In short, a third place is mostly just a place to hang out and engage with the community without having to spend any money like at a café or club.
As a young adult, it’s incredibly important to start building community with those around us. Building community can also help us network or build our future careers as well as incorporating lasting friendships into our lives. With lots of benefits to having community, time to get building!
Where to start though? As a college student, there are lots of places to discover on campus and the best part? They’re free! Well, they’re part of tuition prices, anyway. Let’s take a look at a few now.
The Gender Center (or Community Center, for certain states)
The Gender Center is a personal favorite. While there’s no saying what each individual campus offers, like the Gallerstein GenderCenter at The University of Texas at Dallas. They have a life transitions closet, where people can go take clothes they need or donate those they don’t, along with a small library of books about relevant, but polarizing topics (gender, race, religion, etc.).
It’s also just a great area to just sit and hang out. The staff there is amazing and they host events at least once or twice a week, such as Tea Tuesday where they offer free tea and snacks every Tuesday morning to students. Events like these are a great way to meet fellow members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
When you have a place to connect with people in the same community, it can be really enriching. Especially as a young adult in the queer community. Or, even if you’re just experimenting with gender or questioning your sexuality, it’s good to have friends or peers who have been through the same thing because then you can ask them those questions you may find yourself struggling with.
LGBT Campus is a great resource to see if your campus has one! If it’s not listed, yours may still have one; it may just be student-run.
Major-Based Clubs
If you’re looking to meet people, joining clubs is easily the best way to do it. It can be a bit difficult to find a club that suits your fancy, so try some major-based clubs first. If you’re a theatre major, try looking for a theatre club, or a med-student, there’s plenty of clubs for that! If you’re a more niche major like literature or history, try looking for a book club, or a pre-teaching club. Or, maybe chat with a professor! They’re bound to know of something interesting around campus.
It can be hard to make friends within a small major, so major-based clubs can be really helpful.
Religious-Based Organizations
Most campuses have a list of organizations viewable through either your school’s website or through the Student Org. office. There’s a ton of religious clubs, whether it be Christian, or Muslim, you’re bound to find something for you. Religious organizations are a great way to bond with people who believe the same things as you.
It’s also a great place to explore if you’re questioning your religion. Feel free to embrace those questions and visit all sorts of different places to really figure out what it is that you believe in.
Hobby-Based Clubs
If you aren’t religious or interested in major-based clubs, this is the perfect spot for you. Do you have any fun hobbies? Do you like table-top roleplay games? Join a “Dungeons & Dragons” club (even if you don’t play, you should join anyway)!
What about improv? Do you want to try it out? Go find an improv club! There’s lots of different clubs to join on campus, and most schools offer a list through an online portal or through the Student Org. office. If you aren’t sure where to start, talk to your Student Org. office.
If there’s a hobby you love and don’t see it with a club of its own, get with the Student Org. office and see about starting your own! It’s a great way to make friends and build community.
Building community is a huge step in adulting that everyone needs to take at some point. What better place to do it than in college? College is a great place to start working on those networking skills and crafting a community that’s all your own. The goal is a community of peers that lasts past college, so do your best to find one for while you’re in college.
There’s no time like the present, so get out there! Start building your own community that will hopefully last you a long time, and make some memories while you’re at it.
