Home Page
Login Page
Selection Page
Profile Setup
Student Dashboard
Connection Screen
Requesting a Call
Accepting a Request from the Alumni's Side

Inspiration:

As sophomores, we kept hearing “talk to alumni” but there wasn’t an easy way to find the right alum and actually book time. We wanted something simple that matches students by major/interests and lets alumni control requests without getting spammed. HokiesConnect came from that gap, and from watching friends struggle to find mentors before recruiting.

What it does:

Helps students create a quick profile (major, clubs, interests) and send call requests to relevant alumni.
Gives alumni a clean dashboard to review requests, accept/decline, and manage availability.
Shows both sides a timeline of academic/professional milestones so conversations start with context.
Adds a lightweight schedule view for upcoming sessions and history.

How we built it:

Frontend: React + TypeScript + Vite, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, React Router.
State & Data: We started with localStorage to move fast, then migrated to a real backend.
Backend: Supabase (Postgres, Auth, Storage). We set up tables for student/alumni profiles, journeys, professional experience, and call_requests.
Auth & Security: Email/password auth; Row-Level Security so users only access their own data.
DX: Reusable Timeline and request components, plus simple API managers (StudentAPI, AlumniAPI, RequestAPI) to keep pages clean.

Challenges we ran into:

Schema drift: Our UI used requested_for while the DB used scheduled_time. That mismatch caused request failures until we standardized names.
Legacy references: After the migration, some pages still referenced alumniDataManager (the old localStorage layer). Replacing those with AlumniAPI fixed runtime errors.
Auth edge cases: Handling redirects for protected routes and differentiating student vs alumni experiences without duplicating code.

Accomplishments we’re proud of:

A full student ↔ alumni request workflow that actually works end-to-end.
Clean, consistent VT-themed UI that feels familiar and responsive.
Secure data model with RLS.
Modular components (timelines, tabs, schedule cards) we can reuse across pages.

What we learned

Shipping fast with localStorage is fine, but migrating to a backend means being strict about field names, types, and validation.
Good boundaries (API managers vs UI) make refactors way easier.
Tiny UX touches matter: pending/accepted tabs, badges, and toast messages make the app feel trustworthy.

What’s next for HokiesConnect:

Availability & calendar sync: let alumni set slots and push accepted calls to Google/Outlook.
Better matching: use tags (skills, industries) and a simple scoring model to rank mentors.
Messaging & reminders: in-app chat + email reminders before calls.