Who are you?
I’m Samantha Juraschka a fourth year student at Bishop’s University and my partner Erin Pollon graduated last spring from Bishop’s. We recently launched an online magazine Uconversation.com. We created this online magazine out of frustration as students. We wanted a way that we could gain experience while still in school, network and hear advice from people that you could relate to (alumni).
What do you do for fun?
Most of our fun these days are spent on our computers, especially up to launch date. We get excited over new technology… we are huge followers of techcrunch and mashable. Erin loves anime cartoons and I am obsessed with youtube especially Conan O’Brien clips. We both played varsity soccer here at Bishop’s so we try to run and play sports when we can separate ourselves from our laptops.
What is your favourite community? Why?
Our favourite community is the Bishop’s community, which is really filled with stories students and fellow alumni are dying to hear about. These stories are what inspired us to Uconversation because we think students can benefit enormously from hearing from alumni and get inspiration for life ahead.
What are your superpowers?
Both Erin and I have two very diverse powers which make us quite a dynamic duo in the superpower realm. Erin is all about action and endurance, sometimes I wonder if she works in her sleep. I myself would consider myself to have daydreamer powers where I am able to think about creative ideas and see the big picture.
How do you use them to build community?
We use these skills to reach out to alumni and share their story with the rest of the Bishop’s community. We hope our website allows more students to reach out and talk to alumni and start networking the moment they step onto campus.
My Three Favourite Things About Samantha and Erin Are…
1. Entrepreneurial Spirit. Combining storytelling, higher education, mentorship, advice, and even a job portal just makes good sense. If not great sense. Being able to create your own work – as recognizing gaps/problems and turning them into opportunities/solutions – is one of my favourite things about twenty-first-century world-changers (people). With their endurace and creativity, Samantha and Erin are carving out some interesting territory in a dynamic social space.
2. Building Online Community. Through storytelling, uconversation.com connects people, ideas and opportunities in an innovative and engaging way. As I manipulate encourage my coming-of-age cousins to attend Bishop’s University, they will be able to get a powerful sense of what community – particularly BU community – means by exploring the stories and connections of this online space.
3. Leveraging The Awesome. Bishop’s University is awesome. Everyone knows this. But not all of the school’s students and alumni leverage such awesomeness in their daily lives. Samantha and Erin have made much of their university experience, the friends and connections that it earned them, and the awesome sense of community that Bishop’s provides. I can’t wait to see how this supercool project evolves over time.
Raise a toast, ladies!
As told by John Horn…