Foresight is 20/20

Eyes On Campus evolved to fill a core gap in the way students evaluate their campus choices. After all, the years post matriculation are the most sculpting and fun years of a student's life so why make that decision uninformed? In retrospect, I was fortunate that my alma-mater (UCLA) for the most part fit my needs; UCLA had a vibrant social scene, competitive D-1 athletic program, beautiful campus, warm climate, and a challenging academic curriculum, all of which molded nicely to fit my personality. However my decision to attend UCLA was not because of my due diligence in research; instead I showed up n the footsteps of Royce Hall Royce Hall for student orientation primarily based on hearsay and prestige. I had visited the campus but received a myopic view of only the best aspects of campus and student life. I read the brochures only to see more of the same, all of which skewed my perception of the reality at UCLA. As the fabled saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, and as I look back, there were many elements of UCLA student life that I was unaware of entering my freshman year. Nowhere did I read or hear about how daunting and overwhelming a campus of 40,000 could be. Nor did I read or hear about the theory bloated approach of my engineering curriculum taught by the brightest yet sometimes most apathetic minds.

Our focus for Eyes On Campus was to provide 20/20 foresight to students. But to do so, we needed to establish a platform for collaboration and peel away from the age-old approach of Campus biased brochures and student advocates who are paid to talk up their respective schools. Eyes On Campus provides a wiki-based overview platform for core elements of student life (campus, restaurants, transportation, etc.). For those of you unfamiliar with wikis, imagine that you have a blank canvas on the internet to write whatever you want about a specific topic, however your friend can see what you have written and add to it as he/she deems fit. Like this, as more eyes glance at your original article, the more refined and accurate your article gets.

Similarly, Eyes On Campus provides a blank canvas for the user community to contribute freely on what they feel are the most relevant points about the core elements of student life. As an example, student-users can enter their thoughts on the Student Culture of a campus providing insight into specific nuances that you would not otherwise find in campus brochures or guide books. Inaccuracies are socially regulated by subsequent users who can go to the page and make changes as they seem fit. The beauty of providing a blank canvas and a paintbrushes to the entire user community is to empower students to have a voice and give a platform for collaboration, hence ultimately creating the "Ultimate Insider's Guide to Campus Life". The best part is that the "Ultimate Insider's Guide" is always relevant and recent keeping in-sync with the dynamic nature of campus life where the student culture, restaurant options, teacher and classes, are all constantly changing.

The success of Eyes On Campus will ultimately be driven by the passion and enthusiasm of its user community. We aim to "strip schools naked" exposing their strengths and weaknesses. The Eyes On Campus team has laid the framework for students past and present to contribute their thoughts. So take this as our open invitation to you all to pick up your paintbrushes and start painting the truth about your campus. The canvas is empty. Be the first. Join our community and give the 20/20 foresight you and all other students deserve when making your campus decision.

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