From The Campus: Students, Parents Express Opinion On Student Community

After several students benefitted from its guidance during peak admission season last year, Mind Faces, a first-of-its-kind college community, has experienced rapid growth, Jai Shah, the founder and the CEO, informed.

The community is considered to give relevant college content and updates. It all started in 2023 with Shah (21) sowing the seeds of a community via Instagram, and within months, its fan base grew to over 27,000. 

An ex-student of Mithibai College, Shah insists that he feels very close to the cause he represents.

About Mind Faces

Mind Face isn’t just popular, but students have become vocal about their faith in it to do right by them in times when the advocacy of a known organization matters most. Upon having found out, statistically, over 100 students approach them daily to solve queries or to make them aware of grievances.

Students express a feeling of comfort in sharing their grievances with the organization as they are willing to use their reach when needed most. A teaching staff from one of Mumbai’s colleges mentions, “Without them, it is safe to say that a heavy number of students would be confused because some colleges make announcements at the last moment and not as remotely early as Mind Faces does and students take this in their stride.”

Having spoken to teachers from colleges, the presence of this college community is acknowledged. While there may be a few old-school and rigid ones that don’t believe in the genuineness of anything given out other than their college, a handful of them admit to following Mind Faces themselves.

Over some time, Mind Faces claims to have expanded by not just making its presence felt over Instagram but has also had separate college groups on WhatsApp made out for people in different colleges for more personalized updates that may differ from college to college. Apart from all the things it indulges in, they are seen making collaborations and tie-ups in partnership with other college organizations. They informed us of a community partnership with Mithibai College’s festival, Kshitij, and proudly flaunted so on their Instagram.

Student, Parents Share Thoughts

Students reveal that the community is privy to informational sources that seem otherwise time-sensitive or are of great academic and holistic, or informational importance to students. The past academic year saw Mind Faces guide students into admission processes on social media, help with resources for exam prep, and provide some harmless college gossip.

A student who prefers to keep their identity anonymous quotes, “I have had a few of my queries answered by them, and although it may take a while for them to answer, understandably so because they have tons of students texting them all the time. They have tended to me, just in time.”

The depth of research also led to the astonishing conclusion that it's not just students who swear by them but also a handful of parents. A parent quotes, “I like to be aware of the happenings in my child’s college or even otherwise be in the loop with academic gossip”, and laughs.

Having interacted with Jai the founder and CEO himself, he feels that he got really lucky to have not received any flack off the internet yet at all. He admits to having started this venture privately, all by himself at a time when he didn’t have as much association as he does today and quotes, “In a world where people on social media can get mean to people who are trying to create a positive presence for themselves, I feel privileged to have everything work in my favour. I have my closely knit circle and God to thank for that.”

Jai goes on to state that, the organization is run by the Spider-Man principle- “With great power comes great responsibility”, and with this belief set straight, it has stood by the community of students that help uphold the very pillar of its existence. It becomes evident that the influence of Mind Faces has grown higher and even the best colleges in Mumbai acknowledge its presence as a genuine source of guidance to students.\

Dhruv Sehgal from Mithibai College quotes, “Being part of this community has always been enlightening and we trust it to guide us correctly. Most often, it's good to have some of that help around. Coming into college, it isn’t surprising to sometimes feel confused about things because of multiple inputs around, but it is the presence of such student-friendly organizations that make things come around.”