From Instagram to TikTok and Snapchat to YouTube, Generation Z is the most connected generation to ever exist. We’re also the loneliest. Walking into campus as a first-year, I remember wishing that I just had someone to show up to things with. Existing social media didn’t bridge the gaps either; the thought of posting “Does anyone on East Campus want to grab dinner tonight?” on my Snapchat story was mortifying. All I wanted was some semblance of community – someone new to spontaneously grab dinner with, people to get late-night Cosmic burritos with, friends to be myself with. I remember thinking, there’s no way that I’m the only one feeling this lonely right now. Turns out, I wasn’t. Data collected on Gen Z shows that we’re at the epicenter of what experts call a “loneliness epidemic”, with skyrocketing rates of depression, anxiety, and isolation. Since 2020, loneliness among college students has increased by 65%. I later learned that this wasn’t an issue exclusive to post-pandemic university life: selective social scenes and loneliness on college campuses existed pre-pandemic as well. That’s when I realized I wanted to build Mil. For over a year now, I’ve been working on a startup of my own, Mil. Mil means “meet” in Hindi, and fittingly, it’s a way for college students to find meaningful friendships on campus through hyper casual, spontaneous hangouts. You can use our app to help find: - Someone to grab food with at the dining hall - A gym buddy - A study group - Another person for your informal tennis match - A group to hit the clubs/bars with - A platonic date for formal - The perfect karaoke night - Someone to build the next biggest company with ;) And the list doesn’t end there. I’m a non-technical, first-time, solo founder. Over the past two years of college, I worked four jobs and did an internship my freshman summer to earn money for app development. When it came to app development, I had no idea how to approach things. I ended up posting a job on UpWork and finally found a developer team who understood and resonated with my idea completely. Thank you to Azeem Akram and the amazing team at Alpha Squad Technologies: working with you has been some of the most rewarding moments ever. The team worked tirelessly to bring the vision to life and getting to work so closely with the development side was incredibly formative for me. I incorporated Mil in October 2021, and now, a little over a year later, Mil has officially launched at Duke! It’s available on both the iOS and Android app stores. We are so proud of the application and hope to expand to more universities soon! Here’s to community! It makes the world go ‘round. Thank you for all of your support. Best, Sonali + Team Mil

Mil

Find community on college campuses through casual hangouts.

Find community on college campuses through casual hangouts.