University of Misery
while my capstone challenged me, my largest college project was something much more secretive. motivated to start a podcast, i created a twitter by the name university of misery where i tweeted bits of relatable, college-themed humor. my busy schedule of classes and clubs depleted my podcast dreams, but i realized that the short quips and jabs at the annoyances of college combined with my online anonymity was starting to form something beautiful. the account was gaining traction and people enjoyed this shared space where they could find tweets that put into words exactly what they were thinking: complaints about icy paths to class, jokes about large-scale reply all incidents, etc.
with the start of the pandemic, university of misery began to evolve from discussing more simple issues on campus to dealing with heavier issues of student concern: inaccessible COVID-19 testing, the university’s refusal to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson on campus, and quarantined students not receiving food deliveries as promised. i became an unknown yet trustworthy investigative journalist as the account provided a place for students to share information and often give me tips on things that were going overlooked. i hoped to give a voice to those who could not be heard, and when some of my tweets got not only attention on campus but found their way into national news outlets, the university was pressured to respond and provide solutions. creating and running this account was an extremely unique experience, and showed me how social media can inspire real change.
