Upperclassmen can return to Harding as if they are coming back home. Freshmen, however, enter an entirely new world.
UPeers, a social network exclusive to Harding, has been a tool for incoming freshmen to get to know each other since 2008, but this year’s freshmen took their pre-Harding experiences to the next level. Incoming freshman Xavier Miller had a big role in making that happen.
“There’s always got to be that lively person, like at a party when people are just standing on the walls, that one person that just jumps out, that’s how I viewed myself,” Miller said. “I had to go out and start meeting new people, and then start doing new things, organizing new things on [UPeers].”
UPeers, much like Facebook, has options such as private messaging, writing on someone’s wall, and posting discussions. But for many students that was not enough. They wanted a deeper level of communication. That is where Miller stepped in.
“Back home, with my friends from camp, we used to talk on the phone, and I realized that I had five-way conference calling on my phone. So I decided I’d put that to use and get to know each other,” Miller said. “Sometimes people may think that it’s awkward just one-on-one, so I made it more than one person. That’s where it started.”
Many students logged into UPeers before graduating high school. Freshman Micah Bartz said she was a bit nervous when she first got involved in UPeers.
“I did a lot of looking to see new people on UPeers and invite them to join our Facebook group, and you know, welcome new people, because I remember feeling very intimidated coming into the group,” Bartz said.
ThetUPeers group also Skyped during the summer. Many of them met in person at Spring Sing or Summer Stampede. Despite the friendships being built from a distance, both Bartz and Miller said the transition to friendship in person was fairly smooth.
“[Meeting for the first time was awkward] maybe for just like a few minutes,” Bartz said. “But as soon as you got in the groove of everything and started talking to people just like before, it was like you’d known them forever but were just meeting them. It was a really cool experience.”
Bartz and Miller agree that their Harding experience would not have been the same without UPeers.
“It broke the ice with everyone, and then when you get here, you’re like ‘oh, I know this person,'” Miller said.
Bartz said she felt more welcome at Harding because of Upeers.
“It was like I was already at home,” Bartz said.
