Student Life and Leadership is using a more human form a social networking to help Salt Lake Community College students make new friends on campus.
Modeled after speed dating, the North Region Board has organized speed friending events to let students socialize with each other in a more traditional way.
“People are stuck behind screens. We have forgotten how to communicate effectively face to face,” says North Region vice president Anna-Korrine Hancock. “Speed friending is a way to get people out of their comfort zone and talk to new people in person.”
Hancock believes SLCC students have a difficult time building friendships at school.
“Students tend to go from class to class and back home without socializing with classmates,” Hancock says. “Our campus [South City] has struggled with getting students to connect with other students.”
Hancock says the idea for speed friending came from a student who approached North Region activities chair Tyler Olpin about setting up an activity just for socializing.
“[Student Life and Leadership] also sees the importance of creating events that get people connecting with other students,” Hancock adds.
Hancock says Student Life and Leadership is addressing the problem by creating more social events like speed friending.
Students who stop by a speed friending event will be able to interact with their peers through games and Q&A sessions. The activity is free and open to any SLCC student.
Hancock argues that having friends on campus improves the overall college experience.
“When you build those bonds with other students on your campus it creates an environment of support and friendship,” Hancock says. “Student Life and Leadership has helped so much with my personal college experience. It incentivizes me to come to my classes because I’m surrounded by friends.”
Student Life and Leadership hopes that speed friending is a way to build a bridge between students and the organization.
“There is this slight lack of community here that can definitely be improved,” Hancock states. “If this event is successful and students would like to see this event or similar ones happen in the future we can definitely make that happen.”
Anyone interested in more information about this and other Student Life and Leadership activities can stop by their offices at Taylorsville Redwood or South City campuses.
