Where known and unknown faces warm the room and conversation is contagious, enter a third place. These informal gathering places where people connect over shared interests, aren’t hard to come by at SF State. 

“Having these spaces is really integral to being able to create new connections,” said third-year computer engineering student, Isabella Thurmond.

What is a “third place”?

It’s the feeling you get when your barista greets you by your name at the door or getting your outfit complimented by the friendly face at your go-to study space; it’s the familiar public setting that determines a third place.

Coined in his 1989 book “The Great Good Place,” Ray Oldenburg deemed the settings of informal public life with the term “third places.”

Apart from the first place, home – where people spend most of their time, and the second place, work – where people spend the other main portion of their time. Oldenburg described third places as the in-between shareable settings for voluntary, informal, and anticipated social interaction. 

Even though they all stick to a similar formula, fostering a community that makes social interaction accessible – third places at SF State don’t all look the same.

The IncuGator

“The whole purpose of this space is a collaborative space where all majors can come in and learn from each other,” said IncuGator staff member and member of Fog City Rocketry club, Jorge Aguilar.

Dedicated to supporting all SF State majors to build entrepreneurial skills, the program serves as a concept incubator that gives students the chance to develop and innovate their ideas. 

After being founded in 2018, the IncuGator program now takes part in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiative at the Lam Family College of Business.

An average day at the IncuGator welcomes creativity, networking, a place to develop pitches, build prototypes, and receive business and legal advice. The space, located in Humanities 125, also holds regular meetings for clubs like Fog City Rocketry and 3D printing.

“It’s kind of a nice place because everyone’s kind of like-minded like interests, and so you get to meet people from both sides,” said Aguilar.

Beyond club members and entrepreneurs, the doors stay open for anyone needing a place to go.

“A lot of other departments can be very closed off,” said Aguilar, in reference to sharing their resources and space. Following this experience, the IncuGator makes sure to prioritize inclusion in their space and resources–no matter what the student’s major.

FRC club member and an IncuGator regular, Felipe Baltazar De Camargo said, “it [the IncuGator] gives a lot of people access to tools and things that a lot of other places on campus that are not really accessible.”

The Women’s Center

Smiles spread across the faces of the Women’s Center student workers, Madeline Cox and Micaella Calvo, as they greeted students at room T-116 on the third floor of the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Crafting, conversing, or lending a hand for support is a regular occurrence in the room lined with framed photos, a “Most Up to Date on Office Gossip” award, and memorabilia. 

The Women’s Center, otherwise known as “Barbie Land” – named in honor of the safe space. The organization prides itself on a plethora of resources from menstrual kits to pregnancy tests, and the welcoming nature of the office.

“Not only are we a resource, but our whole office is a resource as well just to hangout or if you need a friend,” said Calvo, a third-year double majoring in Asian American studies and race, ethnicity, and health.

The office serves as a support system for domestic violence, sexual assault, and housing insecurity victims. Women’s Center workers also value comfortability, emphasizes Cox, as she points to their 2022 ‘Coziest Office’ plaque.

“To be able to kind of turn your mind off and just relax and just simply be, I think is really important,” said Calvo.

The Depot

The sound of half-drunk cups clinking and students singing karaoke over background chatter spills through The Depot’s walls. A night of singing and mingling like karaoke night are typically announced at the beginning of the month on the @as_depot_sfsu instagram. 

Located on the lower conference level in the Cesar Chavez Student Center, The Depot serves as SF State’s entertainment venue. 

Although it is a place to host the entertainment community, a typical evening at The Depot can also count on being somewhere to settle after grabbing a drink from The Pub, a place for students to hang out in between classes, or somewhere to interact with performers.

Maya Mendoza, a former commuter student, said, “I feel like it’s very connecting here, so we can meet different people and have different conversations everyday.” 

Depending on the night, The Depot also functions as a hotspot for art socials, open mic nights, and comedy nights, which are open to all ages.

When the atmosphere of a small town is bottled into one space, third places offer students a home away from home.

Beyond hustling between classes, work, and home, the in-between places SF State students reside in serve a role in nurturing their individual communities.