Let's Kick It
New app for UT students makes life on a big campus way more fun
Making plans, arranging events, and trying to fit in at a 60,000-student campus like the University of Texas can be overwhelming — but now there's a solution. Rising seniors at UT Austin Eric Ngo and Ashar Malik have created Kickit, an app that aims to change the way students interact with one another.
Kickit gives co-eds a new way to connect with each other and the community. The app aims to make UT feel smaller by connecting people with similar interests, whether that's playing volleyball, finding a study buddy, or simply grabbing a bite to eat.
"The app works similarly to SnapChat," Ngo explains.Users pick something to do — play indoor soccer, for example — and then send a private invitation to individual users or share the event publicly, in which all Kickit users are reached.
Malik and Ngo drew inspiration from personal experiences to create the app. For Ngo, a physics major, it was the culture shock of transferring into such a large university as a sophomore. "Freshman year, they pamper you. Then once you become the sophomore, it seems like they just say, 'good luck,' and forget about you."
They understood the feeling of being overwhelmed trying to see what’s around, says Malik, so they created this hub to easily connect.
"So many social media apps keep users on their phones and take away from spending actual time with the people you care about," Malik explains. Kickit does the opposite, encouraging in-person meet-ups.
"Standard social media is like a window," he says. "Kickit is like a door."
Ngo and Malik hope to give UT students the best experience possible and eventually expand the app to multiple schools across the country. Kickit is currently available for download for both iPhone and Android users.