At first I grant you, LGBTQ Treasurer, Guild Councillor, Student Rep, Independent Chair, any society position in fact,sound boring and uninspiring. However take the plunge and you won’t look back. I’ve found myself hauling an armchair across campus for none other than Eddie Izzard himself, having dinner with the man who had the first gay kiss on British television, in a sit down meeting with the Bullring’s manager and Birmingham’s chief of police explaining how we would like to march 400 placarded members of the public up to their famous Bull, having the confidence to challenge and change the mind of a BNP voter on his door step, shaking the Prime Ministers hand at the first ever Downing Street LGBT reception whilst taking care of my friend who was told by Gordon she had clearly enjoyed his wine too much, knocked hundreds of flat doors looking for the LGBTQ freshers we welcome to Birmingham each year, finding again and again the most welcoming, unassuming and LGBTQ friendly straight colleagues as volunteers and staff at the Guild of Students and not to mention …taking a dump in the Vice Chancellors home. In his toilet, not on his door step I might add.

There are too many great memories to mention, political and non-political, the social and the outrageous, these are just the things I have chosen to do. I have no doubt I will leave University wishing I’d tried out student radio, football, theatre, fund raising and so so so much more. There is an endless supply of opportunity knocking at your door.

If you give a little you will get it back ten fold in friends, experience, memories and personal growth. When I was a fresher I was shy as anything, I would not say boo to a goose, I didn’t make any real friends till my second term where I finally plucked up the courage to talk to people. Two years later, people who know me will confirm, I love the sound of my own voice, I am an over opinionated gobby sod and I love it. Volunteering gave me the chance to try new skills, it challenged me to approach new people, speak publicly and advocate for the things that I wanted; whether that was telling the Uni big bods that the opening of a Starbucks on campus was symptomatic of Birmingham’s elitism or on the phone begging the Gale for cut price group tickets for pound a pint night. Soon enough faking the confidence I needed to meet these challenges turned into real confidence; something that has benefited my academic, work and personal life and will continue to.

The vast majority of your academic work at university will be done on your own, providing little experience of working with others with different personalities and abilities, this is poor preparation for the workplace. Volunteering and working creatively and administratively with all different kinds of people will challenge your tolerance levels and get you actively thinking about how you motivate yourself and others around you. These are hard won but invaluable skills. However, it is this working with other people that has led me to find my most amazing and valued friends. There’s nothing like tearing each others hair out but equally celebrating your mutual success of getting a fresher’s bar crawl to come together for a bit of group bonding.

So contrary to the popular Grange Hill hit of our youth, just say yes to any opportunity that sparks your interest, try something new! You won’t regret it, if you do I’ll eat my hat and buy you a Starbucks. Volunteering is addictive, but you’ll only be the better for it. Whatever you choose to get involved in in your time at university do not hold back for fear of homophobia, the few idiots I have met have been vastly out weighed by the constant flow of surprisingly open and welcoming students at Birmingham. Go for it.

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