Seeing Katie Hopkins at the Union made me want to cry. I had expected her to be awful, and she was, but to see her talk the way she talks – and so clearly thinking she is right – is entirely different in reality. It was a horrible experience.

Would you want to pay £150 (minimum) to go and see someone who makes you want to cry?

I’d advise you to.

The Cambridge Union Society is certainly expensive. Even the discounted £150 membership is a hefty sum for most people to pay out. However, it does give you certain financial benefits that are worthwhile, including lower prices for Union events, such as the £15 discount on Spring Ball tickets.

The Spring Ball was one of the best nights of my first year – effectively a mini-May Ball for under £70. Likewise, the Freshers’ Ball, which all new members can ballot for, was an enjoyable, low-key introduction to the legendary Cambridge ball experience.

However, these are not the reasons I’d recommend joining the Union for.

"Had I not been a member, I wouldn’t have spent my year watching Jon Snow and Nick Robinson debate the state of Westminster..."

Had I not been a member, I wouldn’t have spent my year watching Jon Snow and Nick Robinson debate the state of Westminster, Mary Berry talk about her colourful life, Katie Hopkins answer questions on her controversial career, Michael Franzese talk about life in the mob, and Piers Morgan clear the air on his ideologies. All of these were opportunities particular to the Union.

Katie Hopkins is a figure mostly seen through the prism of TV, radio, or journalism. I thought, as I think quite a lot of people do, that her views are a caricature designed to attract attention. Being in the room as she justified her statement that Ebola was ‘pretty cool’ as a population control proved otherwise.

She spoke less than a week after a debate on the threat right-wing populism posed to modern society. She posed views that contradict mine, including support for Donald Trump. Before, I could never see support for such views as anything but ill-founded and ignorant. Seeing Hopkins at the Union showed me I was wrong, and it scared me.  

I saw how she could shout over people’s challenges to her viewpoints, yet nearly in the same breath criticise the protestors who had not wanted her to speak. I certainly did not come out of the Union that night agreeing with her, but I saw how others could. It was an immensely valuable learning experience.

Likewise, the debates are often fascinating in presenting articulate, intelligent viewpoints that you might consider morally or logically wrong, or even just confusing. The Michaelmas presidential debate on Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In explained her philosophy to me in a way I had not fully appreciated before – let this male-dominated world work to accommodate you as you have always had to accommodate it. But it also highlighted issues I was previously blind to – Sandberg’s exclusive experience as a rich, white woman making her fundamentally naïve.

I know there are a lot of deterrents to joining the Union. This might be the practical impediment of the membership fee, or a more ideological aversion to their apparent problems with diversity – only three of the twelve individual speakers in Easter 2017 were women.

But progress is being made. Recent cuts to Union fees are a step in the right direction, knocking £20 off the discounted fees for last year’s new members. And, crucially, problems in the Union might be best tackled from the inside out (and you might get to meet Mary Berry).

These debates and speakers will make up your £150 in a matter of weeks, if – and only if – you spend the time seeking them out. After all, the Union is there for free debate. Listening and engaging with new ideas that are there, if you want to hear them. If you are willing to devote the time to make the most of your membership, you will not regret joining