PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY SARA SHEIKH / SPUNTIK PHOTOGRAPHY

Take a chance, roll the dice, sink some balls and feel like a winner in the Level One Lounge game area. 

 

The Level One Lounge, or, L1, is a destination for students to be with their friends, play games and connect. As of Feb. 28, for three days every week, the Laurier Leaders team has been hosting event nights in the new hangout area for students. 

 

L1 can also be used as a study space and a place to meet new people or see old friends. The events taking place Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of every week are sure to connect Golden Hawks of many different backgrounds. 

 

“It’s a social space. Being in university, besides education, is about having a good time, having fun, getting out there and this is a space that allows that to happen,” said Tyler Britz, coordinator of Off Campus Special Projects. 

 

Movie Mondays, Trivia Tuesdays and Tournament Thursdays are taking place every week on campus, with a possibility of “Whatever Wednesdays” around the corner. 

 

The Laurier Leaders, a group of students who help other students navigate campus academic and social life, run these new weekly events. 

 

Monday Movies are chosen through the team’s Instagram on a poll. Students can vote for which movie they feel like watching, with the majority being the winning movie that will play.  Movie Mondays take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

 

Trivia Tuesdays often consist of Kahoot games made by the Laurier Leaders team, as well as other general knowledge games which will begin at 6 p.m. until 7 p.m.

 

Tournament Thursdays lead to bragging rights if you are the winner. These tournaments consist of table games and others using a bracket style set up in which teams will compete against each other until there is one final winner. 

 

Students can drop into these game nights with no pre-registration required and are encouraged to come to the L1 area throughout the week. 

 

“People have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the university experience. A lot of us are getting our degrees with all of the work but none of the fun. It’s really nice to be able to socialize with people,” said fourth year student and Laurier Leader, Iona McMahon.

 

Since reading week, the popularity of L1 has grown substantially with about three to four times the number of students dropping in to spend their free time playing games and laughing with friends. 

 

Both Britz and McMahon feel they did not have a proper place to spend time with their friends during their time at Laurier and are excited future students to have this accommodation. 

 

L1 is home to an air hockey table, pool, ping pong, a stack of classic board games and virtual games alike. L1 also has a new XBOX series X, as well as three working television sets, respectively hooked up to the XBOX, a Switch and a PlayStation.

 

Britz hopes the Lounge will get a second pool table for all the students who want to play, along with other diverse table games to keep students occupied. 

 

The Lounge also has a new virtual tablet almost as big as one of the tables in the room, which has over 60 board games programmed into it, including monopoly, connect four and scrabble. This new amenity has already attracted students, some who have played games on it with their friends for over two hours. 

 

The room has whiteboards to keep track of game winners, along with sections where students can leave suggestions about what they would like to have incorporated in the Lounge.  

 

Britz is proud of the Brantford campus and is happy with what it is offering to Laurier students.

 

“We’re getting something for Brantford students, we’re improving the Brantford student experience,” said Britz. “This is a place for students, by students.”

 

The L1 area also comes equipped with an AUX cord, dongles for multiple ports, HDMI and a USB-C connection, as well as a projector screen, meaning students can play their own music throughout the day and sing Karaoke on the stage. 

 

The Lounge is available for clubs and associations to book a portion of the room to host event nights for their groups. It is also available for students to book individual game tables up to three weeks in advance if students want to secure a spot, with the help of a Laurier Leader, or through the QR code on the desk in the entryway. 

 

The Laurier Leaders encourage students to come to the Level One Lounge to experience the new hangout spot and enjoy their time at university. 

 

McMahon acknowledges how burnt out students are from digital classrooms along with the pandemic and is happy to see students excited to socialize. McMahon is happy to be a Laurier Leader and help students have access to a room to be with their friends as restrictions loosen. 

 

“I think after having spent the last few years on Zoom because of covid, it’s really nice to have an opportunity to attend social events on camps and being a part of that is really exciting,” said McMahon.