“Do you mind if I take a photo and ask you a few questions for Humans of Acadia?”

If you’re an Acadia student, you may already have been approached for the Humans of Acadia Facebook page, or maybe you’ve seen a classmate’s story there. The page was started last January by friends Colin Mitchell (Politics) and Kaileigh Skinner (Community Development).

“We were in our first year, and Colin and I were talking about Acadia’s social media,” Kaileigh says. “We said, ‘Why don’t we do something to share the diversity on campus and share people’s stories?’ We spitballed a few ideas – this was in November 2015 – and through December and January we compiled photos. That’s how it started. It was a spontaneous decision to share some diversity and connect us.”

“People think social media brings them together, but really it draws us apart,” Colin adds. “I figured it would be beneficial, especially following the Humans of New York model, to have something that the Acadia community could rally around. And that was the common stories and experiences of people who make up Acadia University.”

Colin had come to Atlantic Canada from Vancouver in November of 2014 to explore university options. “When I came to Acadia, I fell in love with it,” he says. “It was so friendly, the weather was beautiful, and the campus was incredible. The Politics program fit well, and I thought, this is the logical choice for me. When I moved here in 2015, I didn’t know a single person, but I made friends within the first few days.”

On common ground

Once a potential subject agrees to be interviewed for Humans of Acadia, Colin or Kaileigh – they work individually to accommodate their academic schedules – will ask questions designed to prompt a story. “We look for words and a picture that really reflect who that person is,” Colin says.

“Everyone we talk to is different,” he points out, “but of the people we’ve talked to, the one thing that most people have in common is that they love it here. And that clearly reflects on the fact that Acadia’s doing something right. The people we talk to want to be here. They want to learn. They want to succeed.”

“When we ask the question ‘Why Acadia?’ the thing that sticks out is the sense of community on campus,” Kaileigh says. “That might not be apparent on Humans of Acadia because we try to diversify the profiles. But people tell us, ‘There’s such a sense of community. I feel like I have a family here.’”

Colin and Kaileigh would like Humans of Acadia to carry on after they graduate, and they’ve created a plan to help that happen. “As long as it’s relevant and people are interested, we want it to continue,” Kaileigh says. “For us, it’s the passion that started it. It’s the passion for sharing the beautiful community that is Acadia.”

You can read Colin's story and Kaileigh's story on the Humans of Acadia page, or see them and other people from Humans of Acadia highlighted on Acadia's Facebook page. 

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