Throughout their own educational history students and teachers understand their position within a space through their lived experiences. Spaces cannot be limited to just the physical, but are a layering of multiple spaces including linguistic, cultural, social, physical and temporal spaces. Each of these layers interact to create a classroom environment that can enable students to experience education as an event and to be co-constructors of their own third space—a space where shared knowledge and meaning-making are possible. Using the stories of participants in a multi-modal study, it is possible to understand how ESL students perceive of their education from where they began their educational journey, in their home countries, to where they are currently experiencing their education, at Lake City University. The stories were shared through a survey and then further explored through semi-structured interviews. This data was combined to create cohesive stories that shared the experiences of each participant. These stories were then analyzed for common themes and what that meant about the perception of the spaces and the impacts these spaces had on the educational experiences of each participant. Each of these experiences and perceptions from the participants provide the researcher a means to understand how the shaping of space through linguistic landscapes, architectural structures and community formation enable access to the third space. The third space is where students can be active participants in creating a space where their educational goals have the potential to be reached. Understanding the past experiences of participants may help us to create spaces where equity can be created, allowing for all knowledge to be shared and students to construct environments where education is an event rather than a performance of skills.