7A Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunity: Entering a new environment, like college, can leave some students feeling isolated and out of place because of either not knowing anyone, or not having a friend to explore the different involvement activities each campus has to offer. I believe there is an opportunity to form a buddy system for various specific interest groups guiding new people and exploring new ventures with a paired buddy.

The who: College students.
The what: Lack of motivation to explore campus activities.
The why: Not having someone to do those things with.

Testing the who: Although college students are the largest 'who', adults may also face this challenge. Meeting new people outside of a confined setting like school or work can be quite difficult to achieve. I also do not believe every college student or every adult faces this problem. Certain people have a more difficult time settling into a place a branching out in comparison to others. Greek like is also a huge contributor in helping students connect socially. As is staying in state, or coming to college with a close group of friends. This opportunity could be extended to anyone who is interested, but mostly for those who are not apart of those organizations or don't really know many people.
Testing the what: The boundaries of this need is really just the fact of only involving who is interested in participating in something like this. Not everyone is going to need someone by their side. Some people like branching out and exploring on their own, while others feel more comfortable having someone to explore with.
Testing the why: Some campuses and cities are more close knitted than others. Limiting the amount of people in one's surroundings can make it easier to feel more comfortable and less isolated because of how much easier it is to get to know everyone. In hindsight no one is going to know every single person everywhere they go; however, the more people you are familiar with makes for a more welcoming environment. This system would offer a wide range of interests reaching for inclusivity for all.

Interviews:

#1
For the first interview, I interviewed my roommate and friend who goes to Santa Fe. She believed people who aren't eligible to go through the recruitment process for greek life could benefit from an opportunity like this. She also emphasized the financial aspect of Greek life organizations because of how costly they potentially are.  Adding that expense on top of tuition, books, housing, and meals is unnecessary added stress. Depending on the environment, she reiterated the idea of different comfort levels some people have and individual rate each person has at adapting to change. To her, the buddy system forces people to get involved and create new friendships and connections that perhaps wouldn't happen for some people if they didn't have this opportunity. Connecting students based on common interests, personalities, music genre, sports, etc.

#2
I interviewed my mom for the second interview. Her 'why' for this need was basically that, as a busy mother while not working a conventional job, she struggles to form new friendships within her community. Her friends are spread from all different cities, states, and even countries. Being able to explore common interests with new people fulfills the social aspect of her life. Our family comes from a different culture and often times it's difficult to find people with the same mentality as her. Having something to connect her with similar views could only benefit her life.

#3
For this one, I interviewed an online freshman here at the university. Being online and not living on campus, she found it very difficult to feel connected to the university. She said however, she was really lucky to have roommates from home that were her close friends. Had this not been the case, she would not have been willing to see what the university had to offer on her own. Being able to sign up for interest groups and be paired with people similar to her would make her transition to college all the better. Even though her roommates are her close friends, they are not always willing to do that activities that she enjoys. Having a buddy with commonalities would keep her in the know to events coming up like intramural sports.

#4
I interviewed my childhood friend who now lives in Israel. She moved there starting college in a whole different country by herself. Moving anywhere on your own is scary enough but moving to a whole different country speaking a different language could be petrifying for some. She is extremely happy with her decision and loves every one she's met and everything she's done there to the extent that she decided to stay there in her future. She put in the effort to go out there and try regardless of failure; nonetheless, having someone to guide her and rely on could have made her transition process move faster than it did. She emphasized that in the end most people will find where they belong and will be okay but having a safety net to fall back on if you are scared is a great thing.

#5
For my final interview, I interviewed my godmother who moves around a lot. She's moved around so many places partially because she has never achieved fulfillment from one place. She finds it difficult meeting people that are excited to try new things with her and many of her friends are too busy with their own lives. Her desire for the 'why' is to be able to feel like she's truly found a place where she belongs. Being in her 60's yet feeling so much younger it's really hard for her to connect with her age group. She thinks an arrangement with someone like her could make her much happier.


I didn't necessarily learn anything that I didn't already know about my opportunity. Seeing it from all of the perspectives ranging from people who were involved to people who weren't just strengthened the idea that there is an opportunity like this for people. One aspect that I didn't really think was as big as it was is the fear of rejection. Today every one is judged more based on their look, style, interests, and the thought of not socializing out of fear of being rejected is just a really sad thing. I don't want that to be the reason people are lonely or not as connected as they want to be. Having an inclusive opportunity like this is really important and I hope it could potentially change this social fear.