New interest-based clubs offer spaces to make meaningful friendships
Illustration by Sage Blackwell.
Thanks to the efforts of some ambitious students, UVic’s on-campus community is being revitalized through student clubs.
Over 25 new student clubs were ratified this fall that offer spaces for students to make friends and temporarily forget their academic responsibilities. The majority of these new clubs are centred around culture, identity, and common interests.
“This is the first year that myself [and] others have observed that it felt like … we’re back to pre-pandemic levels of excitement, interest, and engagement,” said Dawn Schell, Manager of Mental Health Outreach & Training and Counsellor at the Student Wellness Centre.
Mandatory isolation measures due to COVID-19 barred many students from engaging in regular student life activities. The creation of new in-person clubs, such as the Poetry Club and the Tea Parties Club, mark an important shift in student life returning to what it once was.
Skyla Trousdale, a second year computer science and fine arts student, co-founded the UVic Poetry Club this fall with a few friends, in hopes of bringing like-minded people together.
“The social scene here is either very awkward, or it’s a party environment,” said Trousdale. “I find both of those not very fulfilling. Everything feels very superficial, and it’s hard to actually meet people and connect.”
A Statistics Canada study released on Nov. 19, 2024 stated that around 48 per cent of British Columbians report feeling lonely, whether sometimes, often, or always. Similar patterns of loneliness have been seen at post-secondary institutions across Canada. However, there seems to be a growing awareness of this loneliness, and a willingness to combat it.
“What [students] actually want to do is talk to each other,” said Schell. “Students want [connection] or seem to be seeking it, but don’t always know how or where.”
Feeling lost when searching for community is not a unique experience. Students at Toronto Metropolitan University reported in their student newspaper, On The Record, that they struggled to make connections with people too. Especially for the students who live off-campus, or find it difficult to socialize in class, making friends at university can be a challenge.
On-campus clubs offer inviting, non-academic spaces for students to get to know one another — and it pays off. President of the UVic Poetry Club, Martin Moreno Anderson, said “it’s felt really nice to make friends out of it. We created the space and people came voluntarily.”
The Poetry Club started in September as a space for verse lovers of all kinds to come together to write, share, and listen to poetry. The club was modeled after poetry nights the three executives hosted last year for their close friends.
This year, they decided to extend their circle to all UVic students. The club did not anticipate much interest, but after only one day at the Club and Course Unions Days in September, they had over 150 interested students.
The same happened to the Bring-Your-Own-Book Book Club, and the Tea Parties Club — both of which received over 200 sign-ups at the club fair from prospective members.
Although actual attendance is limited — between 10 and 30 members typically show up to the meetings — real communities have begun to take shape, said the executives of both the Poetry Club and the Tea Parties Club. They have seen real friendships form out of their clubs. Members have started to interact outside of meeting times, through small gestures like waves across campus and, for members of the Bring-Your-Own-Book Club, excursions to bookstores.
For many students, these clubs provide some much needed rest and relaxation time from the stresses of academic life. “University just feels so serious, and sometimes you need some fun, some whimsical vibes,” said Grace Rebello, a second year social work student and second-in-command for the Tea Parties Club.
The Tea Parties Club was created to foster a community for tea lovers, where anyone is welcome to sit and get to know new people in a low-stakes environment. The Tea Parties Club usually meets in the Campus Community Gardens, but as the weather turned colder, members have found new spaces to gather. Most recently, the club hosted a successful movie night at the Student Union Building.
Engaging with on-campus clubs can benefit students beyond just improvements in their social lives. Schell, who emphasizes all dimensions of wellness, said “One of the [professors] said to me a couple of years ago, in a research study we were doing: ‘they’re not just brains in jars’.… Students are whole human beings and should be doing stuff that’s outside of their academics.… That’s what life’s about.”
