Although many students choose to seek help for their classes by going to office hours, a University student is aiming to provide an alternative by developing a new app called Subawu, which connects STEM students with their peers.

Oluwabusayo Adebayo, sophomore in ACES, had the idea for the app about a year ago after struggling to receive the help he needed while attending office hours for his chemistry class.

“I’ve been to so many office hours, and it just wasn’t helping me,” Adebayo said. “They did help as much as possible, the best way that they could, but I feel like I wasn’t getting that much one-on-one interaction with somebody that understands my problem. I go there to meet tutors and stuff, but they’re not students like myself.”

After realizing he understood the material better when a student majoring in chemistry explained it to him, Adebayo decided to create a platform that would act as a supplement to attending office hours by allowing students to network with other students.

Donyay Hooks, sophomore in LAS, said she thinks the app would be beneficial to her and other students because it would connect students who are completing similar work.

“We want people to be able to stay in class without feeling like, ‘I’m not getting the help that I need so I need to drop this class before the drop deadline,’” Adebayo said. “We don’t want students to feel like that. We want them to feel like they have a support system that is available anytime during the day to help them out in addition to what’s currently on campus.”

Although Jack Everett, junior in Engineering, has formed study groups on his own when a class has inexperienced TAs, he thinks this app would benefit underclassmen in large classes who struggle connecting with other students.

“It’s definitely going to be a useful app because although there are a lot of TAs, sometimes it’s just not enough,” Everett said.

Because Adebayo does not have a significant amount of programming experience, he outsourced the work to a developer to create the app. The app also allows students to post various tips or check in to locations to tell their friends or family where they are.

Although Subawu currently targets students in the STEM field, Adebayo plans to expand it to other fields in the future. He is currently looking for other University students to work on the app with him.

“I need somebody that’s dedicated and that’s committed to being a team player,” Adebayo said. “I need somebody that’s excited about this, that’s willing to give it their all because that’s what we’re doing: giving it our all. We don’t know if it’s going to succeed yet, but we’re optimistic about it, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re helping students out because that’s the goal.”

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