How To BCM is a project inspired by my personal experiences of once being a first year university student. Being in a new environment and learning new things can be daunting, especially if you do not know anyone. But with this comes some problems that students may face. These problems can be big, small, unusual or problems that a student didn’t even know they had. I want to make first year students (especially first year BCM students) as comfortable during their journey by assisting them through these issues. For example, is it better to take notes on a computer or paper? Do you need a permission slip to leave class? How to save money?
I wanted to make this digital artefact lighthearted as well as educational to show that these problems shouldn’t cause you extra stress and that you aren’t the only one who has these problems.
Methodology
As a comms and media student, I have learnt a lot about different social media platforms, it’s users and how to successfully run a campaign. With this knowledge i decided to settle on Instagram as my platform of choice. Not only does it allow for visual posts, but teenagers/university students are more commonly found using it. My influence for creating these posts (aesthetic wise) came from an Affirmations instagram page. I wanted to incorporate a “meme like” aspect to the posts while still sharing quality and useful information. Of course there are going to be a few posts here and there that are a complete joke however i have found my first meme post to have a high rate of engagement.
To create these Instagram posts, I first do a quick google search for “memes” or “funny photos” as my background image. Then put into Procreate, I customise each one with a certain colour palette to match, as well as a “How To” caption. The next step is background research. Researching by using online searches, forums and personal experiences are critical when it comes to successfully iterating and curating content targeted towards my target audience of first year university students (especially BCM students). Why? Because this is an educational project, i want to have the most interesting and viable sources to share. These post will be uploaded to Instagram once a day using specific hashtags targeted towards university students and those who have problems I may be able to solve.
End Goal
My end goal with “How To BCM” is to create a safe and comfortable platform where students don’t have to feel ashamed or embarrassed about not knowing how to do something and sharing their problems. Although I am in my final semester of university this will still benefit myself as i graduate I will become a first year university student all over again but this time… I know what to do.
CASEY'S CORNER 
Hey Casey,
I have checked out the blog and Instagram page for your DA pitch, and I must say I am amused, impressed, and interested all at the same time. I think that your DA idea is really original, not only in its concept but also its execution.
Firstly, I think the concept for your DA is quite genius, you have clearly thought of your target audience (and the teachers marking the DA) and incorporated the thing everyone loves, memes. Combining the humour with the informative posts is a really good way to connect with first year students, as it is quite scary coming into your first year of uni, not knowing what you can and can’t do, what’s expected of you, and this can be compounding especially for those who have moved away for uni or are attending without having any friends upon arrival. The utility of your DA is really valuable to uni students young and old, with the humour side taking the edge on what can be a stressful situation. The style and look of the Instagram posts are excellent, the colours and design of the individual posts show uniqueness from the others, whilst also keeping a consistent theme per post, I think you could also develop this aesthetic further by utilising some video or gif content.
Regarding content, one of my suggestions would be to try and use some video and gif content as not only do I think it will be funny, but it may also entice new audiences to check out your page. Another suggestion I have would be to try and upload more consistently, possibly a new post 2-3 times a week, and this could be ramped up at the beginning of semesters to try and reach the real desired audience when they are looking for help.
Overall, I thought your DA pitch and the content you have produced so far is excellent, it is high quality and quite humorous. I hope this feedback helped and I am keen to see where you can take your DA and am ready for some tips on how to not develop a crush on my tutor.
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Hi Casey, I am Shuning. I really liked your project!!!! It is both creative and practical.
I still remember my embarrassment when I first went to college. Sometimes I had to take a deep breath at the door before I could push through into the BCM classroom. As an international student with a language barrier, I can understand the helplessness of freshmen when they face a new environment.
Maybe you can try to write an answer about required courses and electives. I don’t know how to find my required subjects on the university’s website and couldn’t tell the difference between fall and spring courses until the 4th semester. To my great distress, due to these reasons, I have only two courses this semester, and I can only graduate after finishing the last one next semester. Therefore whenever new Chinese students ask me for advice on their college life, I help and remind them to identify their majors and required courses.
When I started college, I got ticketed all the time for not being able to tell parking lots apart. There are places where parking is limited to some people, places where parking is paid, places where parking is limited to certain periods of time, and even places where parking is free for three people. It’s really complicated for me because in most places in China you can park as long as you find a place.
Overall, it’s a great topic.
If you need any help, please let me know and I will keep looking forward your project.
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