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Team SEASA

Team Members

Victor Patrick Cabuenas
Ayush Kamleshbhai Patel
Ngoc Tram Tran
Tommy Nguyen

Inspiration

Our goal was to tackle the issue of cultural shock for international students, as it often disrupts their transition into new environments. By focusing on improving student experiences, we wanted to create a solution that would make finding housing easier and more seamless for students navigating a foreign culture.

What it does

The product serves as a platform that connects students looking for housing with others offering accommodation. Users can either search for student accommodations or list their own homes for rent, creating a mutually beneficial marketplace for students. The platform is designed to simplify the process of finding safe, reliable housing, addressing one of the most common challenges international students face.

How we built it

We built the platform using front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React to create a smooth and responsive user experience. For the back-end, we used React to provide a robust framework for managing the platform’s data and interactions.

Challenges we ran into

Throughout the development process, we encountered several obstacles. One major challenge was handling commit merges and merge conflicts, which occurred frequently and led to delays in progress. Time management was another issue, as balancing project timelines with our other responsibilities made it difficult to stay on schedule. Additionally, some team members struggled with consistently committing their code, resulting in gaps in the development workflow and requiring extra coordination.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud to have produced a functional product that addresses a significant issue faced by international students. The platform is accessible to a broad audience and provides a scalable solution to help students find housing quickly and easily, no matter where they are. This accomplishment is particularly rewarding as it offers a meaningful way to support students during a critical time in their academic and personal lives.

What we learned

Working on this project allowed us to reinforce our technical skills by applying them in a real-world context. We also grew as a collaborative team, learning how to navigate communication, task delegation, and project planning. Using ideation methodology, we were able to take an idea from concept to product, while continuously iterating and improving the experience based on feedback.

What's next for CultureConnect

Looking ahead, we plan to reach more users by promoting the platform to a larger audience. Our next step is to deploy the platform and make it accessible to students worldwide. We aim to affiliate with RMIT and other institutions to expand our reach and make CultureConnect a recognized tool for housing within the academic community. Additionally, we plan to connect with other universities to provide tailored housing options for their students, allowing a seamless experience for both students posting and finding accommodation across multiple regions.