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The life of your average student presents a set of struggles that some people wouldn’t care to relive. Sure, your youth allows you to sleep less and drink more, all while still being able to function; however, you’re expected to juggle an insane number of commitments.
From classes and mountains of coursework to intramural volleyball and frat parties, there are so many obligations and events for students to stay on top of that they’re bound to fall behind in some regard. Good thing Student Grounds - an upcoming social network meant to streamline every aspect major of student life, including online academic help, into a single site - will ease some of their day-to-day worries.
Solving college life problems only
Brandon Miskin and his brother Ricky are bringing Student Grounds to Brandeis University, at which Brandon is a sophomore, with a closed beta launching next week. Throughout the spring semester, the startup will be helping students exclusively at the Waltham school make the most out of every part of their college experience.
“It’s a social network specifically for college students to improve their lives in all major aspects: academics, extracurricular activities and their social lives,” Brandon explained. “It’s tailored to just college students, so that it would inspire collaboration and unity between them. And all users will be able to interact strictly within their own schools.”
“When Facebook expanded to the public, it got away from how students need a social network,” he said. “We’re a social network catering exactly to all of their wants and needs.”
It will make coursework a piece of cake
On the academic front, Student Grounds compiles all of the syllabi from the courses that a student is taking each semester, generating a master syllabus that will be shown to the right side of the screen whenever a user logs in.
“My Freshman Year, I was severely disorganized,” Brandon explained. “I’d lose papers and miss minor assignments. None of them ever made or broke my grade until this one time in my Microeconomics class when I completely forgot about a major problem set. It dropped my grade from an ‘A-’ to a ‘B-.’ It screwed me, especially because I was pursuing Business as a major.”
“I thought about ways to improve my organization,” he continued. “I started to write all of my important assignments down on a piece of paper and would put it on my wall so I knew when everything was due. But this was tedious and really annoying. I wondered why Brandeis didn’t have a website where this entire problem could be eliminated.”
“I realized that everything that I did was taking too much time and effort than it needed.”
Additionally, as soon as users register for courses, they’re connected with their classmates through Student Grounds. By automatically bringing together peers, the platform will hopefully encourage them to interact more.
“They can collaborate through posts, they can share notes and ask help one another through messages,” Brandon said. “I’m constantly looking for help in classes, but there’s been no network out there that does this effectively.”
“With Facebook, yeah you can create a group for a course you’re taking, but no one really does it because you have to friend your entire class, which no one wants to do,” he added. “Student Grounds instantly connects you with your classmates - no friending, no following required."
It manages life outside the classroom
Student Grounds doesn’t stop there - unlike other platforms like Blackboard or Moodle, which are just for schoolwork.
“I realized that everything that I did was taking too much time and effort than it needed,” Brandon told me.
“Like I hated the long, annoying and expensive process of trying to find and buy textbooks,” he went on. “I had wanted to join the Business Club, but I couldn’t find any information about it online. I searched on Facebook and couldn’t find a thing. I was trying to help myself out as a student, so I knew there had to be a single, easy-to-use place where all of this could be done.”
The startup will feature an online marketplace that lets students at the same school buy and sell items - including textbooks, televisions, furniture and even tutoring services - from one another. Because all transactions are purely student-to-student, there are no third parties slowing down the process or charging fees, nor is there a high likelihood of super sketchy situations like you might encounter on Craigslist.
Additionally, the website will allow clubs, sports teams and greek organizations to create pages through the platform. Here, students can read more about what they’re all about, how to join and when their events are held.
If students weighing their amusement options, Student Grounds has that covered, too. There’s a running newsfeed that lets them know what’s going on - whether it be school-sponsored events or parties. For users looking to escape campus, the site also allows them to explore all of the restaurants, bars and activities close to them.
Thinking beyond Brandeis
Although Student Grounds will only be available this coming semester to people attending Brandeis, that will change. The startup plans to launch the site on campuses across the country, starting with small ones and scaling their way up.
“We’re going to close it down this summer, reevaluate everything that went on at Brandeis and tweak it,” Brandon stated. “Our main mission is to spread across all college campuses, but we’re going to try to implement our platform in similar schools to Brandeis, so NESCAC schools or small liberal arts schools.”
“We’re going to study up on bigger schools and see how they differ from smaller ones, so we can figure out how to cater to any unique needs and wants they may have,” he finished.
Images via Brandon Miskin.
