Brock University: student life on campus

The 411

If I wrote the school motto:
“We are Badgers! We are ready!”
Best place for a nap:
Nowhere on campus. Go home.
Best cheap lunch:
Union Station has the widest selection of relatively affordable food
Best hangover breakfast:
The McDonald’s near East Academic
Favourite watering hole:
Isaac’s Bar & Grill if you’re on or near campus. Off-campus are the Merchant Ale House or the Feathery Pub.
Best place for a fancy dinner:
Coppola’s Ristorante & Banquet Facility. You can’t go wrong with a nice Italian place!
Best place to study:
The individual study rooms in the library. There are 10 floors, and it gets quieter as you ascend.
Weirdest tradition:
The annual grape stomp (it’s exactly what it sounds like)
Best campus event:
Anything held during O week (i.e. BadgerFest)
Best place to live:
The new Brock Suites are hands-down the most beautiful place to live on campus. They’re fully furnished and include a washer and dryer.
Best live music venue:
Mahtay Café & Lounge
What surprised me most about the school:
The way all the buildings are connected—you don’t realize it at first. There’s rarely a need to go outside once you get in.
If I could change one thing:
Food affordability

PROFILE: Brock University | St. Catharines, Ont. | Founded 1964

Brock University is a relatively small school located in the city of St. Catharines, Ont., where the university is one of the city’s most prominent features. The majority of individuals around St. Catharines are either Brock students or older (usually retired) people. No matter where you go in the city, you have a high chance of seeing someone from campus. This really creates the feeling of being at home.

Brock has two main campuses. If you’re interested in studying education, you’ll find yourself at the lesser-known Hamilton campus. If you study anything in the performing arts realm, you’ll be over at the Marilyn I. Walker school downtown. If you study anything else, you’ll be at the main campus, where all the residences are.

Our school of business recently saw the completion of a beautiful new multi-million-dollar facility. Our school gym, the Zone, will undergo a $7-million expansion project this year to triple in size. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

The most captivating thing about Brock University is undoubtedly the immense school spirit. Whether at sports games or community events, you can always feel the overwhelming sense of pride emanating from all Brock students (affectionately called Badgers). And there is no shortage of events to attend and showcase that spirit.

After Class
Brock has cool things going on every week, appealing to a wide array of interests. The university has a central website, ExperienceBU, that provides up-to-date info on all that’s happening on Brock’s campuses. There are more than 100 clubs at the university, and that number grows monthly. Brock’s clubs have it all, whether you want to find a group of students with similar religious beliefs, political views or cultural ideologies, or you just want a group of dedicated online gamers, musicians or anime fans. One of the coolest things about the university is its focus on mental health and student wellness. There are a number of activities to help students cope with the stresses of university life, and there is 24/7 personal counselling available.

Local Vibe
St. Catharines is small, so there isn’t a massive selection of things to do within the city. There is a big focus on live music, so there are lots of bars and cafés around town that host shows. Pretty much everything is a short bus ride—or two—away, which is very convenient when you need to get to the Pen Centre (the local mall) or downtown. For the partygoers, Isaac’s always has a themed party going on on-campus, and off-campus there are a number of nightclubs near the school. St. Catharines is also a 30-minute drive from Niagara Falls, which makes for great weekend trips.

More Info
ExperienceBU.brocku.ca, BrockPress.com and BrockU.ca/brock-news are great. Also follow @brockbusu on Instagram.