PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY SARA SHEIHK / SPUTNIK PHOTOGRAPHY
Socializing is good for your mind, body and soul.
The benefits of having strong social connections include lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, and greater empathy. It is important for students to be within an environment which allows them to foster healthy relationships in order to maintain good mental health.
Laurier Brantford is a fairly smaller campus, and so not considered as social by some such as Jenny Mono, a first year criminology student, who explains that, “Everything is more so focused on the Waterloo campus…”
“I think they need to involve music because that is something that we would engage in,” said first year human rights student Julia Bianchi.
This article explores interviews with three first-year students to get a deeper understanding about the social life at Laurier Brantford from their perspective as students who entered the university a few months ago.
Noor Ali, a first year criminology student, shared that joining different student councils bettered her mental health, which had struggled from the difficulties of making friends within her first month.
All three students shared that the group chats made on social media were the easiest ways for them to make friends.
“Social media had a huge impact as well because of first year group chats made by fellow students,” said Ali.
The three students consider themselves to be individuals who are both studious, but also know when it is time to relax and have fun. However, due to the lack of hype around and within Laurier Brantford they struggle when it comes to finding fun things to do.
“I usually just go for walks and explore the city, and I go to parties when there is one,” says Bianchi.
“I usually just meet up with people and go to work,” said Mono. “That’s about it for my social life, we do have parties but they are really rare and that could be because Laurier Brantford is so academic-focused that they tend to forget that students want to have age appropriate fun as well”
Noor shares that she finds fun in the small things: “I like to socialize in small groups, play pool, write poetry, I sing on my free time and I prioritize self-care considering parties are every two weeks or so.”
All three of these students agree that Laurier Brantford lacks in the social life aspect and that is partly due to the lack of attention the university receives. Everyone knows that Laurier Brantford does an excellent job at advertising the events we do have; however, there needs to be more focus on what the students may be interested in to foster a bigger and better social environment.
