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Random Connection

I had opportunity to visit my mentee at his college campus earlier in the month. S is a freshman and getting into the swing of things, understanding the joys and struggles of long awaited freedom that comes with adulthood. Yet again as I have seen with a few kids I have know cross this rite of passage, S was staying close to the few people he lucked upon in the first days and weeks. The parties are large, noisy and places where you come and go with your smaller group. That group solidifies into the folks you spend the balance of your time as house-mates in off-campus housing. The potential offered by the large and diverse student body remains unexplored. In this college as I have seen with others, there is not systematic effort to create connections between people whose paths would never cross in the natural course of events because they are too part apart. 

This is exactly the type of connection that could elevate the college experience and would force young people out of their comfort zone. I was imagining the difference it would make for S and his small group of friends if there was a weekly mixer involving two or three dozen students brought together because they had very little in common. Have them speed network with each other and get comfortable with the format over the course of the first year. Even if each person comes out with two connections they find worth nurturing by the end of the year, it would be a significant accomplishment. Once they get over the discomfort it is likely they would seek and create such opportunities on their own and enrich their college experience even more. It is a pity that the young person is left mostly to their own devices to maximize what college could offer. S is not the only kid that needs a little jump start to get going and all of them are being underserved by these institutions that owe them better.

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