Cultivating your interests: How Societies Can Help You Figure Out Your Degree
Written By: Angus Mancini-Miller
Thumbnail and Banner Photo by Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash
When someone asks you why you have decided to attend Saint Mary’s, there is often an unspoken pressure to know what you want to study and what career it will lead to. Yet for many of us, choosing a degree can feel less like a confident decision and more like an educated guess. Interests change, new subjects appear, and passions begin to lessen. Societies can play a crucial role—not just as social outlets, but as spaces where students can discover what genuinely excites them.
While societies can seem peripheral to academic life, their influence becomes clearer when viewed through the experiences of their executive members. I was fortunate enough to interview Paris Greenlaw-Gray, the President of The SMU Philosophy Society, and Cydney Carruthers, the Vice-President of SMU’s Debate Society. Both mentioned that students from many majors have gravitated toward their respective societies.
Paris, for instance, in relation to the Philosophy Society, brought up History, Linguistics/Language (German, French, English), Psychology, Law & Ethics, Ancient Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and, “unmistakably, Philosophy.” Even more so, she noted that it is beneficial that philosophy can “connect to almost any degree offered at SMU,” leading to “lots of academic diversity within the society.” Cydney also suggested that the Debate Society is well-suited to “any university major” and that debate can “assist anyone looking to improve their public speaking skills, or understanding of arguments.” However, she also explicitly cited: Law & Ethics, BComm, Philosophy, Engineering, and Political Science.
While many students are already interested in the content of their major (e.g., a Political Science major joining the debate society to gain more skills related to a job in politics) before entering the associated society, many students join a society and then decide they want to change their education in accordance with their society. As Paris discussed, many new members had their conception of philosophy changed through attending the society: “philosophy is just about white old men who were around eons ago,” many would initially state as their reason for not getting more interested in the Philosophy Society (and the degree). But when they spoke with her, their perception of philosophy evolved: “A lot of our goals in our society are to help change people’s minds through discussion and understanding. Many new members of our society have become more interested in contemporary and feminist philosophy.” In several cases, this shift has led students to change their major or add a minor in philosophy.
Cydeny echoed this notion, noting that debate, specifically the Canadian Parliament format, allowed people to “explore different ideas,” and that “students can bring forward any motion they want.” This enables participants to essentially discuss any topic they want (within reason, of course). As Cydney says, “You don’t realize how just 15 minutes of thinking hard about something brings you to a deep interest you never knew you had.” From her own experience, Cydney identified that her involvement in debate led her to pursue a double major in Political Science & Law & Ethics, and that the faculty of each program at Saint Mary’s had a positive influence on her.
Both executives emphasized that societies provide more than extracurricular engagement; they offer guidance, perspective, and academic exploration. As Cydney reflected, “they might leave what they initially came to SMU for, finding what they really wanted to do.” In this way, the separation between coursework and extracurricular involvement becomes an opportunity—one that allows students to experiment, reflect, and ultimately make more informed choices.
Moreover, the social function of a student society is a vital part of it. As I mentioned in my previous article, a society primarily exists only because of its most important aspect: its members. “I was already interested in majoring in Philosophy before joining the society, and eventually becoming its president,” Paris explained. “Nevertheless, it was only after I became more involved and spoke with fellow members that I wanted to do more with my Philosophy degree.” Noting that she even considered pursuing an honours degree in Philosophy. “I really wanted to keep discussions going with other members, and to do that, I had to become more active in the society and dive deeper into what philosophically interested me,” she concluded on her own experience. The last word Paris had to say on the influence societies have on the likelihood of a student choosing a degree was that “they are likely the place where students will be spending most of their time outside of their degree, not that it is an end-all, be-all, but the connections and passions you see in fellow members will inevitably influence your decision on what to study.” Cydney also noted this, “student societies in general, but more specifically debate is great because it can help people, before they graduate, learn what is and what isn’t their thing.” As an example she brought up public speaking, “it’s not that they choose not to go with what they were originally planning, it's that they actually find out who they are and what they were really working towards.”
A final question I posed to both of my interviewees was, “If degrees/majors answer the question ‘What do you study?’ What question do you think societies help students answer?” Paris responded with, “How do you study your field of interest with other people? How does your degree work in a social sense? In other words, what does your degree mean in a community? How is it applicable?” She continued, “Being part of a society that is intertwined with your degree shows you sides of it that you might not have realized by just attending classes.” Cydney responded, “More broadly, we are in a period of time that is more adversarial; people are just angry… In debate, you get to see things through other people's perspectives, learn how to speak with others, and have difficult conversations.” Phrasing it in a question, she said, “How do I learn to listen, speak, and disagree well with others?”
Keeping both of their answers in mind, societies provide a much-needed social aspect that differs from classroom settings. When considering your degree, it seems worthwhile to explore the many societies your school offers. Who knows, you might find your passion.