Third Spaces on Campus: Snow Day Special

University campuses are communities within communities, the spaces within them serving a variety of purposes. Spaces to work, study, live, learn, socialize, and more. When you live on campus, it can feel like your entire world exists within the bounds of the university. When you live off campus, it can feel like you spend more time at school than you do at home. What happens when those spaces are unexpectedly closed?  

 Winter in the Maritimes can be difficult. The short days play with emotions, the cold weather can make anyone miserable, and the snow is a nightmare to trek through. Going to school here comes with the expectation that there will be missed classes because of the weather. Although typically having the email that the university will be closed is the highlight of anyone’s day, it also has its drawbacks. With the winter weather and the additional school closure, students are stuck at home. For those living on campus, this means stuck in their residence buildings. Stuck with their roommates or remaining in isolation. For certain residence buildings, this leads to a higher rate of damages and drinking. For others, it can mean students who are already struggling with their mental health spend more time inside and alone. Some are frustrated that they don’t have anywhere to study.  

As the only spaces that remain open during a complete university closure are Morrison Hall and Starbucks, students are limited when it comes to a space outside of their residence building. This can also put a strain on those working in residence and those living off campus. Working and living in residence can be difficult – especially with multiple snow days – as the students you’re looking after may need someone to talk to more than usual or may be busier and louder. Community Advisor and X-Patrol Lead Mia Reich explained that “it can be hard as a CA to relax and get any work done [on snow days] when I’m stuck in residence. It feels like I’m constantly working, and although I love my residents so much, it can start to feel like I can’t take a break or focus on anything else when I’m in the building.”  

Students living off campus can also find it hard to focus. It can be just as frustrating to have a campus closure when you have a strong divide between “home” and “school”. Students who aren’t used to working from home, who have loud roommates, who can only focus under specific circumstances, who also deal with the struggles isolation brings also have a hard time when the university is fully closed.  

StFX is never truly closed. There are still people working who have to be physically on campus during the snow days. Safety and Security is one of them. As long as there are two members of Security who can make it to campus, Security is working. If Security is working, then, why can’t StFX have a couple of their academic buildings open? Students would have a third space to study – and yes, socialize – that is outside of residence. This would reduce the strain and additional expectations placed on CA’s on snow days and would help many students tremendously.  

Most students just want a space to get out of their house, mainly to get some work and studying done. Additionally, how is having the main spaces of certain academic buildings open different than a regular school day? Keep the classrooms locked, and students can work in the main areas and hallways, like those in Mulroney Hall or the Nasso Family Science Centre. Students should be able to access these spaces when the university is closed. Mia, who works in MacIsaac Hall, believes that most students would benefit from more spaces being open: “When we have snow days, most of the kids see that as an excuse to get drunk and drink. But a lot of the other students would rather take that opportunity to study. And because we have all of these students who decide to use it as a day to party, those students who do just want to study don't really have a place to go. Because it’s loud, it's obnoxious. You know, it's MacIsaac. So having another space for them would be really, really good.”