University is about meeting new people and visiting new places, whether they are exciting and new or that lecture theatre that seems weirdly shoved into the basement. While you might find your soulmate here, could you also find your soul space? A Soul Space is considered to be a special spot where one experiences a feeling of empowerment, belonging, and spiritual rejuvenation. Perhaps yours is a spot on campus, where you feel completely at peace, if even for a moment.
The reality is that every space on campus is its own kind of stony person. Maybe you tend to gravitate towards this kind of person, maybe you are this person. Here is a helpful breakdown of some spaces around campus, to help you find your Soul Space.
Fisher Library
Fisher is dependable. You can take them home to meet your parents. They won’t necessarily love them… but they will like them enough to invite them back for another lasagne. They wear a large backpack to Uni every day. When they run to get the bus from Parramatta Road, the backpack bobs up and down their back, bouncing around as they weave through people. The other day they got on and rifled around their backpack looking for their opal card, somehow managing to drop their Kathmandu bottle in the process. They begrudgingly gave up and tapped their debit card — while the rest of the 412 watched. At the end of tutorials, they will sometimes come up to you and tell you that you made some really good points in the class discussion. Their lock screen is a photo of a sunset they took in year eleven.
The Quad
The Quad started wearing loafers in 2019, and is now angry that they’re “in”. They like to tell you when they are wearing something that they thrifted. They like to kick off class discussions in tutorials, and like to throw in the word “nuance” or “facetious” whenever they can. They save outfit inspiration on their dark academia pinterest boards, and yet, think that their outfit is never complete without a book.
Law Library
The Lawbry was school captain in high school and did a lot of debating. They drive to uni. During the start-of-semester icebreakers, they are often heard saying, “no guys, seriously, 98 was kind of a low ATAR at my school, like it’s really bad I’m actually so embarrassed”. They wear a lot of white linen button-ups in summer, and a Macpac puffer jacket as soon as it drops below 20 degrees. They created a LinkedIn account in high school, before they had a job, because they “really love to network.” They have a pair of RMs that they save for during class presentations.
Manning
Manning is a mature aged student. They have two kids. At the last P&C fundraiser they performed a rendition of ‘Eagle Rock’ with a few other parents. They usually sit towards the front of the class. They take handwritten notes in lectures on loose sheets of lined paper, and tell the people around them that “it really is the best way to retain information, you guys.” They say that Uni really isn’t what it once was, and in icebreakers, they always mention that time they saw INXS perform on campus during their first undergrad degree. Will unironically have a beer at three o’clock on campus.
Wentworth Building
Wentworth often brings a thermos to Uni. It has a sticker on it. They are a little annoying, but they always have good snacks on hand during that five minute break in the middle of lectures, so you sort of look past it and sit with them. They are super into board games and chess. However, if you tell them you also like chess, they will claim that it’s “probably just because you watched the Queen’s Gambit.” The other day in a tutorial they made a “that’s what she said” joke but it didn’t actually make sense and didn’t really land. Big Mr Beast fan.
Holme Building
A Uni drama kid. Holme likes to take acid before they write their Theatre and Performance essays because it “gets the creative juices flowing.” They did a semester exchange in Europe and now they like to bring homemade Sangria to every house party they go to. They despise eurocentrism, but love Shakespeare. They never do the required readings, but always end up saying a lot in class discussions anyway. Listens to a lot of Phoebe Bridgers and owns three different pairs of Doc Martens. Really good at winged eyeliner.
Schaffer
Bit of a pick-me. Will either make you a Spotify playlist or send you poetry when flirting with you. Has told someone in your class that “this T. S. Eliot poem reminds me of your smile.” Often wears a cardigan. Their favourite book is the Handmaid’s Tale, because they “really understand women’s issues.” They wore one of those newsies caps to class for a few weeks, but then realised they couldn’t really pull it off. Has a slight British accent even though they grew up in the Shire. Carries a leather satchel. They like to remind people that listening to classical music while studying boosts concentration. Has a Samsung phone.
PNR
PNR wears cargo shorts and a baseball cap. Think Tiktoker cross that kid from the movie UP who does scouts. They drink a lot of Red Bull. They like to tell people they are super into 4Chan, because they think it gives them a mysterious edge. They live at least an hour away from campus and are known to actively push past people in the herd towards Redfern station in the afternoon. They have a Surface Pro and a vendetta against Apple products. Their favourite movie is The Social Network. They are surprisingly athletic but not a jerk about it. They complain about how expensive food is on campus, when you can literally “smash out a Mi goreng from the zip tap.” Still listens to Kanye.
ABS
ABS is the person in your class who you have a crush on just to entertain yourself, but they sort of have no personality. They are unnervingly attractive but really difficult to have a chill conversation with. They don’t carry a backpack or a tote bag around, just a MacBook Pro with no case. Predominantly wears variations of the white top-blue jeans combo. In the first week of tutorials, during an introductory game of two truths and a lie, their lie was that their favourite colour was red. Only child — they call their parents by their first names.
