By TRECIA TAN SHU HUI
SUBANG JAYA: Taylorians sat in a wooden crate filled with colourful plastic balls, and befriended strangers in the “Take a Seat, Make a Friend” event at Lakeside Campus on 10 June.
Participants were required to spend 15 minutes in a ball pit with a complete stranger and befriend them with the help of organiser Mad (Make A Difference) Taylor’s University, who provided them with a set of questions to answer and instructions to follow.
Software Engineering major Adrian Chin Chun Min, 20, was paired up with Foundation in Science student Thong Wing Yee, 19.
By randomly picking cubes in the pit, they received instructions such as, “Tell your partner what you like about them" and "Say things you might not say to someone you’ve just met.” Chin said to Thong, “You have a cool haircut, you’re friendly, outgoing and loud, too, if I may add.”
The duo even created a secret handshake of their own by the end of the session. Thong said, “We might not be best buddies right away because we just met each other a few minutes ago, but we would eventually get there if we talked more.”
School of Biosciences lecturer Dr Looi Mee Lee also participated in the activity, and she was paired up with Mechanical Engineering major Melanie Yong Ze Siin, 21.
“I think this activity is quite creative, and Melanie is actually the first student that I know from a different school,” Dr Looi said.
Two School of Communication students from different intakes were also paired up in the ball pit.
Public Relations major Chan Kuok-Han, 20, said the event gave him a chance to mingle with new people, including his senior, Public Relations and Marketing major Wilson Ong Wei Sheng, 22, whom he had never met before.
“I got to know that Wilson is a good guy who values trust and friendship a lot, and I’ll be sure to say hi to him if I see him around from now on,” Chan said.
According to Organising Chairperson Chen Zi Juin, 20, the “Take a Seat, Make a Friend” event was a recreation of creative agency SoulPancake’s viral video of the same name.
“If you watch the original video, the conversations formed are like sparks of human connection, and we want to replicate that in our campus.
“The aim of the event is to provide a space for students to connect with each other, to help them realise that strangers are not all that scary, and to also keep the positivity going,” the Finance and Economics major said.
Participants were required to spend 15 minutes in a ball pit with a complete stranger and befriend them with the help of organiser Mad (Make A Difference) Taylor’s University, who provided them with a set of questions to answer and instructions to follow.
Software Engineering major Adrian Chin Chun Min, 20, was paired up with Foundation in Science student Thong Wing Yee, 19.
By randomly picking cubes in the pit, they received instructions such as, “Tell your partner what you like about them" and "Say things you might not say to someone you’ve just met.” Chin said to Thong, “You have a cool haircut, you’re friendly, outgoing and loud, too, if I may add.”
The duo even created a secret handshake of their own by the end of the session. Thong said, “We might not be best buddies right away because we just met each other a few minutes ago, but we would eventually get there if we talked more.”
School of Biosciences lecturer Dr Looi Mee Lee also participated in the activity, and she was paired up with Mechanical Engineering major Melanie Yong Ze Siin, 21.
“I think this activity is quite creative, and Melanie is actually the first student that I know from a different school,” Dr Looi said.
Two School of Communication students from different intakes were also paired up in the ball pit.
Public Relations major Chan Kuok-Han, 20, said the event gave him a chance to mingle with new people, including his senior, Public Relations and Marketing major Wilson Ong Wei Sheng, 22, whom he had never met before.
“I got to know that Wilson is a good guy who values trust and friendship a lot, and I’ll be sure to say hi to him if I see him around from now on,” Chan said.
According to Organising Chairperson Chen Zi Juin, 20, the “Take a Seat, Make a Friend” event was a recreation of creative agency SoulPancake’s viral video of the same name.
“If you watch the original video, the conversations formed are like sparks of human connection, and we want to replicate that in our campus.
“The aim of the event is to provide a space for students to connect with each other, to help them realise that strangers are not all that scary, and to also keep the positivity going,” the Finance and Economics major said.