Theatre

You join things to be someone else for an hour. A theatre society gives you a script, a stage and a group of people who believe, as you do, that stories matter.

You love the bit where a rehearsal becomes a show. You like a black box with a single light, the hush before the curtain, the call time in the group chat. You are expressive, imaginative and brave. You want to make people feel something, and you know that the best way to do it is to commit completely. A theatre society gives you a place to play, to grow and to find a family of people who are just as dramatic as you.

You go to the freshers' fair and find the theatre stand, then audition for the first show of the term. The audition is terrifying and thrilling. You might get a small part, or a place in the chorus, or a job backstage, and you say yes to all of it.

Rehearsals take over your evenings. You learn lines on the bus, block scenes in the kitchen and stay late when the rehearsal overruns. Show week arrives: tech runs, costume fittings, a dress rehearsal where everything goes wrong. Then the first night, and everything goes right. You take a bow, and you are hooked. You spend the next week recovering, and the week after that auditioning for the next show.

Loud, warm, creative people who sing in corridors and cry at the end of every show. The group chat is call times, costume photos and dramatic voice notes.

Your theatre friends are a family. You spend hours together in rehearsal rooms, and you see each other at your most nervous and most brave. They will cheer you on at every performance, help you learn your lines and dance with you at the cast party. They are also great at feelings, and they will hold you through a hard week. Some of them will be your closest friends for life, and you will be in the audience at each other's weddings, crying at the speeches.

How to stand up in front of a room and speak with confidence. How to work in a team where everyone depends on everyone else. How to handle pressure, deadlines and things going wrong in public.

Theatre teaches empathy, because you spend hours inside other people's heads. It teaches communication, voice and presence. It teaches resilience, because not every audition goes your way. These skills turn up in interviews, presentations, leadership and every relationship you have. You leave university able to read a room, hold attention and pull a team together on a tight deadline. And you know how to make an entrance.

Audition for everything in the first term, and say yes to any role. Small parts and backstage jobs teach you as much as the lead, and they are where friendships begin.

Try every side of theatre: acting, directing, stage management, lighting, writing. Take a workshop in something new. Go and see other societies' shows, because the support comes back. Plan your study around show weeks so you do not fall behind. Then write or direct something of your own by your second year, even a ten-minute piece in a studio slot. Theatre at its best is about stories, courage and community. Find your story, and tell it.