no different from the rest in terms of the spirit behind it, but it is different in the sense that there are just so many things to choose from that in a standard academic year, it'll be impossible to contribute to everything unless collaborations are made.
Could this, therefore, spell the future of societies under the umbrella of the University of Hertfordshire Students' Union? It just might. In the Student Recognition Evening earlier this year, there was a category for Best Collaborations. It could very well mean that if I, as a Catholic, musician, blogger, storyboard writer and visual artist, want to contribute to the best of my ability, I will need involvement in a lot of societies, and oftentimes indirect involvement. It may very well be that indirect involvement can be a step towards achieving big things.
Out there, we will be making collaborations and projects with different individuals, different societies, different companies, each with their own temperaments, ideas and ethos. It does seem that what we have now going on amongst the societies is a step for greater things to come......
0 comments:
Post a Comment