Staying Connected: The Value of Third Places on Campus
Making and maintaining friendships at university, especially SFU, can be difficult. Between heavy course loads and part-time jobs, it can be hard to find the time, opportunity, or place to meet new people, hang out, and build connections on campus. However, there are ways to make socializing on campus easier, one of which is engaging with third places.
Third places are informal public locations where people of all backgrounds can come together, socialize, and enjoy each other’s company. These accessible and inclusive environments are separate from the home and work/classroom, including coffee shops, bars, libraries, parks, gyms, etc. Whether it’s hanging out with your friends, meeting up with someone from class, or simply doing your own thing while in the presence of other people, spending time in third places can help us build relationships and feel more connected to our community.
Despite its poor reputation when it comes to social life, SFU does have a number of great third places available to students. As such, below are some of my favourite third places on or near the SFU campus:
1. Biercraft
First off, there’s Biercraft. If you haven’t been, Biercraft is the unofficial campus pub, located at The Cornerstone in UniverCity. This third place is a great spot to meet up with friends and classmates for a drink or bite to eat after a long day of school. The welcoming and upbeat atmosphere makes socializing easy, and with the demographic consisting of a ton of SFU students, it’s also a great place to meet new people and form connections on campus. If you’re interested in checking it out, I would recommend going on a Tuesday, as this is arguably one of the more popular nights among SFU students.
2. Burnaby Mountain Park
Burnaby Mountain Park is a highly underrated third place on the mountain. This outdoor space is an ideal hangout spot for SFU students and is closer to campus than you might realize. The park is beautiful and can be home to a variety of activities. In warm weather, you can have a picnic on the grass, play spikeball, throw around a frisbee, or even complete your course readings while lounging in the sun. After some fresh snow, it’s also the perfect place to go tobogganing—whether this is with cardboard boxes, trash bags, or actual toboggans is up to you.
3. Student Union Building (SUB)
The SUB is another great third place. It’s a comfortable, free, and accessible spot to meet up with friends, hang out, and study. Its central location on campus also makes the SUB a great place to develop friendships. For example, asking your classmate if they want to go to the SUB to grab some food and study is a perfect low-stakes hangout option. Beyond socializing, the SUB is also a great place to lock in for midterms and finals while maintaining a sense of connection. I mean, chilling in the SUB to do schoolwork for a couple hours after class is a great alternative to going home and sitting in your room. Even if you go alone, simply being around other people and spending time in a public space can make you feel more connected and ward off those feelings of loneliness and isolation during exam season.
4. Clubs
Lastly, school clubs are a great pathway to finding third places. Joining a club at SFU is a great way to meet and form relationships with people who you share interests with. Whether this is for an activity, sport, academic field, humanitarian cause, or something else, the structure of a club allows you to get to know a small group of people over an extended period of time, often in a third place. Additionally, through the shared experience and socialization that being part of a club entails, they’re a great way to develop a sense of connection, community, and belonging on campus. During my time at SFU, I’ve been part of many clubs, all of which have been amazing experiences and have allowed me to find friends with similar interests and passions to myself.
So, the next time you’re feeling lonely on campus, want to make a friend, or simply need a new hangout spot, try checking out one of these stellar third places!