Claim to fame: Co-founder of SwapCollege.com
Year: 2013
School: Columbia College
Major: Creative Writing and Economics
Describe Swap College: Swap College is a unique web site that enhances the college experience. Accessible only to those who have a Columbia email address, the site is designed to be the single resource capable of fulfilling all of a student’s needs. If it concerns anything collegiate, it can be found at Swapcollege.com. Class forums, teacher and course evaluations, an e-commerce page, and a few things I can’t say just yet, are some of the functions that facilitate the formation of a dynamic, interactive network creating a reliable resource for student driven information. Get excited for September!
How did the idea for swapcollege.com come about? I was sifting through Facebook trying to find something relevant when an old roommate’s uncle tried to friend me from a beach in Miami. I thought that there had to be a way for college students to communicate in a meaningful way that was separate from the telephone book environment that Facebook has become. I spent the summer researching the project and decided it needed a great team with complementary skills to make it happen.
What do you see for the future of the site? We hope it can become a meaningful way for our community to use the technologies at our disposal to enhance the college experience – from choosing our courses more wisely, to using each other’s experiences as an asset for learning and enjoying our time at Columbia.
Who else is behind the project? Chris Jordan, Max Cho, Ravi Bhalla, Robert Petito, Travis Baseler, and Vladimir Bok
Do you plan to expand your staff? Yes, we need all the help we can get. We want the Columbia community to take part in this project. It is a great tool and, as more people use it, the utility of the site will increase.
Hometown: Herradura, Costa Rica
Relationship status: Single
On-campus activities: LLC, Sig ep
Pet peeves: Gum chewing and people who are intolerant of other people’s annoying personal habits.
Dream job: Screenwriter
If you were stuck on a desert island, you would need: Food, water and a good woman; then I wouldn’t be stuck on an island, everyone else would be off the island.
Every guy needs these three things in their closet: A secret so dark he takes it to his grave, five thousand dollars, and a plane ticket.
Dream wife: Independent, intelligent, a leader and a great mother.
HamDel decides to name a sandwich after you (what’s it called, what is in it): The Swapwich – Completely Custom – each hungry visitor can make their own Swapwich so they alway gets exactly what they want and it is completely satisfying in every way. Plus, it’s free.
Favorite off-campus location: Madison Square Garden
Spirit animal: That’s easy, white Siberian tiger.
Favorite albums of all time: Bri Arden’s all-time greatest hits. See her HC interview here.
If you could have a super power, what would it be and why? I don’t think a single man has not thought about that question. Teleportation, flight, immortality—great stuff, but whatever you pick there always seems to be a catch. Maybe, I would pick being all-knowing, but even that might leave me worse off than when I started. I wouldn’t want to be the guy who asks for the ability to have all powers or more wishes, etc. But, I’d probably try anyway; sometimes, you just have to go for it.
If you could invite anyone to dinner, you would ask: Bill Gates and Warren Buffet because I would love to see what happens when the check comes.
(sample course evaluation)