I’ll be honest. When I first walked into the Coffee & Conversations session for international students, it was just me and the two runners of the session.
But I stayed. And slowly, people started coming in. By the end of the hour, there were eight of us crammed into one of Building 10’s rooms, laughing, sharing stories, and honestly just… talking. Like actually talking, the kind you don’t really get in a lecture hall or at your house.
**So what even is Coffee & Conversations?**
It’s a free, bi-weekly drop-in session run through UNBC’s counselling services, specifically designed for international students. The facilitators, including Florence, a practicum counsellor with genuinely the best energy, describe it as a “psycho-educational group,” which sounds a lot more intense than it actually is. Think of it less like a therapy session and more like a really good conversation with people who actually get what you’re going through.
There’s no set topic. No agenda. No pressure.
Someone asks a question. Florence listens, figures out where they’re really coming from, and then the whole room kind of leans in. People start sharing their own versions of the same story. Someone newer to Canada brings up a situation they weren’t sure how to handle, and someone else who’s been here longer goes, “Oh, I had the exact same thing happen to me.”
**What it actually felt like**
I was having a ton of fun, not gonna lie. There’s something really nice about being in a room where everyone’s background is different but the feeling of navigating a new place is something everyone shares. New stories, new perspectives, laughs mixed in with actual useful information. It somehow hits both at the same time.
Florence made the whole thing feel easy. She’s warm, she’s funny, and she clearly knows how to make people feel comfortable enough to open up. Nobody was forced to share anything, but almost everyone did anyway.
**Should you go?**
If you’re an international student at UNBC, yes, genuinely. Even if you feel like you’re doing fine. Even if you don’t have a specific problem to bring. Sometimes it’s just nice to sit in a room with people who get it, drink a free coffee, and remember you’re not figuring all of this out alone.
