Real Connections in a Digital World: Lois Logan on the Tandem Uni App

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(Upbeat Music)

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Campus Chronicles is the ultimate podcast

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for college students seeking real

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stories, honest advice and empowering

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insights to thrive in

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student life and beyond.

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Hosted by Brooke Young and the Campus

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Chronicles team, this weekly show

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features inspiring interviews, practical

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tips and conversations that tackle the

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challenges, wins and personal growth that

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comes with university life.

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Perfect for college students, campus

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leaders and young adults looking to make

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the most of their

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journey, one episode at a time.

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Subscribe now on Apple Podcast, Spotify

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or YouTube and join the community

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redefining what it means

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to thrive in university.

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Having Lois Logan here is so exciting

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because she has created an app for

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university-age students.

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Lois, thank you for being here.

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Thank you for having me.

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Oh, I'm excited to dive in.

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What was the moment you knew

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you wanted to create an app?

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So to be fair, it's not just me and on

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this, my really amazing

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business partner, Dan, had the idea.

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He was in the middle of surgery, actually

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not in the middle of surgery, he was

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recovering from surgery on his shoulder.

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And I've known Dan

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for a really long time.

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We went to school together and then we've

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both gone to the same university.

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And he was really bored and quite lonely

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and sort of realized that there's a

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problem at university where it's really

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hard to actually connect with students in

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a time where we are so

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connected through social media.

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He was like, "How is

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this so difficult for me?"

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And then he had this idea tandem and he

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approached me kind of with

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the idea and the basis of it.

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And we sort of both went from there in

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building an app and now

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launching it this September.

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You were like, "Okay, Dan."

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And you ran with that,

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you ran with that ball.

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Well, he actually came to me and was

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like, "What do you think of this idea?"

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And I was like, "It's amazing."

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Like, "Wow."

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He was like, "Do you

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wanna do it with me?"

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I was like, "Yeah."

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So yeah, it's been quite the journey over

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the last year or so now.

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Cause it really was, a year ago, it

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wasn't even, it was a

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thing, it wasn't a physical app.

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And now that we've got it on phones and

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students are using it,

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it's really, really cool.

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I think that's incredible.

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So when he first approached you with this

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idea, what was the initial thought that

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ran through your mind?

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I think I was just like, "How

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has nobody thought of this?"

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And I think we are always saying that

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though, when we're coming up with new

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ideas and new ways to make it better,

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especially in the

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process of building the app.

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We're like, "How has

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this not been created?"

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And I also was just

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absolutely in love with the idea.

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Cause I'd just started at university.

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He's a year above me.

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And so for me, I was like, "Oh my God, I

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wish I had this right now

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so that I could use it."

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But yeah.

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I've heard once that when you're a

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pioneer in a field, you rarely know that

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you're a pioneer in the field.

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And I think that applies

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to what you guys are doing.

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So for the app, for those that are not

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familiar, describe it.

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What's the value of

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having this on your phone?

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So it's essentially a place with all

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clubs, societies, and

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events going on at university.

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I think we found, especially kind of in

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market research, is one, there is a

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student loneliness crisis and more

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students are dropping out every year.

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And a lot of the time it's from mental

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health reasons related to loneliness and

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finding it really hard to connect.

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We also found that often societies and

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clubs at universities are struggling to

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actually get members on board because

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they're posting all their things on

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WhatsApp groups, Facebook, Instagram.

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And it's really hard to kind of keep, for

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people to keep seeing that.

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And so for us, we wanted a way that we

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could bring people together, have

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everything in one place without the kind

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of the stress of social media and the

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pressure of social media, because it

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isn't about being on your phone, it's

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about kind of having something at your

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fingertips to use for a minute, two

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minutes, and then to go and have real

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interactions with human beings.

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You know, that for us was

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the most important thing.

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It's about human interaction and meeting

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people like you that are interested in

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the same things as you.

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And so there's a function on the app that

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when you join a society, you can join a

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full person group chat and they're based

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normally on a proximal basis, depending

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on the size of the uni.

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So you're already put into a group with

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people that are near you,

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have the same interest as you.

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There's a prompt that comes up that's

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like, come and meet here before you go

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into the event or

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whatever, or the society.

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And it's just about making life easier

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for students, because I think it's

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actually, in a time when we are so

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connected, I think real human connection

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is becoming quite intimidating.

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And for us, we just want to lessen that.

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There's so much I want to say in response

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to that, because I think it's true.

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When you talked about separating it from

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social media, I know that for me, when I

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open like a WhatsApp or an Instagram, I'm

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flooded with messages and start to feel

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that stress go through my body.

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And I just want to close it.

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And what I love about your app is you're

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taking those social opportunities and

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putting them somewhere where you open it,

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you're not going to feel stressed.

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You're not going to feel

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over-simulated or overwhelmed.

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Has there been like a meaningful moment

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or a meaningful story of somebody using

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your app that made a friend or perhaps

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met someone else that they're close to?

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Yeah, that has.

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I mean, so this year we launched our

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pilot launch with Warwick University.

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So the amazing thing about the app is it

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is involved with the uni.

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So when we go to a university, we want

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the university to be part of the app

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because it becomes complicated if you

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separate it from the app.

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And I think for safeguarding issues,

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we've felt like naturally, we want to go

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through the universities.

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And we've had an

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amazing response at Warwick.

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We actually had someone email us just

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from our website saying they deleted

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their social media

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upon coming to university.

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And they said how much the app has been

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like the complete stress reliever.

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And that they've really found it easy to

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find people and to find

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what they're interested in.

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And they said, you know, they were really

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worried going to uni and

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not having social media.

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But they said that having tandem

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basically made things a lot easier.

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And so having that is just, you know,

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it's what it's all about.

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And it just reminds you why kind of the

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hard work that we've put in the last year

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and a bit, you know, Dan

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even longer has been worth it.

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Speaking of you and Dan, what have you

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learned about yourselves

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through launching this?

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Cause being a student

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entrepreneur is not easy.

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I was one.

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No, it's not.

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I think, you know, Dan's actually at the

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minute, he's on a year in enterprise.

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He's taken a year out to study, not to

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study, to just like

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completely focus on the app.

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So I'm currently in second year and you

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know, also doing things aside.

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And he is very good to be fair to him at,

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you know, We love you Dan.

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Yeah, thanks Dan.

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Thank you Dan for everything.

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Thanks Dan for being a legend.

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And I think, you know, I've just found it

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is just setting time aside to go, okay,

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I'm going to focus on this today, but

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also just doing things when you can, you

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know, I'm constantly messaging people and

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be on LinkedIn, constantly connecting

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with people and messaging people on there

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and setting up meetings.

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And, and it's cool, you know, it's fun.

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I really care about what the app is doing

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and the message behind the app.

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And so it actually

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makes it easy in that sense.

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You know, it's meaningful.

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And you know, when you see, when you hear

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people that are benefiting from the app,

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then it's kind of like, okay, it's all

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the hard work and the stress and the

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pressure of having to

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juggle things is worth it.

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Have you learned how to manage your time

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more productively because

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you have to balance all this?

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Yeah, I would say I've always been a

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pretty productive league.

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I've been pretty good at that generally.

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I would say I probably don't get enough

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sleep, but I think that is that comes

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with being frequent.

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So, but yeah, I think, I think it has

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forced me to kind of, to think about

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where I'm allocating my time.

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And especially now that we've launched,

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you know, before that you're kind of, it

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was all the back behind scene stuff.

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And now that we've launched and we're at

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a university and we've got, you know,

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thousands of students on the app, it's

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then thinking about how are we keeping

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people on the app, how are we making it

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better, you know, constantly

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taking on, what's it called?

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Constantly taking on

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feedback from students.

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And it's just a

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different form of busyness now,

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but yeah, it has to answer your question.

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Well, I'm sure, I'm sure.

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Shifting a little bit to your focus on

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in-person interactions.

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We know that, yes, statistically, when

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we're connected than ever, but the vast

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majority of people feel,

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myself included, more disconnected.

276

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What role does in-person interactions

277

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play in your personal mental health?

278

00:09:14,166 --> 00:09:15,416

I mean, I think it's, the

279

00:09:15,416 --> 00:09:17,000

evidence speaks for itself, really.

280

00:09:17,791 --> 00:09:19,750

Like I said earlier, we're seeing more

281

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dropouts each year from university and we

282

00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:23,041

are in a world that is

283

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more connected than ever.

284

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Everything is at our fingertips.

285

00:09:26,041 --> 00:09:27,250

And I think, you know, touching on what

286

00:09:27,250 --> 00:09:28,416

you said, it is

287

00:09:28,416 --> 00:09:30,166

overwhelming and it's overstimulating.

288

00:09:30,875 --> 00:09:33,416

And it, I think also the pressure of

289

00:09:33,416 --> 00:09:35,083

social media and the things that it

290

00:09:35,083 --> 00:09:36,500

creates makes in-person

291

00:09:36,500 --> 00:09:38,291

interaction quite difficult now.

292

00:09:39,541 --> 00:09:41,750

And I think, yeah, being together and in

293

00:09:41,750 --> 00:09:43,541

a group of people, especially people that

294

00:09:43,541 --> 00:09:45,791

have the same, you know, interests as you

295

00:09:45,791 --> 00:09:48,291

that you can relate to, it's just, it's,

296

00:09:48,291 --> 00:09:50,291

you know, speaks, the facts and the

297

00:09:50,291 --> 00:09:51,583

figures, and I'm, you know, I'm not a

298

00:09:51,583 --> 00:09:53,666

scientist and nor a kind of professor on

299

00:09:53,666 --> 00:09:56,333

this topic by any means, but I think the,

300

00:09:56,625 --> 00:09:58,625

what evidence we has speaks for itself

301

00:09:58,625 --> 00:10:00,083

that it is just hugely beneficial.

302

00:10:00,333 --> 00:10:02,833

There is no kind of, there's no negative

303

00:10:03,291 --> 00:10:05,291

to being around people that you, you

304

00:10:05,291 --> 00:10:07,166

know, are comfortable with and, and

305

00:10:07,166 --> 00:10:08,875

instead of being on your phone, you know,

306

00:10:08,875 --> 00:10:11,208

and so with us having societies and

307

00:10:11,208 --> 00:10:13,291

clubs, you know, you're playing sport or

308

00:10:13,291 --> 00:10:15,250

you're even doing something like chess or

309

00:10:15,250 --> 00:10:17,000

playing a board game or a reading club

310

00:10:17,333 --> 00:10:18,625

and you're doing something that doesn't

311

00:10:18,625 --> 00:10:20,041

involve social media and it

312

00:10:20,041 --> 00:10:21,083

doesn't involve your phone.

313

00:10:21,083 --> 00:10:22,000

It just involves real

314

00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:23,625

world human interaction.

315

00:10:23,625 --> 00:10:25,375

And that for us is, you know, what we are

316

00:10:25,375 --> 00:10:26,208

most passionate about.

317

00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:28,291

I also think there's so much

318

00:10:28,291 --> 00:10:30,750

disconnection in general discord.

319

00:10:31,458 --> 00:10:33,750

And when you're with somebody in person

320

00:10:34,125 --> 00:10:35,625

and you're making new connections, even

321

00:10:35,625 --> 00:10:38,000

if you don't always agree, you can see

322

00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,458

them as a human and see their humanity

323

00:10:40,666 --> 00:10:42,333

and their kindness and their empathy and

324

00:10:42,333 --> 00:10:44,916

maybe how they have become who they are,

325

00:10:45,166 --> 00:10:46,666

even if you don't always agree with

326

00:10:46,666 --> 00:10:49,500

everything they say, that's what is key

327

00:10:49,500 --> 00:10:51,875

about human interaction for me that we

328

00:10:51,875 --> 00:10:53,833

miss if we spend all of our time online.

329

00:10:54,791 --> 00:10:55,833

I completely agree.

330

00:10:55,833 --> 00:10:58,083

And I think when, when we, last year

331

00:10:58,083 --> 00:10:58,958

actually we did a

332

00:10:58,958 --> 00:11:01,875

university conference in London.

333

00:11:01,875 --> 00:11:03,291

It was one of the first kind of events

334

00:11:03,291 --> 00:11:05,375

that we've done kind of as business, as

335

00:11:05,375 --> 00:11:06,041

an app, but it was a

336

00:11:06,041 --> 00:11:07,041

really big thing for us.

337

00:11:07,791 --> 00:11:09,333

And we got to speak, it was about mental

338

00:11:09,333 --> 00:11:10,916

health and we got to speak to lots of

339

00:11:10,916 --> 00:11:13,000

university leaders and from all different

340

00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,208

universities across the UK.

341

00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,750

And they were really interested in what

342

00:11:16,750 --> 00:11:18,875

we were kind of, I

343

00:11:18,875 --> 00:11:19,875

guess, selling to them,

344

00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,125

but also hearing from them about how, you

345

00:11:24,125 --> 00:11:25,541

know, these people have worked within the

346

00:11:25,541 --> 00:11:27,791

university system for, you know, years

347

00:11:27,791 --> 00:11:29,000

and years, they are professionals.

348

00:11:29,708 --> 00:11:31,083

And they were saying kind of the effect

349

00:11:31,083 --> 00:11:32,333

that they've seen from

350

00:11:32,333 --> 00:11:33,958

lack of human connection.

351

00:11:33,958 --> 00:11:35,583

And like you said, even just disagreeing

352

00:11:35,583 --> 00:11:36,625

with someone, that makes

353

00:11:36,625 --> 00:11:38,375

us human, that is normal.

354

00:11:39,250 --> 00:11:41,041

And, you know, we, I said, you know, we

355

00:11:41,041 --> 00:11:43,833

both said me and Dan that for us, it's

356

00:11:43,833 --> 00:11:45,958

about getting people off their phones.

357

00:11:46,166 --> 00:11:47,583

And like you said, even if it's joining

358

00:11:47,583 --> 00:11:49,791

the debate society, you're with someone

359

00:11:49,791 --> 00:11:51,291

and you're not necessarily agreeing with

360

00:11:51,291 --> 00:11:53,416

them, but you're interacting with them.

361

00:11:53,416 --> 00:11:55,750

I think what's happened, you know, I

362

00:11:55,750 --> 00:11:57,750

mean, I'm young and I have grown up in an

363

00:11:57,750 --> 00:12:00,041

age of social media, but I can, I think

364

00:12:00,041 --> 00:12:01,625

doing this has helped me recognise that

365

00:12:01,625 --> 00:12:03,416

what's happened with social media is that

366

00:12:03,416 --> 00:12:06,708

you form these connections online without

367

00:12:06,708 --> 00:12:08,458

human interaction, without physical

368

00:12:08,458 --> 00:12:10,000

touch, without physical conversation.

369

00:12:10,666 --> 00:12:12,625

And your brain is lulled into this sense

370

00:12:12,625 --> 00:12:14,250

of security, but it's not real.

371

00:12:14,458 --> 00:12:16,458

And I think there is something human

372

00:12:16,458 --> 00:12:17,291

inside of us that

373

00:12:17,291 --> 00:12:18,750

realises that it's not real.

374

00:12:18,750 --> 00:12:19,666

And then that's where the

375

00:12:19,666 --> 00:12:21,166

kind of issues stem from.

376

00:12:22,708 --> 00:12:25,333

And yeah, that's why we kind of are like,

377

00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:26,875

we can change this, we

378

00:12:26,875 --> 00:12:28,416

can do something about this.

379

00:12:28,500 --> 00:12:30,208

Well, that's where the sadness comes in,

380

00:12:30,541 --> 00:12:32,291

is those feelings of isolation and

381

00:12:32,291 --> 00:12:33,458

loneliness are overwhelming.

382

00:12:34,666 --> 00:12:35,291

Completely.

383

00:12:35,666 --> 00:12:36,291

And I think there is

384

00:12:36,291 --> 00:12:37,333

a massive connection.

385

00:12:37,333 --> 00:12:38,958

We ran a survey actually right at the

386

00:12:38,958 --> 00:12:40,750

start, well Dan did for market research.

387

00:12:40,750 --> 00:12:41,500

And I think he sent it

388

00:12:41,500 --> 00:12:43,000

out to about 500 people.

389

00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:43,750

Shout out to Dan.

390

00:12:44,916 --> 00:12:45,791

Yeah, shout out to Dan.

391

00:12:46,250 --> 00:12:47,208

He's doing all the work.

392

00:12:47,500 --> 00:12:50,625

And it was 92% of the, they're all

393

00:12:50,625 --> 00:12:52,208

university students that did the survey.

394

00:12:52,791 --> 00:12:55,291

92% of them said they'd experienced some

395

00:12:55,291 --> 00:12:56,541

form of isolation or

396

00:12:56,541 --> 00:12:57,625

loneliness at university.

397

00:12:58,333 --> 00:12:59,333

And that isn't normal.

398

00:12:59,791 --> 00:13:03,250

I think if we looked 30 years ago when

399

00:13:03,250 --> 00:13:06,333

phones weren't around and I wasn't even

400

00:13:06,333 --> 00:13:09,916

alive, that wouldn't be the same.

401

00:13:10,458 --> 00:13:13,541

I think that it has created this false

402

00:13:13,541 --> 00:13:16,916

sense of security that after a few weeks,

403

00:13:16,916 --> 00:13:18,666

the novelty wears off and it's kind of

404

00:13:18,666 --> 00:13:20,041

like, oh God, I don't know anyone.

405

00:13:20,458 --> 00:13:21,500

And also then is that

406

00:13:21,500 --> 00:13:22,750

feeling that you're too late.

407

00:13:23,250 --> 00:13:24,625

I'm too late to join a society.

408

00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:26,000

I'm too late to join a club.

409

00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,166

I'm too late to do this because

410

00:13:27,166 --> 00:13:28,791

everyone's following these accounts now.

411

00:13:29,166 --> 00:13:30,166

Everyone's involved in them.

412

00:13:30,166 --> 00:13:32,125

And I can't break in now.

413

00:13:32,125 --> 00:13:33,500

And now I'm alone and I'm stuck.

414

00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:38,125

And so I think again with tandem, having

415

00:13:38,125 --> 00:13:40,416

it there at all times and not seeing the

416

00:13:40,416 --> 00:13:41,958

other things that are going on, you just

417

00:13:41,958 --> 00:13:42,791

know, okay, that's there.

418

00:13:42,791 --> 00:13:43,750

People are going to that event.

419

00:13:44,333 --> 00:13:45,166

I can do the same.

420

00:13:45,875 --> 00:13:48,583

And it's also about stepping outside of

421

00:13:48,583 --> 00:13:51,000

your comfort zone and making it easier

422

00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:52,041

for people to do that.

423

00:13:52,583 --> 00:13:54,666

And I think it reminds you who you are in

424

00:13:54,666 --> 00:13:56,083

relation to other people.

425

00:13:56,583 --> 00:13:58,166

Cause one thing I know that I have fallen

426

00:13:58,166 --> 00:14:00,208

into before is when you're not out

427

00:14:00,208 --> 00:14:02,166

meeting new people, talking about your

428

00:14:02,166 --> 00:14:03,916

passions, your interest, your values,

429

00:14:04,666 --> 00:14:07,041

your mission, you start to become less

430

00:14:07,041 --> 00:14:07,958

and less clear on what

431

00:14:07,958 --> 00:14:10,541

that actually is. 100%, yeah.

432

00:14:11,125 --> 00:14:14,041

And I think like you just said, you know,

433

00:14:14,500 --> 00:14:16,000

we are a kind of as a

434

00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,375

human, what we do is what we are.

435

00:14:18,375 --> 00:14:20,000

And so if we're not doing anything, you

436

00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,041

lose your self-worth.

437

00:14:21,958 --> 00:14:23,791

And to have that happen at such a young

438

00:14:23,791 --> 00:14:25,500

age is quite a scary thing.

439

00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:28,250

You know, the vast majority of university

440

00:14:28,250 --> 00:14:30,416

students are 18 to 24 year olds.

441

00:14:30,416 --> 00:14:31,708

It's the start of a kind of

442

00:14:31,708 --> 00:14:33,125

new chapter of someone's life.

443

00:14:33,708 --> 00:14:35,083

And if you're unable to make physical

444

00:14:35,083 --> 00:14:36,791

connection and you kind of, like you

445

00:14:36,791 --> 00:14:39,375

said, fall into this lack of motivation

446

00:14:39,791 --> 00:14:42,166

and unknowing of what your purpose even

447

00:14:42,166 --> 00:14:43,458

is, that's when it

448

00:14:43,458 --> 00:14:44,458

becomes really dangerous.

449

00:14:44,458 --> 00:14:46,166

And that's also where we see, we see

450

00:14:46,166 --> 00:14:47,208

people isolate themselves.

451

00:14:47,208 --> 00:14:49,500

We see people drop out of uni and it

452

00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:50,875

sometimes can be a really dangerous

453

00:14:50,875 --> 00:14:52,333

downward spiral from that point.

454

00:14:54,291 --> 00:14:55,541

You know, I read something brilliant.

455

00:14:55,750 --> 00:14:57,000

It was sometime this week.

456

00:14:57,416 --> 00:14:58,583

It said, if you don't give your

457

00:14:58,583 --> 00:15:01,416

creativity and your need for connection

458

00:15:01,416 --> 00:15:03,625

and outlet, it will find one as

459

00:15:03,625 --> 00:15:05,750

limerence, as obsession, as

460

00:15:05,750 --> 00:15:07,250

depression, the list went on.

461

00:15:07,958 --> 00:15:09,708

I'm not saying that's necessarily always

462

00:15:09,708 --> 00:15:12,500

true, but I found it interesting that

463

00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:15,291

we're looking for this innate need that

464

00:15:15,291 --> 00:15:16,333

we have to connect and

465

00:15:16,333 --> 00:15:17,583

we're looking to fulfill it.

466

00:15:18,333 --> 00:15:20,666

And if we can't, that's when we, you

467

00:15:20,666 --> 00:15:23,291

know, fall into perhaps this anxiety and

468

00:15:23,291 --> 00:15:24,541

all of that different stuff I mentioned.

469

00:15:25,708 --> 00:15:26,500

Yeah, definitely.

470

00:15:26,708 --> 00:15:28,500

And I also think there's so much

471

00:15:28,500 --> 00:15:32,458

information now out there that it's too

472

00:15:32,458 --> 00:15:34,250

much for our brains to cope with.

473

00:15:34,666 --> 00:15:36,958

And we latch onto different things, you

474

00:15:36,958 --> 00:15:39,750

know, we self-diagnose and we come up

475

00:15:39,750 --> 00:15:41,500

with things and it eats at us.

476

00:15:41,791 --> 00:15:43,500

And it's easy for that to happen when you

477

00:15:43,500 --> 00:15:45,833

have isolated yourself already and you're

478

00:15:45,833 --> 00:15:47,375

not seeing other people and you're not

479

00:15:47,375 --> 00:15:49,333

going out and you're not, you know, and I

480

00:15:49,333 --> 00:15:51,708

think, you know, coming back to tandem in

481

00:15:51,708 --> 00:15:54,375

that sense that that's why we wanted to

482

00:15:54,375 --> 00:15:55,958

make it really basic and we wanted to

483

00:15:55,958 --> 00:15:57,250

make it that it wasn't somewhere you

484

00:15:57,250 --> 00:15:59,000

could sit on for hours and scroll, it was

485

00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,583

somewhere that you would instantly see,

486

00:16:01,250 --> 00:16:02,375

this is what I wanna do.

487

00:16:02,791 --> 00:16:05,125

There are people going that I know have

488

00:16:05,125 --> 00:16:06,166

the same interest as me,

489

00:16:06,416 --> 00:16:07,833

I'm just gonna go and do it.

490

00:16:08,500 --> 00:16:09,958

As opposed to going on Instagram,

491

00:16:10,291 --> 00:16:11,958

scrolling and trying to find this thing

492

00:16:11,958 --> 00:16:13,291

and then getting distracted and then

493

00:16:13,291 --> 00:16:14,208

you're there for two hours

494

00:16:14,208 --> 00:16:15,291

and you've not done the thing.

495

00:16:15,291 --> 00:16:16,083

And we're all guilty

496

00:16:16,083 --> 00:16:17,541

for it, I'm guilty for it.

497

00:16:18,041 --> 00:16:19,083

But, you know, it's

498

00:16:19,083 --> 00:16:20,375

about making things easier.

499

00:16:20,458 --> 00:16:20,833

And I think,

500

00:16:21,875 --> 00:16:23,541

like I said earlier, it's such a, we're

501

00:16:23,541 --> 00:16:24,875

in such a time of complexity

502

00:16:24,875 --> 00:16:26,166

and almost too much choice.

503

00:16:26,166 --> 00:16:27,625

I think we've got too much choice and our

504

00:16:27,625 --> 00:16:29,250

brains aren't used to the amount of

505

00:16:29,250 --> 00:16:30,541

choice and things, you

506

00:16:30,541 --> 00:16:32,250

know, that we're seeing online.

507

00:16:32,833 --> 00:16:34,333

And so to kind of take ourselves away

508

00:16:34,333 --> 00:16:35,916

from that, especially as a student that's

509

00:16:35,916 --> 00:16:38,250

already got things going on, makes life

510

00:16:38,250 --> 00:16:40,500

easier and it makes making connections

511

00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:42,208

easier, you know, as a result.

512

00:16:43,333 --> 00:16:45,375

How do you envision tandem being a part

513

00:16:45,375 --> 00:16:47,958

of changing this issue, this problem,

514

00:16:47,958 --> 00:16:50,541

this narrative across the entire UK?

515

00:16:52,208 --> 00:16:53,208

That's a really good question.

516

00:16:54,208 --> 00:16:56,000

You know, I think we'd love to see it in

517

00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,458

universities, you know, across the UK and

518

00:16:58,458 --> 00:17:00,000

we'd love to see it in every university.

519

00:17:00,416 --> 00:17:02,500

And we'd love to see it as a way, you

520

00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:03,291

know, we're currently,

521

00:17:03,291 --> 00:17:04,583

we collab with the SU.

522

00:17:04,583 --> 00:17:06,583

So it's not about taking away from what

523

00:17:06,583 --> 00:17:08,000

the university is doing.

524

00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:09,541

It's about working alongside the

525

00:17:09,541 --> 00:17:12,666

university and just using it as an easier

526

00:17:12,666 --> 00:17:14,458

pipeline to kind of to put

527

00:17:14,458 --> 00:17:16,000

things and for people to be.

528

00:17:16,291 --> 00:17:18,291

And, you know, we've had quite a few

529

00:17:18,291 --> 00:17:20,458

events society admins come up to us and

530

00:17:20,458 --> 00:17:21,625

be like, this has made our life so much

531

00:17:21,625 --> 00:17:23,000

easier because we know that people are

532

00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,791

seeing our things now and we're having

533

00:17:24,791 --> 00:17:26,375

more attendance, we're having more people

534

00:17:26,375 --> 00:17:27,625

turn up and that's what we want.

535

00:17:27,625 --> 00:17:29,750

We want more people going to things and

536

00:17:29,750 --> 00:17:30,791

forming communities.

537

00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:33,791

I think universities want community.

538

00:17:34,666 --> 00:17:36,541

And so I think if we can help create

539

00:17:36,541 --> 00:17:38,083

community across the UK,

540

00:17:38,083 --> 00:17:39,666

then that would be amazing.

541

00:17:39,666 --> 00:17:41,541

You know, we don't want to be, you know,

542

00:17:41,750 --> 00:17:43,541

we're not trying to replace something,

543

00:17:43,541 --> 00:17:44,500

we're just trying to help

544

00:17:44,500 --> 00:17:46,083

with a problem that's there.

545

00:17:47,583 --> 00:17:50,041

And I think you're helping by, I know for

546

00:17:50,041 --> 00:17:53,250

myself personally, I get very overwhelmed

547

00:17:53,250 --> 00:17:54,541

if there's too many choices.

548

00:17:55,250 --> 00:17:56,083

And so then I'll shut

549

00:17:56,083 --> 00:17:57,416

down and not make a choice.

550

00:17:58,083 --> 00:18:00,083

What I love is that your app is simple

551

00:18:00,083 --> 00:18:04,166

and it's clean so that anyone can use it.

552

00:18:04,708 --> 00:18:05,708

And they don't have to

553

00:18:05,708 --> 00:18:07,166

have that overwhelm shutdown.

554

00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:09,583

Yeah, and that's, you know, that's one of

555

00:18:09,583 --> 00:18:11,250

the things when we were creating the app

556

00:18:11,541 --> 00:18:13,916

that it was like, there's an, as soon as

557

00:18:13,916 --> 00:18:16,291

you log in, you put your interest in and

558

00:18:16,291 --> 00:18:18,416

it will then generate basically events

559

00:18:18,416 --> 00:18:20,000

and societies that it thinks that you

560

00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,875

will be interested in, as opposed to

561

00:18:21,875 --> 00:18:23,000

having to go through loads.

562

00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:24,333

And like you said, it gets to a point

563

00:18:24,333 --> 00:18:25,291

where it's like, well, I've not seen

564

00:18:25,291 --> 00:18:26,250

anything that I like.

565

00:18:26,916 --> 00:18:28,500

And now I'm like, totally.

566

00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:30,083

And also even just going to a freshest

567

00:18:30,083 --> 00:18:31,083

fair for some people can

568

00:18:31,083 --> 00:18:32,083

be really overwhelming.

569

00:18:32,708 --> 00:18:34,000

You know, there's a lot of people in one

570

00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:35,791

room, a lot of voices going on.

571

00:18:36,166 --> 00:18:37,666

And it is like, you come out almost

572

00:18:37,666 --> 00:18:39,500

thinking, I've got a load of free things,

573

00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:40,708

but I don't know what I

574

00:18:40,708 --> 00:18:41,791

want to be involved with.

575

00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:44,375

And so something like tandem is nearly,

576

00:18:44,875 --> 00:18:46,541

you know, when you start university, you

577

00:18:46,541 --> 00:18:48,083

can see everything in one place without

578

00:18:48,083 --> 00:18:50,666

the stress of being in a room full of

579

00:18:50,666 --> 00:18:52,083

people and full of new people.

580

00:18:52,083 --> 00:18:55,041

Because, you know, it's, I think there's

581

00:18:55,041 --> 00:18:56,541

also this thing when you go to uni that

582

00:18:56,541 --> 00:18:58,708

it is, it's obviously a very social time,

583

00:18:59,125 --> 00:19:00,916

but for some people that isn't natural.

584

00:19:01,166 --> 00:19:04,250

And so we don't want to, we don't want to

585

00:19:04,250 --> 00:19:05,833

force this kind of

586

00:19:05,833 --> 00:19:08,041

intense socialness on people.

587

00:19:08,041 --> 00:19:10,208

And so actually it's subtle in the sense

588

00:19:10,208 --> 00:19:12,000

that people can just go on an app and

589

00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:13,916

it's like a hallway of what you can do,

590

00:19:14,208 --> 00:19:15,416

what's going on, who's

591

00:19:15,416 --> 00:19:17,125

there without all the people in.

592

00:19:17,458 --> 00:19:18,000

It's a choice.

593

00:19:18,625 --> 00:19:19,875

What does success look

594

00:19:19,875 --> 00:19:22,541

like with tandem for you?

595

00:19:23,625 --> 00:19:24,541

How do you measure it?

596

00:19:26,083 --> 00:19:27,000

It's a good question.

597

00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:27,708

I think it's, you know,

598

00:19:27,708 --> 00:19:29,041

we're in the early stages now.

599

00:19:29,250 --> 00:19:30,916

So for at the minute it's feedback, you

600

00:19:30,916 --> 00:19:32,416

know, what we're hearing from students

601

00:19:32,541 --> 00:19:33,958

and what's going well as

602

00:19:33,958 --> 00:19:35,750

much as also what's going wrong.

603

00:19:35,750 --> 00:19:36,625

What can we improve?

604

00:19:36,625 --> 00:19:38,375

Because that's the kind of beauty of it

605

00:19:38,375 --> 00:19:40,000

at the minute is we're in a small place.

606

00:19:40,208 --> 00:19:41,583

And so, you know, we're at one

607

00:19:41,583 --> 00:19:43,875

university, we're working alongside the

608

00:19:43,875 --> 00:19:45,541

SU there with the SU.

609

00:19:45,541 --> 00:19:46,958

And so we're getting amazing feedback.

610

00:19:47,208 --> 00:19:50,000

And so I think in the short run, it's

611

00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,000

just getting as many students to things

612

00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000

as possible and hopefully seeing an

613

00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:55,500

improvement in the day-to-day life of

614

00:19:55,500 --> 00:19:57,291

students, you know, at Warwick at the

615

00:19:57,291 --> 00:19:58,000

minute, which is where

616

00:19:58,000 --> 00:19:59,666

we did our pilot launch.

617

00:19:59,875 --> 00:20:01,708

And then, you know, in the future, doing

618

00:20:01,708 --> 00:20:04,541

the same across the UK and just being

619

00:20:04,541 --> 00:20:07,125

there as a support system to societies,

620

00:20:07,125 --> 00:20:09,291

clubs and students, you know, and helping

621

00:20:09,291 --> 00:20:10,500

people find their people.

622

00:20:11,416 --> 00:20:12,833

I'm gonna give you a quick compliment.

623

00:20:13,125 --> 00:20:15,875

I think your emotional intelligence is

624

00:20:15,875 --> 00:20:18,000

incredible and brilliant and you should

625

00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,041

be so proud of yourself.

626

00:20:19,250 --> 00:20:19,833

That's a complete

627

00:20:19,833 --> 00:20:21,625

aside, but I'm being honest.

628

00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:24,083

Oh, I'm blushing, thank you.

629

00:20:24,625 --> 00:20:26,416

Oh no, we can't have you blush.

630

00:20:26,416 --> 00:20:27,208

We gotta say, we gotta

631

00:20:27,208 --> 00:20:28,041

talk about Dan again.

632

00:20:28,500 --> 00:20:28,916

No, I'm joking.

633

00:20:29,166 --> 00:20:31,000

Yeah, I know, Dan's gonna be blushing.

634

00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:32,208

You know, and that's the

635

00:20:32,208 --> 00:20:34,500

thing, Dan has been amazing.

636

00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:36,583

And I'm very grateful that Dan came to me

637

00:20:36,583 --> 00:20:37,375

and said, do you wanna

638

00:20:37,375 --> 00:20:38,458

be involved with this?

639

00:20:39,458 --> 00:20:40,625

You know, there's been times where we're

640

00:20:40,625 --> 00:20:41,041

like, oh my God, I'm so busy.

641

00:20:41,041 --> 00:20:42,458

I can see why he chose you.

642

00:20:43,166 --> 00:20:47,166

So much going on, but actually he's

643

00:20:47,166 --> 00:20:48,625

incredible and he does such a good job.

644

00:20:48,625 --> 00:20:50,083

He is so passionate about it

645

00:20:50,083 --> 00:20:52,166

and it makes the whole thing.

646

00:20:52,166 --> 00:20:54,416

It makes being so easy to work with him

647

00:20:54,416 --> 00:20:55,000

because he is so

648

00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:56,416

passionate about making it work.

649

00:20:57,625 --> 00:21:00,208

And you know, it's a cause as much as it

650

00:21:00,208 --> 00:21:01,208

is a business for us.

651

00:21:02,125 --> 00:21:02,958

There's a meaning, there

652

00:21:02,958 --> 00:21:04,208

is a purpose behind it.

653

00:21:04,541 --> 00:21:07,166

And so yeah, it's

654

00:21:07,166 --> 00:21:08,500

exciting, it's really exciting.

655

00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,375

I wanna shift our conversation just a

656

00:21:11,375 --> 00:21:12,333

little bit to a very

657

00:21:12,333 --> 00:21:14,083

hard question for you.

658

00:21:15,125 --> 00:21:16,333

So here it is.

659

00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,333

If you were going to give three pieces of

660

00:21:19,333 --> 00:21:21,833

advice to university-age students, these

661

00:21:21,833 --> 00:21:23,541

pieces of advice can be about anything.

662

00:21:24,375 --> 00:21:24,958

What would those

663

00:21:24,958 --> 00:21:26,083

three pieces of advice be?

664

00:21:28,375 --> 00:21:30,250

I know, it's a dicey question.

665

00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:31,833

It is a hard question.

666

00:21:32,750 --> 00:21:34,041

I think the first is obvious,

667

00:21:35,791 --> 00:21:37,416

it's gonna be an uncomfortable time.

668

00:21:37,791 --> 00:21:40,541

And I think as cliche as it is, you've

669

00:21:40,541 --> 00:21:41,333

gotta do uncomfortable

670

00:21:41,333 --> 00:21:42,750

things to grow as a person.

671

00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:45,666

And so it's about kind of every day, even

672

00:21:45,666 --> 00:21:47,208

if it's just going, okay, I'm gonna just

673

00:21:47,208 --> 00:21:48,791

do something that makes me tiny.

674

00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,208

Even if that is cooking a meal as opposed

675

00:21:51,208 --> 00:21:53,166

to putting something in the microwave, do

676

00:21:53,166 --> 00:21:53,916

something that will

677

00:21:53,916 --> 00:21:55,208

help you as a person grow.

678

00:21:56,291 --> 00:21:58,000

And that makes life around

679

00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,166

being at university easier.

680

00:21:59,625 --> 00:22:03,458

I would say, think about your degree, but

681

00:22:03,458 --> 00:22:05,666

also think about going out and meeting

682

00:22:05,666 --> 00:22:07,750

people because you meet some of the best

683

00:22:07,750 --> 00:22:09,375

people at university and you

684

00:22:09,375 --> 00:22:10,791

meet your friends for life.

685

00:22:11,041 --> 00:22:13,583

I always think when you go to uni, it's

686

00:22:13,583 --> 00:22:15,583

so different to school because there are

687

00:22:15,583 --> 00:22:16,583

so many more people, you

688

00:22:16,583 --> 00:22:17,625

have so much more choice.

689

00:22:18,416 --> 00:22:20,000

And you really, I think finding your

690

00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:21,750

people at uni is such a special thing.

691

00:22:22,791 --> 00:22:24,125

And I'd also say, join a

692

00:22:24,125 --> 00:22:25,750

sport or a club or something.

693

00:22:26,458 --> 00:22:27,958

And I know that kind of links in with

694

00:22:27,958 --> 00:22:30,000

Tanya, but I truly mean that without even

695

00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,000

kind of thinking of the app is doing

696

00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,166

something with people as a team, or it

697

00:22:36,166 --> 00:22:39,083

builds you up as a person and it's gonna

698

00:22:39,083 --> 00:22:40,166

help you in the future,

699

00:22:40,541 --> 00:22:42,000

in work and in the world.

700

00:22:42,625 --> 00:22:43,958

I think a sport is amazing.

701

00:22:43,958 --> 00:22:45,583

I'm such a huge advocate for sport.

702

00:22:45,583 --> 00:22:47,416

I think if you could pick up a sport at

703

00:22:47,416 --> 00:22:48,833

uni, even if it's something you've never

704

00:22:48,833 --> 00:22:50,250

done before, you're

705

00:22:50,250 --> 00:22:51,166

gonna have a great time.

706

00:22:51,375 --> 00:22:52,958

And also if it's something you've never

707

00:22:52,958 --> 00:22:54,375

done before, likelihood is you're gonna

708

00:22:54,375 --> 00:22:55,458

be with people who also

709

00:22:55,458 --> 00:22:56,208

haven't done it before.

710

00:22:56,333 --> 00:22:56,833

So you're all making

711

00:22:56,833 --> 00:22:58,333

mistakes at the same time.

712

00:22:58,916 --> 00:23:00,583

I picked up pole vault last year, which

713

00:23:00,583 --> 00:23:02,083

was the most random thing ever.

714

00:23:02,125 --> 00:23:02,666

I love that.

715

00:23:02,666 --> 00:23:03,125

And I loved it.

716

00:23:03,125 --> 00:23:04,041

We met great people.

717

00:23:04,291 --> 00:23:05,708

And so yeah, it's just doing

718

00:23:05,708 --> 00:23:06,916

things that make you feel good.

719

00:23:07,333 --> 00:23:09,416

And don't worry too much about,

720

00:23:10,458 --> 00:23:11,000

obviously you've got to

721

00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:11,791

think about your degree.

722

00:23:11,791 --> 00:23:12,750

That's very important.

723

00:23:13,166 --> 00:23:14,708

But I think having balance

724

00:23:14,708 --> 00:23:16,500

is also just as important.

725

00:23:17,791 --> 00:23:19,250

What is your degree in curiosity?

726

00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:21,083

I do geography.

727

00:23:21,541 --> 00:23:23,541

So very different to the ed tech space,

728

00:23:23,541 --> 00:23:24,958

but I think there are some transferable

729

00:23:24,958 --> 00:23:25,958

skills in there definitely.

730

00:23:26,416 --> 00:23:28,416

Oh, there's always a transferable skill.

731

00:23:28,458 --> 00:23:29,916

There's always a transferable skill.

732

00:23:29,916 --> 00:23:30,958

I really enjoy it, but

733

00:23:30,958 --> 00:23:33,125

yeah, it is a bit random.

734

00:23:33,875 --> 00:23:34,875

I think that's incredible.

735

00:23:35,666 --> 00:23:37,958

As we start to wrap up here, is there any

736

00:23:37,958 --> 00:23:40,375

quote or piece of advice that has

737

00:23:40,375 --> 00:23:42,500

resonated for you that you would wanna

738

00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:43,250

share with students?

739

00:23:45,750 --> 00:23:46,875

Quote or piece of advice?

740

00:23:48,916 --> 00:23:50,333

I feel like I've given out loads of

741

00:23:50,333 --> 00:23:52,083

advice in the last question.

742

00:23:53,375 --> 00:23:57,041

I would say be open-minded.

743

00:23:58,291 --> 00:24:00,125

It's a very open-ended way of putting

744

00:24:00,125 --> 00:24:02,000

things, but just be as open-minded to

745

00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,083

anything, to people, to activities, to

746

00:24:05,083 --> 00:24:05,791

even to things you're

747

00:24:05,791 --> 00:24:06,833

learning in your lectures.

748

00:24:06,833 --> 00:24:08,000

You never know where something's gonna

749

00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,666

take you and what you're gonna learn.

750

00:24:10,166 --> 00:24:11,666

And so I think when you go to university,

751

00:24:11,875 --> 00:24:13,041

just keep an open mind.

752

00:24:13,875 --> 00:24:14,458

That's beautiful.

753

00:24:14,708 --> 00:24:17,041

I've had so much fun talking to you and

754

00:24:17,041 --> 00:24:18,000

learning about Tandem.

755

00:24:18,250 --> 00:24:20,708

So if someone wants to follow Tandem's

756

00:24:20,708 --> 00:24:22,416

journey, learn more about it.

757

00:24:22,708 --> 00:24:23,291

Where do they go?

758

00:24:24,583 --> 00:24:27,000

So we have Instagram, TikTok, and

759

00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:28,666

Facebook called Tandem Uni App.

760

00:24:28,875 --> 00:24:30,666

And then we also have a website which has

761

00:24:30,666 --> 00:24:31,375

a link on it where

762

00:24:31,375 --> 00:24:32,458

you can reach out to us.

763

00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:33,750

Dan and I both have

764

00:24:33,750 --> 00:24:35,750

LinkedIn, Dan Barnet, and Lois Logan.

765

00:24:36,250 --> 00:24:37,958

We're always keen to chat with people,

766

00:24:38,333 --> 00:24:39,375

especially students.

767

00:24:39,375 --> 00:24:40,208

We're so interested in

768

00:24:40,208 --> 00:24:41,208

hearing student stories.

769

00:24:41,875 --> 00:24:42,500

So yeah.

770

00:24:43,500 --> 00:24:44,166

That's beautiful.

771

00:24:44,166 --> 00:24:44,875

I have to say your

772

00:24:44,875 --> 00:24:46,166

name as we close out here.

773

00:24:46,166 --> 00:24:46,750

Lois Logan.

774

00:24:47,583 --> 00:24:48,583

That was actually what I

775

00:24:48,583 --> 00:24:49,750

wanted when I was a little girl.

776

00:24:49,916 --> 00:24:50,708

I said, I wanna have an

777

00:24:50,708 --> 00:24:52,125

alliterated name one day.

778

00:24:53,583 --> 00:24:54,958

(Both Laughing) Well, my parents, yeah, my

779

00:24:54,958 --> 00:24:56,291

parents were on it there.

780

00:24:56,333 --> 00:24:57,958

Good job, Lois parents.

781

00:24:58,416 --> 00:24:59,708

Because that was, I started when I was

782

00:24:59,708 --> 00:25:01,333

like four, I was like, I wish my last

783

00:25:01,333 --> 00:25:02,458

name started with a B.

784

00:25:03,166 --> 00:25:05,791

So Lois, thank you for being here, for

785

00:25:05,791 --> 00:25:07,750

sharing A, your beautiful name with us.

786

00:25:08,208 --> 00:25:10,000

But more importantly, sharing your

787

00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,166

beautiful mission, your heart behind

788

00:25:12,166 --> 00:25:14,416

Tandem and everything you are doing to

789

00:25:14,416 --> 00:25:16,125

make another student's life better.

790

00:25:16,125 --> 00:25:18,000

It's admirable, it's beautiful, and we

791

00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,000

are so glad to have you.

792

00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:22,041

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

793

00:25:22,041 --> 00:25:23,166

I've really enjoyed our chat.

794

00:25:23,625 --> 00:25:24,208

Me too.

795

00:25:24,208 --> 00:25:25,583

And thank you so much everyone for

796

00:25:25,583 --> 00:25:27,958

joining us on another episode of the

797

00:25:27,958 --> 00:25:29,375

Campus Chronicles podcast.

798

00:25:32,125 --> 00:25:34,500

So if today's episode gave you life,

799

00:25:34,791 --> 00:25:37,416

perspective, or just a much needed moment

800

00:25:37,416 --> 00:25:40,000

to breathe in a busy world, I don't want

801

00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:41,083

you to keep it to yourself.

802

00:25:41,916 --> 00:25:44,583

Share it, tag us, please send it to a

803

00:25:44,583 --> 00:25:46,166

friend who needs to hear it.

804

00:25:46,708 --> 00:25:48,166

And if you're not on our

805

00:25:48,166 --> 00:25:50,250

newsletter yet, what are you doing?

806

00:25:50,791 --> 00:25:51,166

Go to

807

00:25:51,166 --> 00:25:54,291

campuschroniclespod.com and join the crew.

808

00:25:54,750 --> 00:25:57,208

We have all the behind the scenes things,

809

00:25:57,500 --> 00:26:00,041

unfiltered thoughts from me and the team,

810

00:26:00,666 --> 00:26:03,416

bonus resources and insider only invites

811

00:26:03,416 --> 00:26:06,166

to events, giveaways and things that we

812

00:26:06,166 --> 00:26:08,333

really don't post anywhere else.

813

00:26:08,916 --> 00:26:10,750

I promise I'm not gonna spam you.

814

00:26:11,291 --> 00:26:12,375

It's just the good stuff

815

00:26:12,375 --> 00:26:13,541

straight to your inbox.

816

00:26:14,375 --> 00:26:16,416

Being in university is wild enough.

817

00:26:16,791 --> 00:26:17,541

You don't need to

818

00:26:17,541 --> 00:26:18,916

miss out on what matters.

819

00:26:19,666 --> 00:26:22,000

Sign up now and let's make this next

820

00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,708

semester the one that you stop

821

00:26:23,708 --> 00:26:26,458

surviving and start thriving.

822

00:26:27,500 --> 00:26:30,833

Until next time, stay bold, stay curious,

823

00:26:30,833 --> 00:26:32,333

keep writing your own chapter.

824

00:26:33,083 --> 00:26:34,708

This is Campus Chronicles.

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