latest

Student uses Snapchat to counsel other students

By Stephanie Le, Staff Writer

Junior Jordan Ojile is not a professional counselor. In fact, he’s just a student with a Snapchat account.

But lately, Ojile has become a bit of an amatuer social media advice columnist.

He’s been using the YOLO app on Snapchat to connect with and advise people he calls his “clients.” They’re people with questions and concerns who message Ojile asking for his take on things, and the more questions he answers, the more he gets.

The YOLO app allows a person to anonymously ask questions or write comments to any user. When desired, a user may initiate a Q&A session through the “Ask Me Anything” prompt, which allows anyone to engage in the conversation.

Ojile said he started using the YOLO app about a few months ago, but he did not start giving advice until recently.

When he first initiated the “Ask Me Anything,” Ojile said, he enjoyed offering advice to others and received positive feedback about it, so he decided to focus on it.

“I love hearing that it’s actually making an impact and hearing the people appreciate the advice, are following the advice, and are getting good results from it, is really rewarding to me,” Ojile said.

Most of Ojile’s advice focuses on stress and relationships, so he has received questions like “What is love?” and “What is your take on sex before marriage?” He said that he tries to respond to every question he gets.

Ojile said that he has encountered some challenging and heavy topics such as personal trauma and depression.

Sometimes, Ojile will offer to meet in person and discuss the conflict. If he could not fully answer the question or help the person, he said he would suggest the person visit one of Newman’s counselors for a free counseling session.

“It’s always super nice to have other people to turn to because struggling alone is never healthy and it just makes the problem worse,” Ojile said.

Junior Jonathan Liu has been following Ojile’s impromptu Snapchat advice column and said that he thinks Ojile is impacting people in a positive way.

“I think Jordan is giving really good advice to his followers on Snapchat. Jordan does a really nice job of being open-minded, respectful, and authentic with his responses,” Liu said.

Ojile said he will continue offering advice as long as his clients keep asking for it. He stresses that his answers are based on his personal opinion, not on professional information or training.

“I don’t really care what people talk about . . . as long as they talk. As long as there are people who want advice and who appreciate it, I plan on keeping on doing it. It’s really fulfilling and rewarding.”

PHOTO: Courtney Klaus, Editor-In-Chief