Hall Students, an Instagram account you probably looked up and watched hours of content from before committing to Seton Hall, is one of the more authentic representations of campus that shows everyday students you’re likely to see on campus.
The shining star of the account is undoubtedly the Tiny Mic series, which invites all students to share their opinions and “hot takes” every Tuesday.
The hosts of Tiny Mic Tuesdays and main account managers are students on campus. The account is run by Aya Laabab, a junior political science major, Lysha Mejia, a senior criminal justice major, and Alexandra Aristakesian, a junior biology major.
These women aren’t just colleagues, they're friends who love SHU, as Mejia noted.
“Sometimes [at other jobs] it's like, ‘Oh, we're coworkers or colleagues,’ but I feel like here, we're literally just friends,” Mejia said. “Working doesn't really feel like work; it just feels like we're just filming content.”
Almost every student follows Hall Students, but what is the core purpose of the account? Laabab detailed its importance.
“Hall Students is a place where students can see the resources we post about events and find out about clubs and organizations,” Laabab said. “There's a lot of things that are posted on Hall Students, but it's mainly like a resource hub for everyone.”
Hall Students, serving as the center of engagement on campus, builds close ties with SHU’s Student Activities Board (SAB), which organizes the majority of campus events. Laabab said Hall Students showcase these events to ensure that students are aware of them.
“We’re [at SAB events] to highlight it… so that when it does happen again—because a lot of these events that do happen are annual—everybody knows about them,” Laabab said.
Aristakesian added on to Laabab’s explanation, saying that they are “here to make fun, short videos to let the students know what’s going on around campus,” in addition to SAB events.
Constantly attending events and in videos promoting SHU causes Laabab and her partners to be recognized outside of filming. Laabab recalls one of these instances, calling it her “I made it” moment.
“Lysha and I were orientation leaders this past summer, and freshmen recognized us,” Laabab said. “They were like, ‘Oh my God, you guys are the Tiny Mic people,’ so that was kind of like a moment where we realized people actually recognized us.”
The three students earned their positions through campus connections and their willingness to speak with the original host of Tiny Mic Tuesday, Halima Koroma.
“We were inspired by the original tiny miker, Tiny Mic Tuesday by Halima Koroma,” Laabab said. “We found out that she was graduating, so we asked her about Tiny Mic and we happened to speak to Alison and Winston, and they interviewed us.”
Hall Students has two primary advisors, Alison Sotolongo, student activities director, and Dean Winston Roberts, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Student Engagement, who also oversees The Setonian. These advisors have affectionately started calling the girls the “social media squad.” As for an official title for the tiny mikers, Laabab said that phrase just might be it.
“I'd say we could call ourselves social media team members of [the Office of Student Engagement] or what Allison and Winston call us…the social media squad,” Laabab said.
The whole team behind the Hall Students account is close, not just the girls in front of the camera but also the advisors behind it.
“We lean on them. They lean on us. It's more like a family now, especially since we've been working for so long,” Mejia said. “We've had to trust each other and lean on each other and have each other's backs, for sure, because there’s a lot that goes into it.”
Aristakesian also highlighted the benefits of their strong relationships with their coworkers.
“We either started off friends or became friends throughout the process,” Aristakesian said. “It's really easy going and not a lot of pressure, so I really like it.”
Tiny Mic and filming campus life takes a lot of courage and confidence to create content, not just with friends but with students you’ve never met before. Laabab said learning this skill has been valuable.
“I feel like what I've learned the most is the creativity part of it, planning, being organized, going up to people, being confident,” Laabab said. “Having that skill is really good.”
It’s not always easy. Some days, there’s overwhelming rejection when filming.
“Sometimes on film day, we’ll have maybe 30 minutes to film a video. We ask person after person, and they're like, ‘No, I don't want to be in it,’” Laabab said. “It's kind of like, damn, like, ‘Why don't you want to be in the video?’”
When this happens, the easiest way to overcome this challenge is to keep going.
“But, like, we get it,” Laabab said. “We just move on to the next person.”
When students are willing to participate, all the rejections are worth it.
“I honestly like going around and interacting with new students and finding out their hot takes,” Aristakesian said. “It's really fun.”
Hall Students isn’t just Tiny Mic; they also collaborate with Gourmet Dining Services, Know More, Dare to Care, Residence Life, Athletic Services, and campus clubs and organizations. They do a lot of work behind the scenes with planning when to film, edit, and attend events, all while being students.
“We have to have a structure and open communication with everyone that does work upstairs,” Laabab said. “So I think that's something people don't realize.”
All work done by everyone who contributes to Hall Students beyond Laabab, Mejia, and Aristakesian ultimately comes together as a center of community for SHU.
“At the end of the day, this is more than just Tiny Mic videos,” Laabab said. “It's more about building connections with people and amplifying the student body voice.”
Kaitlyn Campeau is a writer for The Setonian’s Features section. She can be reached at kaitlyn.campeau@student.shu.edu.
